“I’m sorry.” I looked over my shoulder.
“You need to go back inside.”
But I couldn’t. “I need to ask you something really quick. Something occurred to me...”
A look of alarm crossed her face. “What?”
“I know you and Taylor are great friends. That’s very apparent.” I pulled in a breath. “But were you ever more?”
She shook her head. “No. Never. We never had that kind of relationship. Not even once.” Blair looked me straight in the eyes, and I knew she was telling the truth.
A long breath escaped me, and I felt a little euphoric, like a cloud of calm had enveloped me after I’d nearly sent myself off the deep end. It was pathetic, really.
“I’m sorry, Blair. Not very mature of me to be focused on my jealousy when we have bigger fish to fry.” I placed my hand on my heart. “But I couldn’t breathe until I knew.”
“It’s okay.” She nodded. “I get it. I’d want to know the same thing.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“There’s no playbook for how to react to this situation,” she said.
“That’s for damn sure.”
“You’d better go back inside, Tate, before someone sees us.”
I looked over my shoulder again. “You gave me your number. Is it okay if I call you soon?” I shook my head. “I assure you, I don’t have an ulterior motive. I just feel like we need to talk. I’m not going to be able to focus until we do.”
“I agree that we should talk more, but I need you to give me some time. I’m not at a place in my life where I can easily handle this.”
My brows drew in.What the hell does that mean?But I couldn’t very well force her to keep in contact with me. “Will you promise to let me know when you’re ready?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
My stomach twisted, but there was nothing else I could do. “I’m going back in now.” I exhaled. “Take care of yourself, Blair.”
“You, too.”
I stepped back inside and started down the hall to the brunch, but my pace slowed as I noticed Taylor walking toward me. I stiffened. How close had I come to getting caught talking to Blair outside?Jesus.
“Have you seen my friend Blair?” he asked.
My blood went cold.Why is he asking me that?
“No.” I cleared my throat. “Why? What’s going on?”
“I saw her leave the brunch a while ago, and I wanted to be sure she was okay. She’s been acting a little bit strange this whole wedding.”
“I see…”
Had he noticedmystrange behavior? I had to have been just as conspicuous.
He sighed. “When are you heading home?”
“Probably right after brunch.”
“It was nice meeting Leah. I was just chatting with her.”
I forced a smile. “I’m happy you like her.”
