“Am I at least cute?”
I give him another mean look. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
Nothing could be shittier than this. At least if I were on my honeymoon, I’d be with Daniel. I’d be sharing the cloud-like California King with him and his photoshopped-looking torso, boyish smile, and Zac Efron hairline. I wouldn’t have wasted $120 on lingerie that is now stuffed into my bag, probably getting wrinkly. I would be with myhusbandand not–
“Hungry?”
This guy.
“Is that your answer to everything? Food?” I ask.
“Not everything,” he says with a smile and a wink. I roll my eyes and walk around him.
I look at my phone and see there are still no new notifications from Daniel. I’m starting to worry because I’ve sent him ten text messages and left two voicemails, but he hasn’t responded tome at all. None of them show any sign of having been read or listened to either. What if something really bad happened or…
He’s ignoring me.
I glance at Asher, but he looks away immediately. He knows. He knows Daniel isn’t answering me. He doesn’t say anything out loud, but it feels like he knows something that I don’t.
I go into the bedroom and close the door, flopping dramatically onto the bed. Why is this happening? It was supposed to be the best day of my life, but it’s been ruined all because my brother is too protective and his friend is a jerk.
I roll over onto my back and pick up my phone again, this time dialing my best friend Darlene’s number. She answers on the first ring.
“Aren’t you supposed to be having hours of beach sex right now?” she asks.
“Emphasis on supposed to,” I answer, and I know she can tell something is wrong just by the tone of my voice.
“Oh no, what happened?” She replies. “Was he bad in bed? If I’m being honest, I’ve always wondered if what they say about guys who drive big trucks and talk a big game is true,” she chuckles. This is Darlene. All jokes and all sarcasm all the time. Normally, I love her for it, but right now I want to cry.
“I wouldn’t know,” I tell her. “Because Asher Levine happened.”
“Ash? Came to your wedding?” Darlene sounds lost. She’s the only person who knows we eloped, or tried to. But Darlene was also there when Daniel asked me out, so she knows how I feel.
“Did not come to my wedding. He crashed my wedding.”
“I’m not following.”
I sigh. “Ash showed up and literally kidnapped me from the altar.”
“No fucking way!” she exclaims. “And then what?!”
“He then carried me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, put me in a rental car and drove away!”
“Like a valiant hero,” she sighs.
“No. Like a psycho. Ash is the villain in this story, Darlene. Not the hero.”
“Where are you now?” she asks.
“Get this. He brought me to a beachside villa. It is really nice! It has a pool, a huge bathtub, and the biggest bed you’ve ever seen…plus, a fully stocked fridge. I mean, thank God there’s alcohol because this whole situation is ridiculous. Oh! There is even a private beach!”
“I’m failing to see the downside here,” Darlene says, and I sit up in bed, whisper-yelling into the phone.
“I was supposed to be with Daniel, Darlene! Not Ash! I was supposed to be married to Daniel and on my honeymoon! Instead, I’m stuck at a secluded villa with Asher. Oh, and bonus, it’s pouring down rain, our flight is canceled, and I can’t get a hold of Daniel at all!” I say all in one breath.
Darlene is quiet for a moment before clicking her tongue, and I know what that sound means. That sound is the sound she makes before she carefully says something she knows I’m not going to like.
“You know, Harp, it sounds to me like the universe is throwing you some curveballs. And by curveballs, I mean roadblocks. Detours if you will.”
