Page 3 of Something Borrowed
I shake my head at my crazy thoughts. Here I am assuming she’ll even look twice at me. I deserve to be completely ignored for what I did to her.
She might as well be the only person in the room because when I pull the door open, my eyes immediately find her. The rest of the wedding party disappears into the background along with any furniture.
All I can see is her.
Her dark hair’s curled and resting over one shoulder, her make-up makes her look dark and mysterious, and her dress…fuck me. It hugs every curve she’s developed since I last saw her in the most delicious way. My mouth waters to find out if she still tastes as sweet and sinful as she did back then, and my fingers twitch remembering how soft her skin was.
“Freddie, thank fuck.” Mac steps up to me and I regretfully have to pull my eyes from Bryony.
Bryony
Iknow the second he enters the room. A shiver runs down my spine and my skin tingles with awareness. Without looking up, I know his eyes are on me. It’s been over ten years yet, I feel like a seventeen-year-old again. It’s crazy and I chastise myself for having such a strong reaction to a man I’ve not seen since he was a kid. I’ve not so much as seen a photograph of him. Although, I must admit that some nights after a glass of wine or two it was seriously tempting to find him on Instagram. I wanted to know I was right, that he’d got fat and ugly. I always managed to stop myself because if his green eyes, full lips, and square jaw line affected me like they did back then, I knew I’d be fucked. The more distance I put between our past and my present, the better.
The tingles subside and I risk a glance up. I find him instantly, standing with my brother.
He was the last guest to arrive so now that he’s here, I’ve got to get to work. It’s the last thing I want to do right now, but running to my room to hide isn’t really an option.
With tonight’s seating chart on the front of my clipboard, I finish my drink and start ushering people towards their seats. I keep my head down and avoid his stare. I know it’s aimed at me, I can feel it, but I’m not prepared to deal with him in front of all these people.
Walking up to Mac and Freddie, I keep my eyes on my brother. “It’s time to take your seats.” I point out where they’re both sitting before trying to make a hasty escape. Unfortunately, Freddie has other ideas.
Warm fingers wrap around my wrist and fireworks shoot up my arm. Damn him for still having this kind of effect on my body. All my muscles tense as his warmth seeps into me.
He steps up to me, his front pressing into my back. His breath tickles down my neck and I noticeably tremble against him.
“It’s rude not to say hello, Bryony.” The way my name rolls of his tongue has memories of our time together running through my mind and a rush of heat heading south.
“H—hello,” I stutter. Squeezing my eyes together, I beg for my body to behave and for him to release me.
“That’s better.”
“I have work to do.” Managing to get my head back in the game, I rip my arm from his grasp and step away.
“We’ll catch up later, then.” Another shiver runs through me because that suggestion sounds much more like a promise.
Just a few moments with him and I knowcatching up lateris a very bad idea.
I barely taste the five-star food we’re served. I’m too distracted by the pair of green eyes staring at me across the table. Each time I catch him, I harden my stare, trying to warn him off, but his attention doesn’t falter. Thankfully, everyone else is too distracted with the food, wine, and excitement for what tomorrow is going to hold to notice.
Once the plates have been scraped clean, the entire wedding party heads for the comfortable seating at the other side of the room to enjoy their coffees. I use that as a perfect time to disappear and try to get my head together.
Grabbing my clipboard, I head into the hotel kitchen to go over tomorrow’s menu and timings for what I hope is the final time. I’m nothing if not a perfectionist. I’m aware it must drive staff at any of the venues where I plan a wedding insane, but it’s one of the reasons why I have such a good reputation. My weddings always go as planned.
Instead of rejoining the others, I sneak out the back door for some air. The smell of early summer fills the air. It usually fills me with excitement of the nice weather, the barbeques, and the holidays to come, but I get none of that. My head is still back inside that room with his eyes on me.
I shudder and try to push him from my mind, but I already know it’s pointless. He’s been in there for well over a decade. Pretty much since the day I first discovered boys. He was always the one I wanted, and the very one I could never have.
Until he kissed me.
My mind wanders back to my brother’s eighteenth birthday. We’d had a family meal before he went out with his friends. My parents had no idea where they were going or what they were doing, and I think they preferred it that way. I was only a year younger so I had a good idea based on the gossip going around school. I’d also been warned by Mac not to even think about going to the lake that night.
I didn’t. I did as I was told. The damage was done once they got back to the house. Mac was trashed and had to be carried in by Freddie and another friend. They got him safely to bed and Freddie was coming out of the bathroom when we literally bumped into each other.
I sigh and try to put what happened next and the feeling of his lips against mine out of my mind. Remembering those feelings isn’t going to help me get through this weekend.
Freddie
My muscles ache to follow her as I watch her slip behind the ‘staff only’ door at the other side of the room. But I can’t follow her. Not yet, at least.
