Say You Do

by Weston Parker

  A choked sigh escaped her. “He’s never home before the early morning hours and he’s almost always drunk when he gets there. You know that’s a trigger for me. He gets high in front of me and he flirts with other women.”

  When a tear rolled down her cheek, I stood up. I might not be a monster, but I didn’t particularly feel like being manipulated either. She grabbed my wrist and rose to her feet as well. “If I leave him, I get nothing, Cyrus. We have a pre-nup drawn up by his lawyers that I can’t beat. Unless you help me, baby. If you and I get back together—”

  I jerked my arm free of her grip and narrowed my eyes. “Don’t touch me, Sam.”

  “Don’t you dare walk away from me.” Her nostrils flared. “You owe it to me to have this conversation, you—”

  “I don’t owe you shit. Hearing you out tonight was far more than you ever had a right to expect from me. Am I glad he treats you like shit? No. You should be happy, Sam, and one day, I hope you will be. For now, you got what you deserved. Good luck getting yourself out of it.”

  Just before I turned to walk away, I sighed and dragged both hands through my hair. “For God’s sake, stay away from the bar. Find your husband and try to work things out with him. There had to have been a reason why you chose him. Whatever happens, just leave the bar, okay? He’s not worth the risk.”

  Wetness I truly hadn’t believed she was capable of appeared in her eyes, and her shoulders slumped, but she nodded. “This isn’t over.”

  I let my hand drift from my chest and motioned to hers. “If you mean us, then yes. It’s over. Move on, Sam. I sure as fuck have.”

  Without a doubt in my mind that I’d made the right choice, I finally turned away from her and left Samantha well and truly behind. Perhaps for the first time ever, it felt like she really was where she belonged. In my past.

  It still didn’t mean I was ready to get married again, nor did I know if I ever wanted to. But it did mean that for the first time since she’d left me, I was free to make my own decisions. I was done letting her and the baggage she’d caused dictate my actions.

  Deciding that waiting for the elevator was a waste of time, I flung the door to the stairwell open and took them down two at a time. Since Luna and I were on the upper floors of the hotel anyway, it took me almost no time to reach her door.

  I lifted my hand and started to knock before her final words played through my mind again. We’re just friends, right?

  Like the idiot I was and because I’d been so wrapped up in watching Sam down shot after shot, wondering why the asshole wasn’t there to stop her, I’d said yes. Although it wasn’t like I could have said no at the time.

  Things might have changed for me, or at least I thought they had, but they obviously hadn’t for Luna. Whatever crazy shit I’d been trying to convince myself I didn’t feel for her, she really didn’t feel for me.

  All she wanted was to be friends, and I didn’t know if I could be that for her any longer. If I knocked and she opened her door, invited me in? Fuck.

  I didn’t know if there would be any coming back from that for me. When I’d booked our two rooms, I’d done it in an effort to preserve our friendship despite what I’d asked of her to convince her to come here.

  Perhaps it had been unknowingly at the time, but it might just have saved our friendship for another reason as well. I just wasn’t sure it was one she wanted to hear, and if I went in there, I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t say it anyway.

  So I didn’t knock. I braced both hands against her door, hung my head, and silently apologized for being a shitty friend in the days to come. Then I went back to my room. Alone.

  For the rest of the nights we were on this trip, that was the way it would have to be. Unless Luna decided otherwise.

  Chapter 35

  Luna

  Cyrus was always busy for the remainder of our time in Italy. During the day, I explored by myself and tried not to wallow in misery.

  Instead, I got lost in the sights and sounds of the magical place he’d brought me to, doing my best to soak in every moment despite the fact that I’d rather have had him beside me. Before we’d boarded the plane to come here, he’d warned me that the couple of days after the gala would be rough for him.

  Meeting after meeting packed his schedule, but he’d promised to spend his time in the evenings with me. It had been said jokingly at the time, with a wag of his eyebrows and insinuation in his tone.

