“Oi,” he said.
“Hey.” I closed the door and walked closer.
“Sorry I didn’t come last Friday.”
“It’s okay. You’re playing away.” I frowned. “You still are, right?”
“I am. I came last night after my game, and I’ll be going back tonight because I have a game tomorrow.”
“Oh.” I held out his tuxedo for him. “Let’s get to it, then.”
He picked the tux up. “Just change into this?”
“Yup,” I said, nodding.
Gui turned to one of the stalls on the side of the room, and disappeared behind the thin opaque glass door. I scanned the room, looking for something to focus on, so I wouldn’t think that Gui was undressing just a few feet from me. This room was a smaller version of the room I met the girls and the guys in the other day. However, it still had the same elegance, the same mirror wall, and the same podium in front of the mirrors.
I heard the ruffle of clothes as Gui stripped it all. Searching deep in my thoughts, I remembered seeing him shirtless once or twice over a year ago, and the only thing that came to mind was that his chest was ripped back then. I could only imagine if he was still that ripped now. I swallowed.
Then he surged from the stall and I had to swallow again.
Oh my …
Gui in his usual clothes was hot. Gui in his polo uniform was hotter. But Gui in a tux? It was hotter than the sun. He had forwent the baseball hat, and the cowboy boots, opting to put on the dress shoes that were kept inside the fitting rooms. Even though the tux still needed a few adjustments, he looked edible.
“Is it all right?” he asked, opening his arms and looking at himself. “I mean, I know you made it, but I’m wondering if the measurements are good.”
“Hm.” I stared, having completely forgotten how to speak. “Hm,” I tried again, pulling the professional out of me. Damn it was hard. “I think we can adjust the shoulders, and maybe the length of the pants.”
“Oh.”
“Come here,” I said, beckoning him to stand on the podium in front of the mirrors.
One corner of his lips tugged up as he stepped onto the small podium. “I feel a little silly standing here.”
I reached for a box of pins in the drawer of a shelf to the side, and then knelt beside him, focusing on the hem of his pants. “The guys said the same thing the other day, but the girls loved it.”
He let out a soft chuckled. “I bet.”
I folded the hem on the place I thought looked best, placed one pin, stood, and stepped back to look. Even though I tried not to, I lifted my eyes to his and found him looking at me.
“How’s the tournament?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood a little. “Winning?”
“Yes,” he said. “That’s what I was hired for. To make the team win.”
I knelt in front of him again, and adjusted the hem a little more. “I thought you were hired to help the team win.”
“Well, that’s a polite way to say it, but face it. They wouldn’t hire someone in the top ten in the world and pay a ridiculous price to have us help. They expect to win.”
I placed more pins in the right places and stood. “I’m glad you’re winning, then.” I looked up at him, briefly wondering how I would get to his shoulders if he was already much taller than me without the podium. Standing on it? I needed a ladder. “Hm.” I considered standing on the podium with him, but it was too small. I would have to be too close to him, and that would be … awkward. “Can you come down, please? I need to reach the shoulders of your jacket, and with you up there …” I didn’t finish.
“Oh, right.” He stepped down and right in my face. I sucked in a long breath, taking in the spicy tang of his aftershave before I gave a step back.
“Thanks,” I said. I avoided looking at his face, at his eyes, because I was too afraid of what I would see. Instead, I examined his shirt. “How’s the neck of your shirt?” The problem here was, to touch his clothes, I had to be close to him. I gave a half a step toward him. With the word professional in my mind, I reached up and hooked a finger inside the shirt’s neck, to feel how tight it was. Not feeling the warmth of his skin, I tugged. “We can tighten this one sixth of an inch more, too. It’ll look better.”
“If you say so,” he said, his voice a whisper.
His breath teased my cheek, and I did my best not to turn my head toward him.
“Now, the shoulders,” I said, reaching to his left arm. Damn it, he was too tall. I could touch it, but I couldn’t get a good look to pin it right. Why had I wore flats today? I stood on my tiptoes. Still not good. “Hm, could you—?”
