So this is about Nate.
Of course it is.
“Leo—”
“Don’t ‘Leo’ me.” He stands, pacing now. “Seeing you with that guy, Maddie? Made me want to deck him. Do you know what Nate would’ve done?”
“LEO!”
He freezes mid-rant. His jaw tight. “What?”
“I’m not marrying him.”
He blinks. “Come again?”
“I’m not?—”
He waves his arm, cutting me off. “That was rhetorical. I don’t understand. You’re engaged, no?”
“It was a mistake,” I admit.
He walks over and takes a seat, and I do the same, sitting across from him.
“What’s going on?” His voice softens.
“You switch personalities so quickly. It’s a real talent.”
He smirks. “It’s tiring being dramatic. I don’t know how you women do it all the time.”
My eyes widen. “You did not just say that.”
“Kidding. Kidding,” he says, but quickly falls sober. “Seriously, Maddie. Are you okay?”
I shrug. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
“Does Nate know?”
I shake my head. “This isn’t about Nate.” He gives me a look like he doesn’t believe me. “Truly. I wish I hadn’t said yes in the first place.”
“Well…why did you?” he asks, as if it’s so simple.
I’m embarrassed at how weak I was, falling for Corey’s charm.
“Maddie Grace…”
“Pressure. There was an overwhelming amount of pressure that day. Our families, friends, even photographers. The whole thing was a spectacle. I hated it. Everyone was staring at me. I was so blindsided that I panicked and said yes.”
The weight of it all finally cracks me open, and the words spill out before I can stop them. Holding it in, only being able to speak to Addie about it, has been eating away at me.
He nods in understanding. “You hate being in the public eye. Even I know, something that’s meaningful to you, you’d want to do in private.”
“Exactly.” Maybe it’s because Leo’s known me half my life or because he pays attention, but it just shows how oblivious Corey is.
If it’s not important to him, it’s not important.
“If you didn’t see a future with him, why didn’t you break up?”
I bow my head. “I was an idiot, pretending it was something it wasn’t, and I got caught up in it all. He was traveling all the time. I was building a career with not much extra time on my hands. It was like suddenly I blinked and we’d been dating for longer than I realized. I thought I could make it work. But he was never the one.”
