He tensed, sure he was about to be chewed out for his behavior yesterday.
“Me too,” he said before she could continue. “I need to apologize. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that last night. I was angry and I took it out on you. I know you know Seth better than I do, and I had concerns about him, but I shouldn’t have brought them up that way. I didn’t mean to hurt you and I’m very sorry that I did. I…I never want to hurt you. I never want to doanythingthat hurts you.”
It was why he needed to end this. If he tried to make things work with her, it was only a matter of time before he hurt her again.
Her hand slid down his arm to grasp his hand.
“I know that,” she said. “I was so angry at you, and we’ll need to talk about this more, but those things you said about Seth? They’rethings I’ve known for a while, but I just refused to acknowledge them. Refused to deal with them.”
Right.Because you love him.He winced at the thought.
“And I know that I need to,” she continued. “And, well, thanks to Julie, I think I’m starting to. But that’s a much longer story. Right now, I need to tell you that—”
“Hey, guys,” Mark said as he and Eric joined them. “Nice ceremony, wasn’t it?”
“Sure,” Eric said. “But I’m ready to eat.”
Meghna gave a nervous laugh. “I’m not.”
“Right,” Eric said, wagging his eyebrows. “Dinner means we’re getting closer to your big speech.”
Karthik squeezed Meghna’s hand. “You’re going to do great,” he told her.
“Thanks,” she replied softly.
He smiled at her, and she smiled in return.
“You guys are unbelievably cute,” Eric said. “It’s honestly annoying.”
Mark laughed. “You need to set Eric up with someone,” he told Meghna. “He’s been whining all weekend about how he’s so tired of showing up to these weddings alone.”
“Why don’t you set him up with someone?” she asked Mark.
“Please,” Eric said. “The last time he tried to do that, he ended up dating her instead.”
“It didn’t exactly happen that way,” Mark said indignantly.
“It totally did,” Eric said. “Karthik, what about you? Do you know anybody?”
Karthik shook his head. Out of all of Seth’s groomsmen, he liked Eric the best. He wished he knew someone who could match Eric’s laid-back energy. Someone who’d enjoy his sense of humor. But no one came to mind.
“No, sorry,” he said.
Eric sighed. “It’s fine. I’ll just be alone forever.”
They all laughed, but were interrupted by an announcement that dinner would be served soon. They found their seats, and the meal started with a plate of leafy greens.
Eric took a bite and grimaced.
“What did I say about underdressed salads?” he whispered under his breath, and Karthik chuckled in response.
“You know,” Eric said a few seconds later. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, what’s the job market like in New York?”
Karthik frowned. “I’m happy to share anything I know, but I don’t know much about the music industry—”
“I don’t work in music.”
“You don’t?”