I gasped as Gui’s hands closed around my waist and raised me up and deposited me on the podium. His hands stayed on my waist, his body too close to mine, my head—my mouth—just an inch higher than his. He stared into my eyes.
“Better?” he asked, his voice low, but coarse.
I didn’t trust myself to speak. I just nodded.
Disappointment invaded my chest, surprising me as he withdrew his hands and turned to the side, giving me better access to his left shoulder.
I cleared my throat. “Try not to move or I might pin you.”
“Duly noted.”
I pressed the fabric, moving it tighter, and pined it in the right position. I leaned back, examining how it looked, then applying light pressure on his shoulder, had him turn his right shoulder to me. He kept his head high, his gaze straight, right over my shoulder, and I wondered what he was thinking, what he was feeling. Was I the only one worked up here? Was I overreacting? He didn’t seem too affected by what had transgressed between us.
“This is how it’s going to be from now on?” he asked, making me lose the pin I was about to plunge in the fabric.
I snatched another pin. “What do you mean?”
He turned his face toward me and I froze. There were only a few inches between our lips.
“This.” He pointed a finger at me, then him. “This coldness, this awkwardness. Every time we meet. Is this how it’s going to be from now on?”
I sighed. “I hope not.”
A knot appeared on his forehead. “You expect me to just go on being friends with you as if we haven’t kissed? As if you didn’t confess to me that you like me? Or did that change already and that’s why you’re acting so okay with all this?”
“I’m not—” I pressed my lips tight and took a deep breath. “I’m not acting okay. I’m a nervous wreck on the inside.” The words were out before I could stop them. Damn it.
“Then you’re a better actress than I thought.”
I gasped. “You’re such a—” I snapped my mouth shut. A what? A jerk? A selfish bastard? But I knew he wasn’t. Not really. He might be—used to be?—a playboy, but he was never a jerk about it. All the girls who got involved with him knew what to expect from him. Including me. “We already talked about this, Gui. What else do you want me to say?”
He stared at me for a long time, as if he wanted me to read it in his expression. I tried not to.
His forehead creased. “I don’t know.”
A couple of months ago, being this close to him would have made me nervous. I would be shaking like a leaf and ready to bolt. Now? He still made me nervous, but it was for other reasons. I wanted to be close to him. Even closer. The problem was … how close was too close? I could handle this distance. A simple kiss. His hands around me. Would I be able to handle more? My brain seized each time I thought about that, which indicated my body would seize too if I tried. I didn’t want to freak out while making out with him, while … doing more with him. He had already bothered too much with me, more than he should have. I didn’t want to become a problem in his life. He was so much better off without me.
If only he understood that and stopped being mad at me.
No, Gui wasn’t a jerk or a selfish bastard, but right now, he was infuriating. Groaning, I finished straightening the shoulder of his jacket and stepped off the podium.
/> “We’re done here,” I said, my voice firm, resolute. “You can change back into your clothes. Leave the tux on the hangers inside the stall. I’ll come pick it up later.” I turned and head to the door.
“Hil, wait,” Gui called.
I didn’t look back. “Good-bye, Gui.”
I exited the room and, once the door was closed behind me, I rushed to the nearest bathroom, where I locked myself in and fought not to cry.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Gui was back. He had won the tournament in Florida, and he was now number three in the world ranking. It wasn’t official yet since the federation wouldn’t announce it until next week, but Gui had invited everyone to his apartment to celebrate.
My first thought was hell no. I shouldn’t go. Last time we saw each other, we had parted on such a bad note. I didn’t feel like facing him. But during the afternoon, I thought about it. Wasn’t I the one insisting on going back to the way things were before we started spending so much time together? Before we kissed? If I didn’t stand behind what I said, how did I expect him to do it? Besides, I would have to face him sooner or later. It was only three weeks until the wedding now and we lived in the same building. We were bound to run into each other sometime soon. So, I decided to have some control over when and how I saw him again.
