Or was it because this time he wasn’t leaving? This time, he was coming back.
And that was almost more terrifying.
“Explain where this is coming from,” she snapped out. “A year ago, you took my dance, and my confession, and chose Jess—someone you knew for a couple of weeks, above a person you knew for over a decade. And now you’ve changed your mind?”
“People do, you know. Change their minds.”
When she scowled at him, he lifted his hands.
“I made a mistake, I chose wrong. I chose new and exciting over stable and supportive.”
God, he made her sound like a comfy bra. Alex, because he knew her well, realized that he hadn’t made any progress with that statement. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you, Wren. I find myself wanting to tell you something, to talk to you, to work out a routine with you. I hear a chord, and I think of you. Jess doesn’t carry the million memories you and I do.”
Wren found herself softening, thinking of everything they’d done and meant to each other. But then she caught herself and told herself to back up. She couldn’t go from zero to hope in ten seconds flat. How ridiculous was that? He’d left her once; who was to say he wouldn’t do it again? And was there another, deeper, reason for this sudden change of heart? It could be that he and Jess had a fight. Alex was an attention hog, and if Jess was ignoring him, then she could see him running back to her. Or maybe she’d dumped him because he’d messed around on her? Alex’s sense of fidelity could be, um, rather fluid on occasion. Wren had never thought he was perfect, she just always believed he was perfect for her.
“Did you and Jess have a fight? Are you having an extreme case of wedding jitters?” she demanded.
Frustration flashed across his face, and she caught a hint of his famous temper flaring again. “Look, I’m trying to tell you that I mistook comfort for love and that I missyou, not just our friendship. I admit it took me a while to work out what our kiss meant.” He grabbed her beer and took a long sip, nearly emptying the bottle, and Wren remembered how they shared everything from water bottles to forks.
Being together had felt so easy, so damn natural. But she couldn’t forget that he’d walked away from her like she meant nothing.
“I thought I only wanted friendship from you, but I was wrong.”
He took her hand and linked her fingers in his, and she inhaled his scent, the one she’d known for the last decade. It was so damn familiar, and every cell and atom recognized it. It felt, damn him, like home. Like safety. Like he was where she was supposed to be.
Was it a habit? Was she reaching for something safe?
Maybe. Probably.
But on some level, he made sense. They’d already loved each other for a long time, and it would be a short trip to return to where they’d been before … before she confessed and he chose Jess. They’d shown each other the best of themselves, and crucially, the worst. He’d seen her when she was crying from PMS, and he’d gone out in the rain to buy her tampons and painkillers. She’d seen him throw a water bottle at a studio mirror in frustration when he couldn’t translate the vision in his mind into a dance routine. Before meeting Jess, he’d never let her down in any significant way. She knew his family; he’d met her friends, including Hayes and Poppy. He wasn’t a risk. He was safe. And safe was survivable.
And crucially, he’dchosenher. A bit late, but he’d got there. Something her father never did. She couldn’t admit it out loud, could barely face it herself, but being chosen? That meant everything and more. It soothed a wound that she didn’t know was still bleeding. He hadn’t wanted her, but he’d realized he was wrong, and now he did.
Could she forgive him for rejecting her?
He was human, and he’d made a mistake. Maybe all he needed was a year away from her, to be with someone completely different, to realize what they had, who she really was. Jess, it seemed, had been a detour, someone who’d fallen into his life and knocked him off-balance. She understood that; hadn’t Dane done the same thing to her?
She looked across the tent and saw that Dane wasn’t at the bar or sitting anywhere where she could see him. Had he gone to the bathroom or headed home? She couldn’t blame him if he had. She’d been having a nice night with him, until Alex crashed their party.
She didn’t know whether to feel happy or pissed at that. Mostly, she was utterly confused. About everything. She’d even thought about her dad…
Luna and all her friends knew what a hot-button topic Chester was for her, and they never mentioned him. These days, she rarely thought about him. But Alex’s arrival brought him to mind. He reminded her of him.
Why? Was it because she thought that if they got back together, she would she still play second fiddle to him, in life, love, and dance? Also, and she felt guilty for this one, she couldn’t help wondering if he was playing her. Like Kyro had. Alex, like her dad, needed his ego stroked and loved attention…
And because Alex was always the master of timing, because he knew her so damn well, he covered her hand with his. “I’ve hit you with a lot tonight, Wrennie.”
He had. She felt like she’d been smacked with a lead pipe.
“Can you look at me for a sec?” He squeezed her hand, and she forced her eyes up to meet his. He smiled at her, a smile she loved so much. It was hiswe’re in this togethersmile, the one he’d flash before they met a client or presented their routine. She hadn’t seen it in a long time. “I know it’s a lot to take in. I’m sorry I hurt you, I’m sorry I walked away, and I’d be so grateful if you gave us another chance.”
She opened her mouth to speak—to agree or to refuse, she didn’t know—but he spoke before she could.
“You need time, I get that. I want you to think about this carefully, to take every second you need, because if you come back to me, I’m never letting you go again.”
He stood up and walked around the table to hold the back of her head in his hand and bent down to kiss the side of her mouth. His kiss felt good, familiar, but she couldn’t say it feltright.Why not?
“I’m going back to New York. You know where to find me. Or if you need me to come back, just send me a text, and I’ll get to wherever you are as soon as I can.” Wren nodded; it was all she could do. He kissed her again, and then he was gone.
