“I am not good at dancing; I think I will go to the bar for another drink, though.”
“Damn it, Nell. Fucking talk to me,” I whisper-yell, inching closer.
Her eyes meet mine and I see a mixture of pain, and anger, catching me off guard.
“I do not dance. Maybe ask some other woman in the room. I am sure there are plenty of single women here for you to choose from.” Her tone is pissing me off.
“You will fucking dance with me as my girlfriend. How would it look if I dance with another woman while my girlfriend is sitting here alone?”
She shrugs, but keeps a smile on her face to not draw the wrong attention to us.
“If it is your image that you are concerned about, then I am sure that your mother would like to dance with her son.”
I step into her space, my arm slipping around her waist, and I pull her to me.
“I want my woman pressed against me, only her hands touching me.” Dropping my lips to her ear, she shivers at the slightest of touches. “I think you want my hands on you.”
“Romeo, not…”
“Come.” I lead her to the dance floor, where a slow song is being played.
Keeping her in my arms, we gently rock from one foot to the other. With her hands on my biceps, her fingers gripping on for dear life, but I let it go. As much as I want to push her to find out what the hell is wrong, I do not want her to leave. I want to keepher with me, making sure that every fucker here knows that she is mine.
She lays her head on my chest, and my arms tighten around her. She fits my body perfectly, like she was made just for me.
Kissing the top of her head, she sighs, and I swear I hear her sniffle, but I don’t make a thing of making sure she is not crying; my mother would pitch a fit if I made Nell cry.
The song plays on, and soon leads into another one, but we stay as we are. People dance around us, but nothing breaks us apart, and no one bothers us. It is like they know that we are having a moment, so they let us be.
I pull my head back, hooking my finger under her chin to make her look at me. Her eyes are glassy, but I see no tears.
“I do not know why you feel this hostility toward me, but I would like to put it aside for now and enjoy the wedding. Can we do that?”
I am fighting everything in me to force her to tell me what I did wrong, but I keep my mouth shut and go for the best solution. Not ruin the rest of the night; we can enjoy this and then deal with whatever is happening between us tomorrow.
I just hope there is a tomorrow.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Nell
They do say that you only live once, so enjoy it. Make the most of it.
What they do not tell you is the pain and heartbreak that comes with it.
My bags are by the door, my tickets are booked, and I am ready to fly back home to Portland.
Tonight was hard. I let my anger take over from indifference, and it set Romeo off knowing that something wasn’t right. I know that I could not cause trouble for him at his cousin’s wedding in front of his family, and we lied to his parents about being a couple.
I hate that I had to lie to Renata and Anthony. They are amazing, and I am going to miss them.
My chest feels tight, and tears flood my eyes as I look at the man who has made me fall in love with love again. He has made me see that we are all deserving of love, and cannot let one hiccup taint us from trying again.
Romeo is sleeping in our bed, a bed that he paid for, in the hotel that he paid for. I feel like a fool and a phony.
He is on his back, his face turned toward my side of the bed, his arm stretched out like he is reaching for me in his sleep. I fight back a sob that tries to escape, but I cannot let my heart win this war.
His words and actions have been playing on a loop in my head. What he said was nasty toward me, yet his actions were cruel.
