Page 52 of Our Big White Lie
My resolve started to return. I’d get through tomorrow. I had to. I wasn’t sure how, but like hell was I falling apart. My mom had a dream, and she was going to live that dream tomorrow. Period. I’d hold myself together, damn it. And if I didn’tquitehold it together, well, that was where waterproof mascara came into play.
I took another swig of water and looked around the venue. I didn’t know where Tori was. Maybe she’d stepped out to use the restroom? Gone to the lobby to talk to Sarah the banquet hall coordinator? Well, she’d probably be back shortly, and this gave me a few minutes to compose myself. We would need to get started again at some point, though. People were starting to check their watches and phones, so maybe our break had gone on long enough.
Right then, Marco strode back into the room. He still had on his plastic devil horns, but his expression was completely serious… and he was coming right toward me.
My heart jumped into my throat. Oh no. Had something gone wrong? Had Tori left? What was?—
“Hey,” he said when he was close enough, and he kept his voice quiet. “Tori’s out in the courtyard.” I had never seen this man look so serious in all the years I’d known him, and he sounded downright grim as he said, “You need to talk to her.”
Panic surged through me. “Is she okay? Is?—”
“She’ll be fine,” he said gently. “But I think you two need to get on the same page before we keep going with…” He gestured at our surroundings.
Oh. Crap. That didn’t sound good at all.
Mute, I nodded. Then I headed out to the courtyard to find my fiancée.
Tori was walking along one of the flagstone paths. When her face came into the light, she’d obviously been crying, and the second she met my gaze, tears started falling again.
“Hey,” I said, and closed the remaining distance between us. “Come here.” At least she didn’t recoil when I touched her, and she let me pull her into a tight hug.
She was shaking hard, sobbing against my shoulder, and I had no idea what to make of this. Of any of it. I’d seen her cry plenty of times, and God knew I’d seen her upset and devastated and everything in between. But this? This was something I’d never seen before. She wasn’t just upset—she wasbroken.
Stroking her hair, I whispered, “Tori. Talk to me. What’s wrong?”
She drew back, wiping her eyes with a shaking hand, and she didn’t look at me. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”
My heart dropped. “You can’t—what?”
“I’m sorry.” She brushed away some more tears and sniffled. “I don’t want to bail. I don’t want to let you down or take away your mom’s dream, but this…” She shook her head as the sobs took over again. “I don’t think I can do this. I want to give your mom her dream and—I’m sorry, Ava. I just can’t do this.” She wiped her eyes and looked in mine. “Not if it’s fake.”
“Not if it’s—” I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I love you,” she whispered shakily. “I always have. And maybe I’m stupid because it took going through all the motions of getting married to you to make me realize…” She shook herhead and dropped her gaze. “I can’t pretend to do the thing I wish I could do more than anything in the world.”
“The thing—you mean… marrying me?”
Pressing her lips together, she nodded.
My heart did so many things in that moment, I couldn’t have put a name on any of them. Tori loved me? She wanted to really marry me? She’d been standing right in front of me this whole time, wishing I felt for her exactly what Ididfeel for her? Was this happening?
“I’m sorry,” Tori whispered. “I just… I know it’s the worst possible time, but while we were standing up there…” She shook her head and avoided my eyes again. “I can’t fake that. Not with you.”
“Then let’s do it for real.”
Tori’s head snapped up, and she stared at me with wide eyes as tears drew muddy paths down her cheeks. “What?”
I smiled as my own eyes welled up. “Let’s get married. For real.”
“Like… now?”
“Well, tomorrow, but…” I half-shrugged. “Everyone’s here. We’re already doing this. And… it… I mean, I’ve loved you since forever. I just didn’t think you did, and I didn’t realize how much I—God, and then ever since that night we made out in the kitchen, I can’t stop thinking about how much Iwantthis to be real.”
Her lips parted. “You do?”
“Yes. Maybe I’m stupid too. I live with you. I tell you everything. We’re…” I paused, and my voice tried to shake apart, but I kept going. “Remember when I said I didn’t want bridesmaids?”
Tori’s brow furrowed, and she nodded. “Yeah. I remember.”