After lots of fake meditation and weak relaxation techniques, I got ready for the party and went upstairs a little after the appointed time. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t the first one to arrive.
I kept messing with the skirt of my dress the entire elevator ride. I had chosen a casual black and pink summer dress with a flirty skirt and pink sandals. I had pulled my hair into a tight ponytail and applied a little makeup. Not too fancy, not too casual.
My stomach revolved as I knocked on the door. To my relief, Lauren opened the door.
“Wow, you look pretty!” she said, moving aside so I could enter.
“Thanks,” I said, scanning the place as I stepped into the apartment.
As usual, Leo and Garrett were playing video games, while Ri and Pedro were with them in the living room, waiting for their turn. Hannah, Bia, and Iris were in the kitchen, preparing drinks and the finger food that would be passed around.
I didn’t see Gui and my feelings divided into relief and disappointment. Wasn’t this his party? Where was he?
I followed Lauren to the kitchen where Hannah handed me a whiskey with coke, which I passed to Bia. To occupy my mind, I went around the kitchen island and helped Hannah with everything. If I just sat on a stool beside Bia, my thoughts would make me more nervous and scared than I already was.
Hannah handed me another glass with whiskey and coke. “Take it. You’ll need it,” she whispered.
“Why?” I asked, setting the glass aside. I wouldn’t drink this, no matter what.
She just shook her head and spoke up, talking about the wedding. And that was how the girls distracted me. They asked me about their dresses and the bachelorette party, and we talked about other light topics.
I could handle this.
But as the minutes passed, I wondered where Gui was.
Finally, almost thirty minutes after I arrived, the balcony glass doors opened and Gui stepped inside the living room. With a girl trailing behind him.
She said something as she halted beside him, and he chuckled.
My heart stopped.
Beside me, Hannah tsked. “Are you sure you don’t want some alcohol?”
“W-who is she?” I asked, my voice low.
“Her name is Amanda,” my sister said. “But I don’t know her. Gui introduced her to us when she arrived, just a couple of minutes before you did, and then Gui took her to the balcony.”
The balcony made an L around the living room, going to the bedrooms. Gui could have been anywhere in the apartment with this girl. Nausea rolled in my stomach.
Gui’s eyes found mine across the room and his smile dropped. He nodded to me and I raised my hand, waving my fingers at him. The girl turned to me too and smiled wide.
“Hi,” she mouthed. I waved at her too.
She turned back to him and she clasped her hand around his upper arm. Gui returned his eyes to her and his lopsided grin appeared again.
How I was able to stand here, wave at them, and watch them, I had no idea.
I had known coming here would be awkward, but I was willing to push through that. We had to; otherwise, we would never be friends again. But I hadn’t expected to find him with another girl already.
I turned my back to them, leaning my butt against the kitchen island.
“What can I do for you?” Hannah asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
Just the other day, I had told myself he wasn’t a jerk. Now I wasn’t so sure anymore. Maybe Gui didn’t feel the same for me, as he led me to believe, but he knew how I felt about him and he knew my reasons for not being with him. They might not make sense to him, but they did to me. I expected a sliver of respect from him. Of consideration.
“Everything okay?” Bia asked. I looked at her over my shoulder. “Hannah has a murderous look on her face, and you have your shoulders slumped. What is it?”
“Nothing,” I said before Hannah invented some other lie. “Just had a bad week at work.”
“But I thought the internship was amazing,” Iris said.
I nodded. “It is.”
“What’s the problem, then?” Lauren asked.
I almost cringed as I fabricated a lie. “One of my co-workers is a jerk, that’s all.”
“Tell us all about it,” Bia said. “Let us talk bad about the bastard.”
A tiny smile took over my lips. “Thanks, but I would rather not talk about this anymore.”
