The words were like a dagger to his throat. He almost choked on them, but he managed to spit out a response.
“That’s why you agreed to this? That’s why you said yes?”
“I told you that. I told you I needed a plus-one to a wedding.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t tell me that you werein lovewith the groom!”
Meghna’s eyes widened, but she didn’t deny it. She didn’t say anything. She just stood there in front of him, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her eyes bright and furious, her hand clenched into a fist against her side. Almost as if she was preparing to hit him square across the jaw.
His chest tightened.
“You need to leave,” she said quietly.
Immediately, like a balloon pricked by a needle, his anger deflated. Remorse, swift and cool and heady, rushed through him. What had he been thinking? He hadn’t lost control like this in…in years.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” she asked bitingly.
“I shouldn’t have raised my voice. Or gotten angry.”
“But you’re not sorry about what you said.”
He wasn’t. He had meant every word. Seth was a dick. Anyone who didn’t value Meghna was a dick. And he wouldn’t apologize for saying that.
He shook his head slowly. “I’m not.”
Hurt flashed in her eyes. She took a step back from him. “Then you need to go.”
He wanted to stay. He wanted to take back the last few minutes and try it all again. He wanted to tell her that he admired her. That she was talented. And hardworking. And smart. And that she deservedsomeone who saw all of that. Who saw all of the wonderful things that made herher. And that person wasn’t Seth. He didn’t deserve an ounce of her time. Her attention. Her love.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, even though he knew the words weren’t enough. There was nothing he could say that would repair the damage he’d done. He walked out the door, and the last thing he saw before it swung shut in his face was Meghna’s crumpled expression, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
The next morning, Meghna sat patiently as her hair was clamped, pulled, and stretched through a curling iron. She watched in the mirror as the stylist picked up a newly formed curl, turning and twisting it into place. Meghna flinched when yet another bobby pin slid uncomfortably against her scalp.
“Sorry,” the stylist said, her voice muffled by the bobby pins between her teeth. “Almost done.”
Meghna thanked her, sneaking a peek at the other bridesmaids. All of them were ready and dressed and once Meghna was done, Julie would be the only one left. Though the whole experience could have been awkward, Julie and her friends had welcomed Meghna into the fold, asking her questions about what Seth was like in college, begging for information about the special song he had been working on, and sharing funny stories about their dating lives.
“My lips are sealed,” she said when Beth, the maid of honor, asked again for a hint about the song. “I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
Julie laughed. “I’m sorry they’re bothering you so much about it. But it’s shocking that Seth has managed to keep this a secret for solong! He always shows me what he’s working on. It’s like he can’t help it.”
“He doesn’t justshowthem to you,” Beth said. “Remember when he played ‘Angel in Red’ for us? You told him to change the whole second verse and he listened to you. He basically rewrote it because you said so.”
“Not at all,” Julie said, waving a hand dismissively. “I just suggested moving it to the end. The real difference happened when he made that key change.”
Meghna froze.
“And when he added that new chorus, remember?” Beth added.
“Oh, yeah. That line about how ‘her words are like poison and I’m drunk on her lies’? I love that one. I met this girl at the studio the other day and she’d gotten it tattooed on her arm. I took a picture for Seth and he couldn’t believe it.”
Goose bumps prickled on the back of Meghna’s neck. That washerline. They were talking about her line. And the key change? That had been her suggestion too.
“Did you…” Meghna’s voice came out high and squeaky. She cleared her throat. “Did you help him with that second verse at all? The one you told him to change?”
Julie flushed with pleasure. “Did he mention that to you? That’s so nice. I mean, we were just messing around with it. I ad-libbed a few lines while he played it and he ended up using a few of them.”
