Page 63 of Because You Loved Me

“The holidays can be a lot.”

The man blew out a puff of air and shook his head. “Especially when women are involved. Am I right?”

He didn’t have a lot of experience in that particular area, but if recent events were anything to go by, Asher quite liked the addition of having a woman around during the holidays. He kept that little piece of information to himself and nodded noncommittedly.

“I should be celebrating with my bride this year. But that didn’t happen.”

Asher almost choked on his coffee.

“Oh, you must have heard about it, too.” The man laughed and lifted his glass to his lips.

Asher swallowed hard and raised his hand for Brian. “I think I’ll take a beer after all.” He nodded to his seat mate. “And one for my new friend here.”

“Cheers.” The man he now realized to be Ryan tipped his glass and swallowed back the rest of his drink.

Asher probably should have walked away and pretended he wasn’t sitting next to the man Noa had been about to marry. That would have been the best decision, for so many reasons. Yet he couldn’t seem to help himself from being consumed by curiosity. He had to know whether everything Noa had said was true. Of course, he wanted to believe it was, and that the two of them weren’t in love.But what if…

“I think I did hear someone talking about it,” Asher lied. “So, she’s not here with you then?”

It was an innocent enough question, and apparently the right thing to ask because Ryan chuckled, shook his head, and started talking. “Oh, she’s here. At least for the moment.” He glanced over his shoulder toward the lobby, and Asher had to force himself not to follow the man’s gaze. “But she’s not my wife. Yet.”

Brian passed them each a fresh pint glass of beer.

Ryan nodded a thank-you and took a sip. “It seems my bride had a little case of cold feet last week and took off right before the ceremony.”

“Oh?” Asher watched the other man carefully.

“Dramatic, right?” Ryan laughed. “It’s funny, because Noa isn’t really the dramatic type.”

“It does seem a bit drastic,” Asher said. “But, and excuse me for saying this, but you don’t seem very upset about it.”

Ryan chuckled again.

“I would think most men would be pissed. Or…sad.”

“I don’t disagree.” He nodded. “But nothing about my relationship with Noa is normal or traditional in any way.” He leaned closer to Asher. “Can I tell you something?”

This was the moment Asher should just walk away. He had no right to listen to this man confess anything about the woman he was currently developing very strong feelings for.

But he didn’t walk away, excuse himself, or confess that not only did he know Noa but had spent the last few days getting to know her very, very well. Nor did he stop to think about what it meant that he’d just acknowledged, at least to himself, that on some level he had feelings for Noa. Strong ones.

Instead, he nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Noa and I aren’t a normal couple,” Ryan began. “Sure, I’m a little pissed that she ran off without any heads-up, but also…” He shrugged. “I’m not worried about it because I know she’ll be back.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” Ryan sat up straight, full of confidence. “We’re meant to be together. There’s no doubt about that. Our families are already so close that this is just a formality at this point. No one knows her the way I do.”

“So do you know why she ran then?”

“Of course.” Ryan scoffed. “The whole big wedding wasn’t her dream. It was all for show. Our mothers wanted a big production. We were doing it for them.”

“The wedding or the marriage?”

Ryan looked at him sideways and, for a moment, Asher thought maybe he’d pushed it too far, but then he laughed.

“Both,” he confessed. “In a way, all of it is for them. But also for us. The thing with Noa and me is that we’ve been through everything together. We know each other inside and out and still like each other.”

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