Until my cat made the first move. Now I can’t imagine my life without him.
“He’s leaving Monday. It doesn’t matter.”
“You love him.”
Hot, fat drops of tears start running down my face at her words.
I love Simon. I love him more than I ever thought I could love anyone. Who cares if we only knew each other for a few weeks?
What we had was real. One of the most real things I’ve ever had in my life.
Gemma walks over, wrapping her arms around me.
“We can fix this.”
A watery laugh escapes. “Don’t we need to be leaving to get ready?” I mumble into her hair.
“They can wait. Blake’s mom will be pissed, but I don’t care.” Gemma squeezes me even tighter. “There has to be a way we can make this right. Your store and Simon.”
I pull back, wiping the tears from my face. “Why don’t we worry about getting you married first?”
Her smile is as bright as I’ve ever seen it.
At least one of us will get our happy ending.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
SIMON
“You’re looking blue.” Pierce says by way of greeting.
“Fuck off, mate.”
I’m exhausted. After the chaos of the rehearsal dinner last night, I didn’t sleep a wink. The only thing my mind could focus on was the look of dejection on Layla’s face when everyone found out this thing between us was fake. A ruse for her to keep her shop.
I can’t believe I fucked up.
“Really. You don’t look good.”
“Pierce, I’m really not in the mood.”
“Sorry. Need a drink?” He motions to the small selection of drinks sitting on top of the dresser.
“I’m good. Want to stay clearheaded for today.”
Even though all I want to do is drown my sorrows right now.
“I’m sorry about how things went down last night.” Pierce looks sad. Probably one of the only few times I’ve seen him that way. “How’d they find out?”
“Beats the fuck out of me.”
“Do you think it was Brad?”
“If it was, that would mean I fucked up.”
And ruined everything for Layla. The one thing we said was we wouldn’t tell anyone.
Somewhere along the way, this thing with her went from fake to real. More real than anything I’ve ever experienced.
