Fuck. This is huge.
Is he for real?
Allowing what he just said to sink in, I realize it might be too late for Erika and me, causing me to press my fingertips into my temples to ease the tension.
Does she really look at me like I hung the moon? That can’t be right, surely.
And what if she doesn’t feel the same way about me? She can’t possibly feel anything other than love for me as a friend because, until today, she’s been living with another man.
“The puck is in your rink, Leon. It’s time,” Lily says cheerily, pouring creamer into the coffee as if this isn’t the most serious conversation we’ve ever had.
“She’s only just split up with her fiancé,” I blurt because it’s all I can think to say. She doesn’t want me. No way. Going on honeymoon with her is a dick move, and I will not be anyone’s damn rebound, especially not Erika’s.
But she doesn’t love him. She said that herself.
“Is Lily right? Do you love her, Leon?” Ash asks, his brows raised in curiosity.
“I…I…” I stutter.
Lily jumps in, answering for me, “Of course he does.” Then she continues with words that make beads of sweat form on my upper lip. “Or he wouldn’t visit her at the hospital every week and take her to lunch. Or send her fancy dinners and donuts when she’s working double shifts.”
“Stop talking.” I nervously watch the doorway, afraid Erika might show up, but Lily keeps dropping truth bombs left and right.
“You often pick her up from the hospital when she’s too tired to drive because you don’t want her to fall asleep behind the wheel on her way home. And when she comes over to watch movies, you watch romcoms together because they’re her favorites.”
Ash gasps. “Shit, you’ve got it bad, man.”
Lily waggles her finger at him. “You should take a lesson from Leon’s book.” She winks, and he blows her a kiss right back. Then she adds, “You also go to that grocery store that’s miles out of town because it sells her favorite British soda that no one else does. And the thing that makes my heart melt the most and tells me you are in love with her is when you wait for her outside the hospital, knowing she’s just lost a patient, so that you can give her a hug. You know exactly what she needs, Leon. And newsjust in, buddy… she doesn’t love Huck. I think she liked the idea of him at first. He’s a complete contrast to her demanding job. Maybe he was a refreshing change. I don’t know, but he wasn’t right for her. We all know it, and she’s known it herself for a while too. She’s just taken some time to realize that.” Lily moves toward my side, loops her arm around my waist, then looks up at me. She’s so tiny. “When she asked me to organize her wedding entirely because she didn’t care about the theme or colors or any of the finer details, I knew then something was off. The brides I deal with want control over every minute detail, but not Erika.”
That all makes sense now. Lily runs one of the top event-planning businesses in Canada, so she would know what normal bride behavior looks like.
Lily squeezes my waist and shares some more facts that fill me with hope. “Her and I had a heart-to-heart a few weeks ago, and that’s when I realized she was having doubts about marrying Huck because she asked me to describe how I felt about Ash. When I told her how I was completely content in my life with Ash, that my heart still flutters every time I think about him, and that all I want is to spend my time with him, making memories and building a beautiful life together, she said she didn’t feel any of those things toward Huck. Honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t call off the wedding before today.”
I wanted that too. Willed her to do it. Then she did. She ran as fast as her silk nylon-covered feet could carry her, straight into my arms.
On the other hand, this conversation makes me want to run for the hills.
It’s so unexpected.
“So, after hearing all that, are you going to continue to deny how you feel?” Ash asks, much stronger this time.
I don’t answer; instead, I dance around the edges and reply, “She’ll never agree to me going on her honeymoon with her.” Butnow they’ve planted the seed in my head, all I want is to spend two weeks alone with her in Bora Bora. I can already feel the sun warming my skin and picture myself lazing in the turquoise ocean outside a private over-the-water bungalow with her in my arms.
Wishful thinking, maybe. She might not even want to go on her honeymoon by herself or with anyone.
“She will want to go withyou.” Ash winks. “My mom is suggesting the same thing to her right now.”
The three of themdidcome up with this plan on the way over here, just as I suspected. Divide and conquer. And right now, Judy is next door trying to convince Erika to go on her honeymoon with me.
Fuck, no.
Yes, do it. Grab this opportunity by the balls, Leon.
Lily places our coffee mugs on a tray to carry into the living room, but just as she’s about to lift it off the island, Erika runs into the kitchen, clapping her hands, looking like an excitable puppy rather than heartbroken.
Because she’s not, she doesn’t love Huck.
Everything is beginning to make sense now.