Across the room, my eyes met Gui’s again. Hannah started a new topic, grabbing the girls’ attention while mine remained with Gui. He turned to Amanda, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to sit down at the dining table. They took side-by-side chairs, and Gui put his arms over the back of her chair, leaning closer, with his lopsided grin brightening his gorgeous face. Amanda certainly looked smitten, but she also played the same game. Her arm, which had been lying on the table, slid under, probably to touch his thigh … or someplace else.
My stomach turned over.
I placed both hands on my belly, as if that would help. I wanted to be strong, I wanted to face this, but it was too much too fast. I wasn’t ready for this.
“I’m not sure I can stay here,” I whispered to Hannah.
She entwined her fingers with mine and squeezed. “It’s okay. I’ll help you with a white lie if you want to.”
I groaned, not happy with it. “Okay.”
I turned around, facing Bia and Lauren and Iris across the kitchen island, and behind them everyone else in the living and dining room. I opened my mouth to say something, anything that would maybe get me out of here, but Hannah’s actions were faster than my addled brain.
She reached behind us, grabbed a two liter bottle of coke, uncapped it, and, when turning back to us, she tripped on her own foot and bumped into me, spilling coke all over the side of my dress.
I gasped, not believing she had done that. I glared at her, ready to kill her. My night had been terrible so far, and now she had just put the cherry on top of the sundae by ruining my dress.
“Oh my …” I hissed.
“I’m so sorry,” Hannah said, her tone loud and clear.
“Meu Deus!” Bia shrieked, jumping from her stool. Lauren and Iris weren’t far behind. With Hannah, they all found rags under the sink and dabbed them at me and at the floor.
The game was paused and the guys stood, looking in our direction with worried expressions, probably thinking we had cut ourselves with the knives or something. Gui was among them. Amanda had stayed at the table a few feet behind him.
“What happened?” Leo asked, looking from me to Hannah and to me again.
“I’m a klutz,” Hannah said, forcing her voice to sound too sweet a
nd innocent. “I tripped and the bottle fell on Hilary.”
The liquid pooled around my feet, and my skin felt sticky wherever the liquid had dripped down—my right arm and the outside of my right leg.
I took a rag from Hannah and wiped my arm. The excess was gone, but I still could feel it as if the gooey thing had seeped into my bones. Gosh, I could kill my sister.
“That’s one big mess,” Lauren said.
“And that’s one ruined mess,” Iris stated.
Angry, frustrated, disappointed, and humiliated, my eyes filled with tears.
I’m a big girl. I won’t cry. Not here, at least.
I sucked in a deep breath. “Excuse me,” I said to Bia and Lauren, who were cleaning the floor around me. I leaned against the island while I took off my sandals and cleaned my feet with the rag, before stepping away from the mess. I just hoped I wasn’t dripping coke anymore.
“I’m so sorry,” Hannah said. This time she stared into my eyes, and I knew what she meant.
“It’s okay,” I said. I put the rag in the sink and turned to the crowd watching me, forcing a smile. “Well, I guess I’m gonna go home.”
“Yeah,” Bia said. “It shouldn’t take you more than what? Fifteen minutes to clean up and change?”
“We promise we won’t talk about anything interesting while you’re gone,” Lauren said with a sweet smile.
“But I might eat all of Bia’s pão de queijo by then,” Iris joked.
I forced a chuckle. “Be right back,” I lied.
As I walked from the kitchen, through the hallway between the living room and dining room to the front door, I felt everyone’s eyes one me. I wanted to shrink and disappear.
I walked by Gui and I couldn’t help it. I spied him from the corner of my eyes. He was watching me too. A knot adorned his forehead, and his mouth was pressed together as if he was holding back from saying something, from yelling something. A tear escaped and I was sure he saw it.
I hurried my steps and left the apartment as if it could bite my ass. At the elevator, I looked into the mirror and another tear escaped as I promised myself I would skip the next get-together. No matter the circumstances.
Breaking Through (The Breaking Series Book 3) Page 25
