Page 10 of Love Unavoidable
“Is that a no?”
She buries her head in my shoulder.
“Uh, you okay?” I turn my head to look behind me.
“No. Ohmigod. Don’t look!” My lapel muffles her voice. So I am not sure how she knew I would look, but I honor her request anyway.
“Was thatnoin response to whether you are okay?” I ask.
She nods, her face still buried in my chest. Not that I am complaining. She’s almost flush up against me and she feels good, fitting against my body like that’s what she was made for. Her legs are long and she’s in heels, so our hips align. Her head comes to just below my shoulder and her hand is warm against the back of my neck. Which is why, as much as I hate to do it, I ask her if she’d rather go sit down.
She shakes her head. “No.” She sighs. “It’s just that, there’s a guy behind you, dancing with an older woman . . .”
I am not sure where she’s going with this. But I’m relieved she doesn’t want to sit back down. I am enjoying my time immensely with this woman. I wait for her to explain, but when she’s still quiet after a few seconds I forge ahead.
“Ah, I see,” I say with mock sincerity. “The classic case of older woman, younger man. So taboo in modern society.” She looks up at me, confusion on her face. I wink back at her. She laughs.
“Sorry, I didn’t finish my thought. That wasn’t quite my concern. The older woman, Eleanor, is my mother. The younger man, Aaron, is my ex fiancé as of three weeks ago.”
“Oh.”
“Exactly,” she replies; her words not really saying anything.
“So?” I ask, but I am not sure what I am asking her.
“You really don’t want to hear this,” she says.
“Okay.” I figure she is right, and I don’t want to hear this. I mean, I want to get to know her better. But I’m not sure that learning about her family drama is the way to do it.
“Fine, I’ll tell you.” She shakes her head, then lets out a huge sigh. “We were supposed to get married. Three weeks ago today. And I left the day of the wedding and came here. Actually, at the time the wedding was to be starting. I was in my dress already and standing outside the ballroom waiting to go in. I realized I couldn’t do it. Told him I didn’t love him and the wedding was off. Haven’t seen him since. Well, until today. I kinda hate that he’s here. And hanging with my parents. Not that my mom would have it any other way. She’s always liked him more than me anyway.”
I don’t know what to say. I’m shocked as hell she was engaged. And I am not sure what shocks me most: that it was just three weeks ago, that the ex is here at the wedding, or that her mother is dancing with him and what that means. Regardless, a part of me is relieved that she’s single now and not engaged any longer. But I am choosing not to examine that feeling too closely. She mentioned parents—plural—I guess at the very least I can assume her mom is married to her father and not hooking up with her ex. But still.
“I . . . uh—” I stammer.
“Crazy, right? Not that my mom and I have the best relationship anyway, ‘cause we don’t. One, nothing I ever do is good enough. Two, she will always value strangers more than her own loved ones. Three, she’s the tried-and-true definition of narcissistic.”
“Oh . . . that’s—”
“I mean, when something happens to me, her first thought isn’t,gee I hope Sadie is okay. It’s,oh dear, how is this going to make me look. Case in point, a few weeks before the wedding Tenley, my best friend, and I were going to the big mall two towns over. We don’t have a decent mall in our little town. I don’t know why Cole didn’t invite her today, come to think of it.
“Anyway, I got a black eye. Long story, short, we were in a car accident, the air bags deployed, my own fist gave me a black eye. My mama was more worried about what people would think of her having a daughter with a black eye, than whether I was okay. Even though the whole dang town knew about the car accident.” She sighs. Then starts up again.
“Oh, and, get this, they totally took Aaron’s side after I cancelled the wedding. Even though I said I’d pay everything back. My dad included, which surprised me because usually I can get him to see reason even when my mom won’t. But not this time, apparently, since even my offer to reimburse him hasn’t got him to start talking to me again.”
“They aren’t—”
“Which makes this the longest we’ve ever gone without speaking. It’s refreshing and unsettling at the same time. Has that ever happened to you? I mean, aside from this, I would have said I am close to my dad. But now he’s avoiding me. Granted, I did disappear for three weeks without a word and didn’t tell anyone where I was going or if I was okay. But still.” She shakes her head against my shoulder.
I stay silent.
“Wow, I bet you wish I’d be without a word right about now, huh?” She laughs at her own joke. “I know, I am talking a lot, sorry. It’s a combination of nerves and bourbon. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop as far as everyone wondering where I was for the last three weeks. But no one has said a word. Not my parents, not Aaron, none of my cousins or aunts or uncles.
“It’s weird. And very unlike them. And before you start thinking I’m nervous about still having feelings for Aaron, you can just forget that thought right away, because I don’t have feelings for him. Aaron is his name. Oh wait, I told you that already. Anyway, definitely zero feelings. I don’t know why seeing him is making me nervous. Maybe it’s just the whole thing at once. All this coming at me has got me all knotted up. Woo. Big breath.”
She sighs and leans her body into me a bit more. She is definitely more relaxed than when we first started dancing. I turn us just enough to cloak our identities in a dark corner. One where I can bury my nose a little deeper in her hair, and inch my hands closer to her ass. She smells good, like citrus and honey. This girl intrigues the hell out of me.
She continues talking. “Looking back, I have to admit now that I don’t think I ever had feelings for him outside of high school love. And everybody knows high school love does not count anyway. And maybe basic human consideration type love. He was just so nice, and my family loved him so much. And then all my cousins started getting married and talking about their soul mates. I will admit it, I got carried away.”