  I’d laughed but agreed.

  A naughty glimmer had come into his eyes when I’d said yes, and then he’d kissed the crap out of me. A kiss that had been full of promises that had turned out to be empty.

  Every night, he texted me with an excuse about why he couldn’t see me. Meetings running late or late meetings that had turned into business dinners. I didn’t buy any of it, but I couldn’t say I minded that he hadn’t gotten around to spending any more time with me.

  That night after I’d walked out on him in the bar, I hadn’t heard him next door with his ex. Thank the Lord.

  I also hadn’t seen either her or Landon around again. I really should send the Lord a bouquet of flowers for that, but double thank you to the big man upstairs for that one.

  While I hadn’t seen any of the three people who had become the bane of my existence, that didn’t mean that they weren’t there. Cyrus and Samantha lurked in my thoughts, and the more I imagined them together, the more I understood why they had been together and why they probably were again.

  They were the ultimate power couple. She was the perfect partner for a man like him, polished, beautiful, and with that upper crust accent that spoke of money.

  I wondered when she’d tell Landon that she was cheating on him just like he had on her. Maybe she already had, or maybe she was doing it just as I sat there on St. Mark’s square, my hands full of pigeon feed and my soul full of sadness and regret.

  The days passed in a blur, and eventually, my time in Italy came to an end. It was a bittersweet goodbye to a country I knew I wouldn’t see again.

  Our flight back to New York was uneventful and mostly silent, with only a few words exchanged between us. When we landed, I texted April to pick me up. I also received a text from my bank congratulating me on paying off my loans.

  Holding out my hand to Cyrus when we stepped out of the terminal and into the wave of humidity that welcomed us home, I gave him a forced smile. “It was a pleasure doing business with you. I’ll see you around, Cyrus.”

  “You don’t want a ride?” he asked as he frowned at my hand but didn’t shake it.

  Eventually, it got awkward and I let it drop. “No, I’m fine. Thanks.”

  Thankfully, I’d let April know more or less when our plane would be landing and she pulled up as if she’d been sent by the gods themselves to save me. Honking her horn, she rolled down her window and grinned at me.

  “Well, are you coming, my little Globetrotter?” she called out and slapped the side of her car. “I have margaritas and pizza ready and waiting at home.”

  “Coming.” I turned back to Cyrus and gave him a little wave. “I guess this is, uh, goodbye. Thanks again for everything.”

  He opened his mouth, then closed it again and pressed it into a firm line. Returning my wave, he grabbed the handle of his bag and stalked off in the direction of the long-term parking lot.

  April glanced between the two of us, an unhappy expression on her face as I climbed into the car after loading my suitcase into the trunk. “What happened?”

  “You were right.” I sat back against her seat with a thud and groaned as I fastened my seatbelt. “I never should have gotten involved in any of this.”

  “It was that bad, huh?” She reached out to pat my leg as she merged into the traffic. “I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “I got deluded,” I said. “I know you warned me, and I know I didn’t listen, but I really thought it was going well.”

  “It did seem to be.” Her brows pulled together. “So I ask agai
n, what happened?”

  “It was worse than bad. He didn’t only want to use me to make his ex jealous. He wanted to make her jealous so he could get her back.”

  April’s jaw dropped and she slammed her hand into her horn. “Move, asshole. We’re in need of margaritas here. Stat.”

  When the driver in front of her didn’t move, she swerved around him only to have to slam on her brakes as we hit our first traffic jam. She puffed out a heavy breath. “I’m sorry. I did try to get us to the alcohol faster. Keep talking. I’ll do my best to make sure we get to it as soon as we can. Adi’s staying with a friend from school for the night, so I’m all yours.”

  “How did you know I’d need you?” I asked, my voice quiet.

  She shrugged and shook her head. “I didn’t, but I thought there might be a chance. You don’t go to a place like Venice with a man like that and not need a girlfriend to come home to.”

