I was just about to ask what the hell that meant, but his date appeared to have followed us. The girl stood just behind Reed, like a bad smell. He must have seen my death glare as he turned around and whispered something in her ear. The woman nodded and then left us.
“You brought a date to my wedding rehearsal?” I asked incredulously.
“No. That’s Lisa. She’s my PA.” He then smirked. “You don’t need to be jealous of Lisa, Teacup.”
I didn’t deny that I was jealous. He knew me too well.
A flash of fair hair and a salmon-colored shirt told me Jasper had just entered the ballroom, and I grabbed Reed’s bicep and pulled him away from the door, wedging him back against the wall so he wouldn’t be seen. A huge flower arrangement made the alcove we were standing in harder to see.
I stepped into his space. “Did you come off your bike?” I questioned, gritting my teeth.
His amused expression remained intact, “What, no why?”
I prodded him on the forehead, hard. “You must have suffered a head injury to think that it’s right for you to be here.” Stepping back, I added. “And how is that possible?”
“How’s what possible?”
“You being here for moralsupport?” From his clueless expression, he really wasn’t getting it.
“What do you mean?” Reed replied, pushing his hands back into the pockets of his dress pants.
“When neither of us has any morals.” His face had lost a margin of the smirk, thank goodness. I wasn’t in the mood for his bullshit. “And how can you support me when you’ve been ghosting me for days?” The sudden heat in his eyes generated by my point made my entire body warm, as did his gorgeous appearance.
“You’re the one who wouldn’t take my calls, Storm.”
“With good reason,” I shot back, motioning the sham of my future occurring all around us.
My eyes narrowed as he leaned his head back against the wall and looked down his nose at me.
Boy, he looked good in his tux, even with his bowtie undone, like he didn’t even pretend to give a shit. Reed had clearly dressed up to blend in, but Reed couldn’tblend if he tried. Putting his NFL fame to one side, he had always stolen the show as soon as he entered a room. Hence, the number of selfies he’d agreed to as I’d shepherded him towards the hidey hole, we were now standing in.
“So why didn’t you at least answer. Tell me to go to hell, in person,” he pointed out, folding his arms across his broad chest.
“I messaged you,” I rasped back.
Lifting his head from the wall, Reed removed his hands from his pocket and dragged one down his face in frustration, “Yeah, I decided not to digest that bullshit. Nothing is over, Storm, and you know it. Tell me you haven’t been the happiest you’ve been in years since I came back, and I will walk out of here right now.”
The pain in my chest was consistent, and my breath became shallow.
Just fucking tell him! Lie your ass off, you’ve done it before.
I decided to twist my words, a Summer’s specialty. “Happy. With you? We’ve done nothing but fight.”
“We’ve done much more than that,” he growled with a wolfish smile, tugging me towards him with one finger down the neckline of my dress.
I batted his hand off and side-eyed a couple of guests who had just come in through the door beside us. “Keep your voice down,” I hushed him, glancing around us. The ballroom was filling up.
Rocking back on his feet, Reed sighed. “Look, maybe I’ve realized that I’m no good for you and have come as a friend. To support you for a change instead of throwing myself at you?” From his tone, you would have believed him, but the way he was watching me told a different story. At that moment, I realized how much I’d missed himthrowing himselfat me.
I cocked my chin, pointing out in a firm voice, “You said you wouldn’t come to my wedding.”
His brow scrunched as he gestured around the room. “This isn’t your wedding.”
I raised a brow, avoiding stamping my foot in frustration. “It’s the rehearsal. It’s about as close as you can get.” There was no way to win when Reed was in that kind of mood.
He blew out a breath. “Do you want me to leave?” I knew the answer to that question before he asked. Apart from the concern about embarrassing situations, I was glad he was there.
“No. But I don’t think Jasper will be too happy that you’re here.” Concern must have been etched into my features as I thought fleetingly about the drug still in Reed’s system.
