Page 50 of Miss Belief

Reid

As I was posing for pictures with the groom’s side of the wedding party, I suddenly felt caught in the crosshairs of a familiar gaze. How many minutes over the years had I wasted searching Vanessa out in a crowd? From the time I fell in love with her in middle school and through all of the years we’d spent dating, she’d always been the center of my entire world. Maybe that was at the crux of why we’d ultimately failed. Because we’d both always put her first.

Upon seeing her, I braced myself for an impact. But the moment our gazes met, the anticipated jolt wasn’t there. The sting of pride was present, but even that was a dull ache instead of the sharp pain I’d expected.

As soon as the photographer called the women over for the next round of photos, she came up with a big smile. “Hi, Reid, how are you?”

“Fine, thanks. How are you?” I could do this. I could have a civilized conversation with my ex.

She looked around as if she desired privacy, but there was none to be found. All eyes were on us. “I’m okay. But I was hurt to hear you brought a date. Who is she?”

“She’s someone I work with.”

“How long have you been together?”

Her question hit me with déjà vu. It’s what she’d asked when I’d been dating Shelly years ago. And I was ashamed to remember my answer had been, “not long enough to be serious.” I’d purposefully left the door open, not realizing how serious it had been for Shelly at the time. Even after all these years, I felt terrible that I’d gone home the same night to break things off so I could reconcile with Vanessa. But this was different. I had no desire to take Vanessa back.

“A few weeks.” Over Vanessa’s shoulder, a vision of red hair caught my eye. Teagan wore a smirk on her face, making me want to walk over and ask what was on her mind.

“We should get in position for pictures.”

Vanessa didn’t appear happy with my suggestion or the fact I was already turning to go. “We need to talk. Please give me a few minutes. We can meet tonight. Get some closure.”

I didn’t want to talk to her later, but neither did I want a scene in front of everyone. By the way her eyes were tearing up, that’s exactly what was going to happen if I didn’t agree to meet her.

“Fine. We can talk tonight.”

Her beautiful face morphed into a triumphant smile. One I’d seen too many times to count. “I need your number.”

I hated the fact Teagan was witnessing Vanessa pull out her phone to type in the digits I relayed to her. It felt like a step back instead of demonstrating that I was over her.

Thirty minutes later, the bridal party was getting restless. How many pictures did they need for a cocktail party two nights before the actual wedding? The answer was too many. Especially since Vanessa insisted on standing next to me for every snap. Because I didn’t want to cause a scene, I kept my mouth shut, but after the last shot, I walked over to where Teagan was standing beside Ellen.

“Hi,” I whispered, cupping her chin. Faking it was feeling, oh, so real.

“Hi.” She barely got a chance to respond before my lips descended. The kiss was soft, chaste by all standards, yet it also felt incredibly intimate.

I leaned in close to her ear. “I taste whiskey on your lips. Should I be concerned?”

A giggle bubbled up in her throat. “Not yet. Unfortunately, I met your brother. I was hoping your mom was wrong, and he wouldn’t be here.”

“Chance rarely does what’s expected of him. Did he say anything to you?”

“Yeah, some shit about bourbon being better than rye whiskey.”

I had a feeling she was omitting a great deal of the conversation, but I appreciated that she was intent on keeping me calm.

“I don’t understand why he’s here. He hates weddings.”

“I would guess he’s here to talk to you. Maybe to apologize.”

I expelled a long breath. “My brother isn’t capable of a real apology.”

“Sorry for bringing it up. You should probably pretend you’re still crazy about me before everyone thinks we’re fighting.”

She grinned when I pulled her close, and I enjoyed the excuse to put my hands on her. “Just do me a favor and stay away from him.”

“You know, fake or not, I’d never do that to you, don’t you? Ever.”