  “You’re the best.” I turned my head to face the window, took a breath, and then broke open my heart to spill the contents all over her car. “I should have listened to you. I was such a knucklehead to believe I could keep things platonic with Cyrus. At first, it really was just attraction. He was also a nice person, or at least I thought he was. I’ve since learned differently.”

  “When did you end up realizing it was more than that?” Sympathy colored her tone, and I was grateful that at the very least, she hadn’t said she’d told me so. Even if she had. A true friend.

  I shook my head against the fabric of her seat. “I’m not sure the exact moment, but it was somewhere after realizing I was jealous that he cared enough about his ex to make her jealous and the moment I realized there was more to it for him than that.”

  She hesitated. “He really got back together with her in front of you?”

  “He may as well have.” Tears burned my eyes as I remembered that night. “In a wicked twist of fate, it turns out his ex is the same woman Landon is married to.”

  “What?” Her voice bounced around the inside of the car and I winced. “Are you serious?”

  “Unfortunately.” I breathed past the tears threatening to fall, but my voice still came out thick. “Cyrus encouraged me to tell her about Landon cheating on her when he found out. I did. They got in a huge fight. She ended up at the same bar as us and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.”

  It got too hard to talk without crying and I dragged in another few breaths while April released a string of curses worthy of every single one I hadn’t uttered. “That bastard. Are his balls still attached to his body? Because they shouldn’t fucking be.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” I said flatly. “I wasn’t the one doing anything with his balls for the rest of the trip.”

  “You really think he got back together with her?” she asked after a brief pause. “Did you see them together?”

  “No, but I didn’t see either of them separately either. They might have been together, but maybe not.” I shrugged. “I don’t know, but if you’d seen the way he looked at her, you’d know she was the one he’s wanted all this time. God, he was watching her like a hawk circling its prey.”

  “Bastard,” she repeated. “I can’t believe he did that to you.”

  “We never made each other any promises he didn’t honor. He took me to Italy, paid off my debts, and didn’t fall in love with me. It all went exactly as he said it would.”

  Silence fell between us for several long minutes. Horns honking as we made our way through the traffic seemed to be the melancholy cacophony welcoming me back to my real life. The one where there were no super hot, super sweet billionaires popping in every other day, no invitations for exotic trips, and no passionate nights after disagreeing on plans for a wedding that wasn’t even ours.

  A choked sob escaped me and April squeezed my leg. “I’m so sorry, babe. You didn’t deserve this.”

  “I did,” I said. “You warned me. He warned me. I should have known, but I refused to listen. I thought I had it all under control and then I just had to go believing in some fucked-up fairy tale that wasn’t even real.”

  This time the silence that fell between us was stunned. April was first to break it but only as we were nearing her apartment. “You fell for him hard enough to swear about it?”

  I nodded, tears finally breaking free. They tracked down my cheeks and tasted salty on my lips. “I really did. He was everything I never thought I wanted, and now I don’t know what I’m going to do. This isn’t like Landon. It feels a million times worse, especially because this time, I really should have seen it coming.”

  “You never cursed over Landon, so I already knew it was worse” she said, demonstrating once again that she knew me better than I knew myself sometimes. “Just so you know, I was really hoping to be wrong on this one. In fact, I’ve never wanted to be wrong so badly. I was holding out hope that Cyrus was going to prove me wrong about all male kind.”

  “You and me both apparently.” Bitterness tinged my tone and I hated it.

  “For what it’s worth,” April said, honesty and regret making her voice sound course, “this guy really did seem different. I don’t think you can blame yourself for falling for his act because if he got me to believe it just by hearing about him, he’s really good at it.”

  “Yeah, he was good at it.” Just like he was good at every flipping thing he did. “I don’t think he meant for it to be an act, though. He really never said anything that didn’t turn out to be true.”

  “He made you believe it, though,” she said softly. “That’s almost worse, as far as I’m concerned. This was the first time I hoped I was wrong about a guy after everything that happened with Adi’s father. I’m sorry that I wasn’t.”

