“You’re—” I want to be honest, because she deserves that much.
“Don’t.” She holds up a hand, and there’s a quiet laugh underneath it, as though she’s laughing to herself. “Please don’t finish that sentence. I already feel embarrassed enough.”
I close my mouth.
She looks out at the water for a moment. The embarrassment settles and what’s left underneath is two people without pretense between them for the first time all evening.
But what if I could use this time with Valerie to my advantage? What if I gave her an opportunity where we both could possibly get what we want? What if I got her to choose Damon in the coupling ceremony? She’s beholden to no other guy here, and there’s zero chance her ex will have the balls to even reconcile with her.
I lean forward. “Can I ask you something?”
She glances back. “After all that, I might as well be an open book.”
“Tomorrow. Your first pick.” I hold her gaze. “What do you think of Damon?”
She stares at me for a long moment. “I haven’t given him much thought. Why?”
“I just think you two would have more in common.” I don’t know that for sure. It’s a hunch, but one I’m willing to work to my advantage.
Then she laughs. Not harshly, but with the full weight of disbelief behind it. “You’re asking me to hand my advantage to someone else?”
She caught on quick.
“I’m asking you to consider it.”
She hesitates. “For Lyla.”
“For you, too,” I say. “Damon seems like a good guy. He might surprise you. Just sleep on it.”
She leans back in her chair, arms crossing loosely, thinking. Her eyes move to the candle between us.
“You know,” she says slowly, “most men would’ve just let me pick them and figured they’d sort the rest out later, once I became another notch on their bedpost.”
“You deserve better. And I’m not most men.”
“No.” She exhales. “You really aren’t.”
Silence falls between us. The ocean fills the silence, low and constant beyond the terrace railing.
“I’ll think about it,” she says finally.
She’s not saying yes. But her response isn’t a no either, and I know better than to push further. I nod once and let it sit.
She closes her eyes for a moment, taking in deep breaths as if composing herself with a dignity I respect. Then she meets my eyes across the candles.
“She’s lucky,” she says.
I think back to Lyla on that helicopter. Shoulder to shoulder. Eyes forward.
“I know. She just doesn’t know that yet,” I say.
Valerie holds my gaze for a long moment.
“She should.”
After dinner is over, we walk back to the others, side by side, without saying much else. Side by side. Cameras track us the whole way.
Inside, the common area is loud with conversation and music.
