She nodded. “I tried to reason with him, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“You’re going to be a beautiful bride.” I reached out and squeezed her hand.
“Thank you, Mags.” Her cheeks turned pink. “Declan seems really nice.”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, he’s kind of perfect.”
She nodded. “No argument here. He seems like he is, but my question for you is what’s the problem?”
I scowled. I knew I couldn’t fool her for too long. “What gave it away?”
Her eyes softened. “I just know you. You’re not bubbly or excited around him. It’s okay if you don’t have a connection. You don’t need to force what’s not there.”
A long, low sigh escaped me. “But he’s perfect. Agentleman.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “The sex was so awkward. Every five seconds he’d stop and ask if I was doing okay. I couldn’t even get off because every time I’d get close he’d have to stop and make sure I was okay. Like, yes. I’m moaning because I’m about to come. And before you ask, I had to take Harry into the bathroom once he fell asleep.”
Her mouth twitched up into a smile. “I can’t believe you call your dildo Harry.”
I gave her a blank stare.
“But that does sound pretty bad.” She winced. “So, what’re you going to do?”
I shrugged. I was going to try to make it work. I deserved someone nice, someone stable. “Oh, and by the way, what’s with our room being directly beside Luca’s?”
She took a sip of her drink. “I swear I didn’t do it.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line. “Mhm. Of course you didn’t.”
Her gaze flickered toward the door, and I followed it. Declan strode in, and his eyes found us. He offered a cheesy smile before grabbing his food and heading over. He sat next to me and kissed my temple. “Hey.”
“Hi, Declan. Did you like the room?” Faith asked.
He nodded. “It’s exquisite. I was very impressed. Thank you again for inviting me along.”
She waved him off. “Of course.”
A certain curly red-headed friend strolled in with my slimy cousin. Evelyn had her hair pulled up half-way in a bun, which allowed for the bottom part of her hair to remain a perfect curly mess. Brown thick-rimmed glasses framed her pretty brown eyes, and she wore leggings with a baggy t-shirt. I didn’t know how she wasn’t burning up. This island was humid, and the temperature already hit one-hundred degrees Fahrenheit.Thanks, but no thanks.
Gerald had a hand placed on the small of her back, leading her toward the buffet. His black curly hair was as unruly as ever and his outfit was actually weather-appropriate with his shorts and a muscle shirt. Seeing him around Eve made my blood boil.
She’d been Faith and I’s best friend since middle school. We missed her and knew something was going on in their relationship. My cousin was a snake, and I knew Eve was suffering with him. Unfortunately, no matter how many talks Faith and I had with her, she insisted Gerald was a good guy and that she was happy. We knew that was a load of shit.
Eve and Gerald plopped down next to us. Eve shot us a big smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as she greeted us, and Gerald gave a small grunt in our direction.
“Eve, Gerald, I’d like you to meet Declan.” I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Declan, this is Eve—my other best friend, and Gerald—my distant cousin.”
Even introducing them together made my stomach churn.
“Pleasure to meet you both.” Declan smiled at them. Gerald and he struck up a conversation as Faith and I started asking Eve a ton of questions to catch up. We hardly ever saw her anymore.
A petite woman with shoulder-length pink hair skipped over to our table and took a seat on the other side. She gave us a small wave.
Faith cleared her throat. “This is Delilah, she’s here with Luca. Delilah, these are my two best friends, Mags and Eve, Declan, Mags’ date, and Gerald, Eve’s boyfriend.”
Delilah beamed at us. She gave off a positive aura, and her being there with Luca didn’t sway my opinion of her.Okay, maybe a small part of me wanted to hate her.But she made that difficult to do with her friendliness.
We chatted for a few more minutes before a curvy brunette and a burly man with a beard sat down at the table. Faith introduced them as Jamie and John Pierce. They were sweet but slightly introverted from what I could tell.
The last of our bridal party came just after. Asher sat next to Faith, and Luca took a seat next to Delilah, his eyes burning holes into me.
