Page 154 of Along Came Amor
Her family would never forgive her for this. There weren’t enough dishes she could wash or diapers she could change to make up for a disaster of these proportions.
She’d committed the biggest sin of all: she hadembarrassedthem.
Now she really was going to lose their love, just as she’d always feared.
There was no way out except through the ballroom. With dread pooling in her belly, Ava pushed the door open.
And stepped out into chaos.
Chapter 47
When Roman realized Ava wasn’t going to take his hand, his stomach had dropped with the heat and velocity of a meteor burning through Earth’s atmosphere. He still felt like he was falling. But before he could try to fix the situation, he needed information.
“What the hell happened?” he asked Gabe, who quickly filled him in.
The rehearsal dinner technically hadn’t started yet, but a number of family members had shown up early. The mic began broadcasting during Ava’s revelation about her parents, a detail that made Roman wince. Jasmine had wanted to shut the sound off immediately, but the system required a password and a reboot, and the AV guys had disappeared. Ashton had gone to look for them, while Michelle sent Gabe off in search of the rogue mic.
Roman pinched the bridge of his nose. Everything in his body screamed at him to run after Ava, to make sure she was okay, thattheywere okay.
But this was his best friend’s wedding, and not only was Roman the best man, he was the boss of this particularestablishment. He’d get the fucking sound system sorted, and then he’d find Ava.
And then what?
He didn’t know.
The emotions that had flitted across her face when he’d told her tomarry him—fuck, he hadn’t even phrased it as a question!—had made his insides quake. Stunned shock, followed by what he thought was hope, before landing on fearful disbelief. It had taken every ounce of acting ability he possessed to keep his composure and follow through with the negotiation.
He’d thought he had her. It was such a benign request. Just hold his hand. He was sure she was going to accept his terms, accepthim.
And then the world had come crashing in on them in the form of Gabriel Aguilar and a missing microphone, along with all the reminders Ava had piled up around herself for why she didn’t deserve to be loved.
Roman would spend the rest of his life showing her that she did, if only she’d let him.
He was terrified she wouldn’t. What if this was the last straw? What if her fears were stronger than his devotion?
Ashton appeared with the AV techs in tow. One of them winced when he recognized Roman, and he muttered something about “el jefe” to the others.
Roman followed them to where the sound system was set up. He didn’t say anything, just stood with one hand in his pocket, the other holding the microphone that had potentially ruined his life. The techs got to work, sweating and darting nervous looks over their shoulder at Roman.
Once it seemed like they were sufficiently afraid, Romanjoined Ashton and Gabe where they waited off to the side. Since he didn’t want to dwell on his own thoughts any longer, he asked, “Was Jasmine upset when she found out?”
Ashton scratched his cheek and wouldn’t meet Roman’s eyes. “Ah... no. I told her two weeks ago.”
“Good,” Roman said, then added, “I’m sorry. We never meant for it to get this complicated.”
Ashton waved Roman’s apology away. “It wouldn’t be a Latine wedding without at least one escandalo. Ask Gabe to tell you what happened at his sister’s wedding.”
Gabe’s laugh was strained. “Trust me, this was nothing.”
Roman was too distraught to care about other people’s scandals. “Another time.”
Ashton clapped a hand on Roman’s back. “If you could forgive me for not telling you about Yadi, I can get over you broadcasting a marriage proposal during my wedding rehearsal dinner.”
Gabe sent Roman an incredulous look. “Did you really propose to Ava in a supply closet?”
Roman groaned. “Don’t remind me.”
“Do you even have a ring?” Ashton asked.
