“When you said you’re getting married in a courthouse,” Jasalie says, “you sounded so positive. Almost like you’re already…”
“I’m engaged,” I say, holding up my left hand. “I’m getting married in a month.”
Bella peers down at the red string tied around my ring finger. “I had no idea,” she says softly, her eyes confused as she glances at Brayden’s back, which has straightened. “We thought that maybe…”
“That you were with Brayden,” Jasalie finishes for her. “Or at least, that you were available to maybe be with Brayden. But,” she adds brightly, “you’re obviously not. Congratulations on your engagement.”
Her sentiment is meant as sincere, but I hear the hollowness behind her words. It almost sounds like she’s disappointed.
“Brayden knows,” I say hastily. “My relationship is no secret.”
Next to me, Brayden’s shoulders tense.
Bella scrunches up her nose. “So you and Brayden are just friends?”
“Yes.” I open my mouth to tell her about our arrangement as dance partners when Brayden jerks around to face us.
“Leleila.” His tone is neutral. “Did you get your keys back yet?”
I shake my head, but like magic, my phone buzzes. I glance down and read Phillip’s text that he’ll be home in an hour and will text me when he’s leaving campus.
I hold up my phone. “In about an hour.”
Brayden glances behind me at Sophia. “I can drive you if Sophia wants to stay.”
He sounds like he wants to get rid of me. I can’t blame him, but my chest aches nonetheless.
I thank him for the offer, and he excuses himself for the restroom.
As soon as he’s gone and Bella starts chatting with Ayden and Cam, Jasalie says to me, “Leleila, since you live so close by, I hope you’ll be able to come to my and Dylan’s wedding renewal in a few weeks.”
Her gray eyes are wise like she’s seen more than her share of pain. Swimming in the stormy depths, I catch a hint of sympathy as if she knows what it feels like to be trapped like a caged bird.
“Oh, that’s such a nice invitation,” I say. “I don’t know if I can, but I really appreciate the offer.”
“Think about it, okay?” She pauses and then says hurriedly, “I was engaged once, before Dylan.”
I stare at her. “You were?”
She nods. “Not for long, but it was one of those moments where, as soon as I said yes, I wished I’d said no.” Her expression is neutral, but her eyes flash with understanding when she adds in a tone so quiet there’s no way anyone else could hear her, “We’re always entitled to change our minds. And the thing I’ve learned is, when it’s really right, we don’t want to. All we want is to say yes forever.”
Forever. Her word hits a nerve, and I excuse myself and go in search of the Ladies Room.
I’ve turned the corner to the hallway that leads to the bathrooms when a man texting on his phone steps out of the nearby alcove.
And my world stops.
I thought he’d left Montana.
I know he’d left Montana.
Noah Rice is walking toward me. The very same Noah Rice who assaulted me twelve years ago.
Chapter Thirteen
His attention is on his phone, and he stops walking momentarily to lean against the wall. But I know I need to move quickly if I don’t want to be seen.
Still, my feet are locked to the floor.