  “So am I,” I murmured before drifting into silence once more. “Do me a favor and just slap me next time, okay? None of this believing I’m right stuff. It only seems to get me burnt.”

  In a surprising reversal of roles, April shook her head firmly. “I’ll never stop believing you’re right, girl. I can’t. One of us has to stay optimistic and it has to be you. One day, you’ll find your Prince Charming and he really will prove to all of us that not all men are untrustworthy assholes.”

  I doubted that, but I nodded anyway.

  If only because April had just admitted to needing to believe. I’d already faked being a wife. How much harder could it really be to fake being an optimist?

  Chapter 36

  Cyrus

  One week after getting back from Italy, Peter was tired of me dodging his calls. He was waiting for me when I got home, sitting on my couch with a beer in his hand and an expectant expression on his face.

  He stood up when I walked in and spread his arms wide. “Well, well, well, the prodigal brother returns. Where have you been, dude?”

  “In Italy,” I grunted as I kicked off my sneakers and dragged my sweaty shirt over my head, letting it fall to the floor.

  My brother gave me a look, then handed over a beer he had waiting for me. “From the looks of things, I think you might have been to the gym after. Unless you just ran here all the way from Venice.”

  “Smart ass.” It was the best I could come up with as I collapsed on the couch and kicked my feet up on the coffee table. “Why are you here?”

  “What? Do I need a reason to visit my little brother when I know he’s been back in the country for a week and I haven’t heard a peep from him? I was worried, Cyrus. Jesus. What’s wrong with you?”

  “Nothing.” I hoped he read the implied “fuck off” between the lines.

  He didn’t, but it really shouldn’t have surprised me.

  “I checked with all the wedding suppliers from that list you sent me before you left,” he said, starting almost cautiously. “They’ve all assured me everything is on track.”

  “Yeah, well, the wedding is in two weeks. What did you expect?” I hooked one arm behind my neck and rested my head against it. “Your bachelor party is coming up and it’s going to be tame, just like you reque
sted. Everything else was on that list. So what’s up?”

  “Where have you been all week?”

  “Working.” I shot to my feet and glared at him as I began to pace. “Fuck, Peter. What’s with all the questions? I’ve been busy with your fucking wedding for months, and everything is set to go as you’ve found out for yourself. Why are you up my ass about this?”

  Peter, annoyingly, ignored my outburst. “What happened to Luna? You weren’t like this when she was around, which tells me that she’s not anymore.”

  “Nothing happened to her. I told you we were just friends. I’ve gotten back into my investments. You know, my actual job. Luna has gotten back to her actual work, too. You might remember that neither of us are fucking wedding planners in our real lives.”

  He held up his hand, palms turned out as he lifted a brow. “Don’t bite my fucking head off, asshole. I know you’re not a wedding planner and I’ve thanked you plenty of times for helping out. For the rest of my life, I’ll be grateful to you for everything you’ve done and so will Jenny.”

  The words hit me like a blow to the chest, stomach, and jaw all at once, but he wasn’t done. “Throughout your whole life, I’ve been proud of you. No matter what, I’ve always had your back. I listened to all your bullshit opinions, and I’ve never seriously argued with you, but I’m starting to see that might have been a mistake.”

  “Yeah?” I lifted my chin and my eyes narrowed to slits. “Why’s that?”

  “Because right now, you’re acting like an entitled child who got his favorite toy taken away. I get that people lash out at those closest to them, but really? Like I said, I’ve been proud of you your whole life, but I’m really fucking disappointed in you right now.”

  Those were the words that finally knocked the wind out of my sails. With another grunt, I sank down on my haunches, dropped my head into my hands, and released a silent scream.

  Peter’s callused hand was rough on my shoulder, but it was comforting nonetheless. When I finally lifted my head again, he inclined his toward the couch. “Let’s sit down and actually talk, okay?”