“So go,” Ash says, and I just give him a look.
“What?”
“Go to the wedding. Show them you don’t care.”
I laugh. “I am not going to Daniel and Angie’s wedding. Not alone. No way.”
“So don’t go alone, bring a date.” Ash reaches across the table, taking my hand in his. “Go with me.” Ash is smiling, but I just stare at him.
“You want to go to Daniel’s wedding as a couple?” I ask.
“Think about it. What would piss him off more than the man who stole his bride being her date at his next wedding?”
It’s crazy. “You have a point,” I admit. Then I smile. As the pieces come together in my head, I realize just how angry that would make him. And for very petty, yet very deserving reasons, that makes me happy.
“Yes,” I say, standing. “It’s a good idea, but it has to be believable. He needs to believe that we are in love. It’s the icing on the cake, and we are going to smother him with it because fuck him for being a liar. If there’s anything I can’t and won’t tolerate, it’s a liar.”
I am smiling, but Ash looks less than excited. Then, he takes a deep breath and lets it out. “Listen, Harper…”
“You’re not going to do it,” I deflate.
“No, no. I’ll do it. But I really need to come clean about something,” he says. “The reason I crashed your wedding.”
“You mean it wasn’t out of being desperately and incandescently in love with me?” I half joke, but he’s not smiling.
He takes a labored breath, and I realize I should probably be sitting down for this.
“I knew about Angie,” he says. I stare blankly at him, holding my breath for a moment.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I knew that he was sleeping around. Cheating on you. I knew that he wanted to spite me and Jaylen. He always has to have what he’s told he can’t, and that’s why he wanted to marry you.”
“He was cheating on me,” I echo.
“I’m sorry, Harper. Truly. I should have told you.”
“Of course he was,” I say. Then I look at him. “Of course he was. I mean, it’s obvious, isn’t it?”
Asher’s brow furrows. “You mean…you’re not mad?” he asks.
“Oh, I’m fucking furious,” I scream. “But not at you. I suspected it all along. What’s worse, I actually thought that marrying me would put an end to it. It’s half the reason Iagreed to elope. I subconsciously knew he was fucking around. I thought that if I married him, he would be loyal, and that would be that. But fuck him.”
“Yeah,” Ash agrees, still looking surprised that I am taking it the way I am. A part of me did know. And now, now all I want is revenge.
“No, we are going to this wedding, and we are going together as a couple,” I say.
“A couple that is in love,” he adds.
“Yes,” I agree. Then a smile crawls across my face. A smile I don’t trust, and neither should he. “Better yet,” I say. “A couple who spent three days in Costa Rica alone…and eloped.”
“Holy shit.” He laughs.
And so do I.
Chapter 26
Asher
