“Whatever, it was just a wording mistake,” Eric said condescendingly. “I have the best girl here tonight, so why would I want to claim her?”
“Fucking hell, you’re trying to die tonight, aren’t you,” West bit out, his fingers tightening around mine. “Stop being an asshole, Evan. You know exactly what you’re doing, and it is disrespectful to all of us, including your future bride.”
“It’s Eric,” he snapped. Based on the curving of West’s lips, he was quite enjoying pissing the asshole off. “You two weren’t even?—”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Stephanie said in a rush, hands up in a placating move as her frantic gaze bounced between all of us.She grabbed Eric’s arm and sealed her side against his. “No need to get upset over mistaken wording.” Her little nose scrunched in her attempt to make a silly face to ease the thrumming tension.
Damn, how many times had I done that, forced a distraction to keep things from escalating because Eric was a self-centered tool who loved to provoke?
She beckoned me forward. “Come on, let’s find Dad. I told him you were coming, and he said he couldn’t wait to see you.”
Somehow, I doubted that, unless he was eager to rehash how big a disappointment I was, which was probably the case.
Yay, me.
West’s fingers slipped through mine as Stephanie dragged me toward the back of the large room. With a quick glance over my shoulder, I swallowed a laugh at both men standing shoulder to shoulder, their heavy glares leveled at Eric as he talked, hands waving in excitement as he no doubt attempted to win them over to Team Eric.
Maybe it made me a bad person, or at the very least petty as fuck, but knowing they saw through his “good guy” mask made me immensely happy. Most people saw the version of him that he wanted them to see, not the one he truly was inside. It was one of the reasons I’d stayed, because for the longest time, I believed his mask too. That his anger and control issues were just stress-induced or a fluke, not who he truly was. Plus, I didn’t want to be the bad guy, which leaving him ultimately made me become to everyone in town.
“Dad.”
At Stephanie’s voice, he turned. I didn’t even attempt to force a smile, not wanting to waste the energy on him. The genuine smile he wore from the conversation he’d been in with the three older gentlemen slipped into a disapproving, tight-lipped frown when his gaze fell on me.
“I told you she would come.” Stephanie beamed at him, seemingly oblivious to the animosity between us.
“So she returns,” he muttered before tipping back the remaining clear liquid in his highball glass. He thrust the empty tumbler at Stephanie, sending the ice clinking against the sides, and hitched his chin in the direction of the open bar. “Grab me another while I catch up with your sister.”
Who knew that word could sound so disgusting?
Without waiting for her response, he turned to face me straight on while adjusting the cuffs of his shirt beneath the navy blazer. “I cannot believe you actually showed your face here after the shit show you left us high and dry with when you ran away.”
The normal apology or overexplaining myself didn’t spill from my lips as he stared at me, waiting for my response. I simply blinked at the man I used to be so intimidated by. Whose words I believed too much—that I was too geeky, too quiet, too everything he thought wasn’t normal.
Now, standing in front of him, I didn’t feel apprehensive at all. Instead, hot, boiling anger filled my chest at him and myself for believing all those lies. Forallowingthe weak man to make me feel so fucking small when I wasn’t.
“Earth to Juno.” He huffed and shook his head. “Do you even know how to act normal in social situations?”
“I do, I just had nothing to say to your comment.”
He arched a brow, surprised by my backbone. “Well, I hope you’re not here to try and win him back. He lucked out with your poor decision, falling for Stephanie after the weeks of comfort she offered him after you left.”
I snorted. Sure she did. I almost gagged thinking about the “comfort” she gave him.
“I’m glad Eric found someone who will make him happy, who’ll focus on him first like a good wife should,” he continued.“A woman who will make the sacrifices needed to ensure he’s taken care of.”
“Right,” I drawled, hating myself a little more, knowing I once believed the bullshit that came from his mouth. “What about what Stephanie needs and wants?”
“She has him, someone who can provide. That’s all a woman really wants anyway.”
I just mouthed, “Wow.” It was all I could come up with.
“At least a normal woman.” His gaze shifted over my shoulder. “I can’t believe you brought that fucking sideshow act with you. Have some damn respect for your mother’s reputation.”
“My dead mother’s reputation?” I tilted my head. “Or do you really mean yours?”
“Fuck, you’re a brat. Always were, though. I’m sure they’ll get tired of you too, just like Eric.”
His words hit right where he wanted them to. I tried to keep my features neutral despite my stomach dropping so fast I felt nauseous, but the evil grin that crept up his cheeks told me I had failed miserably.
