Page 103 of How to Ruin Your Ex's Wedding
“It’s not that. It’s just . . . look, can I just have some space, please? I need time to think. And I need to do that without you.” Her eyes plead with me, tears falling down her cheeks.
“Okay.” I nod, my chest thick, my breath shallow. I sound agreeable. But inside I’m dying. I want to beg her not to waste any more time by not being together. I want to shake her and make her realize how wrong she is for wanting space.
She rushes back down the aisle where Crystal and Angela are waiting. They each wrap an arm around her and lead her from the room.
Gregor appears at my side, claps a hand on my shoulder and asks, “You okay, man?”
I clear my throat. “Yup,” I say.
He looks at me in disbelief.
“Hey, she didn’t say no outright. She just said she needed time. And space. Without me.” I sound optimistic. So much so, I think Gregor almost believes me.
So why do I feel so desolate?
31
Tabatha
The girls and I head back to the suite Crystal and I shared last night.
“Wait for me!” I turn and see Maisey coming toward us, a bottle of champagne in each hand. “I thought we could use these,” she says, smiling.
We take the elevator down a few floors, again no issues, and settle into the room. I flop face down on the bed, no longer caring if my dress gets wrinkled or not.
“Did I hear right,” Crystal starts. “Pax wanted you to marry him right now, using yours and Hunter’s wedding?”
“Yes,” I groan, my face buried in a pillow.
“That’s so romantic,” Angela says, pouring us all a glass of champagne and passing them around. She forces me to sit up so I can take my glass. Maisey nods in agreement.
“Really?” I ask. “You don’t think it’s kind of demented?” I drink down half my glass and hold it out for a refill.
“Not at all,” Angela says.
“It’s kind of like that movie,” Maisey says. “The one with Reese Witherspoon and McDreamy?Sweet Home Alabama. Oh, except she was still married to the other guy. He was cute.”
“Oh! Maybe you and Pax are still secretly married,” Crystal says.
“Mmm, that would be Josh Lucas, the other guy inSweet Home Alabama. He’s hot. I’d do him,” Angela says.
“You’d do a lot of guys,” I tell Angela. “That’s not a discriminatory list.”
“Touché, bitch,” she responds, raising her glass toward me.
I turn to Crystal. “We are definitely not still married,” I say, gulping from my now full glass.
“Don’t make me sound like a slut, you tramp. And it’s not like this is coming out of the blue,” Angela says to me. “You guys were married before.”
“Takes a tramp to know a tramp,” I mumble back to her. “I know we were married before, but I’m not sure that helps.” I kick off my shoes and stretch my toes. Angela and I often call each other names. It’s a show of endearment and not malicious like it sounds.
“He’s still in love with you, you know.” Maisey blushes slightly as she sips her champagne. “Gregor told me.”
“Pax told me that too.” I sigh.
“Do you love him?” Crystal asks, crawling onto the bed with me. We both situate ourselves against the headboard, while Angela and Maisey take up residence at the foot of the bed. It feels like a slumber party, minus the slumber part.
“I’m not sure I ever stopped,” I whisper in response to Crystal’s question, tears pooling. Again. I rest my head on her shoulder and she reaches up to stroke my hair. “I don’t want to cry about this. I’m being lame. What’s wrong with me?”
