Page 132 of Along Came Amor
Resigned, Ava told Michelle about meeting Roman ten months earlier, and everything that had happened since, ending with Gabe walking in on them kissing.
By the time the full story was out, Michelle was pressing her fingers to her temples like she had a headache.
“Let me get this straight,” she said. “Ashton knows, but Jasmine doesn’t. Do I have that right?”
Trust Michelle to zero in on that part.
“Um... yes.”
“Ava, Ava,Ava,” Michelle moaned. “What the hell are you doing? Did you not learn anything from my mistakes? Jas is gonna besopissed.”
“She’ll be more pissed if Roman and I break up and ruin her wedding.” Ava returned to the donut hole pyramid. With her luck, Titi Nereida would burst in to ask why the sweets weren’t out yet.
Michelle gave a knowing nod. “I see. This is about Hector.”
Ava slapped a hand on the counter, nearly upending the box of donut holes. “It is not about Hector.”
“Bullshit.” Michelle pointed a finger at her. “That fucker did a number on you and now you think every relationship is doomed to fail. So if you and Roman break up before the wedding, you think it’s going to make things weird for Jasmine.”
“Exactly,” Ava snapped, irritated at being so thoroughly dragged. “Jasmine has enough to worry about.”
Michelle stuck her hands on her hips. “What happened to that ‘a burden shared is a burden halved’ nonsense you told me last year?”
“Did I say that?”
“You sure the hell did.”
“Well, this is different.”
“Really? Because it sounds to me like you’re trying to have your wedding cake and eat it too. And you know what? That cake is going to blow up in your face.”
Michelle mimed an explosion with both of her hands and made a sound effect to go with it.
Ava knew her cousin was right, but the thought of anyone else finding out made her lungs seize up. “Just keep it to yourself for now, okay? And make sure Gabe doesn’t say anything either. Let’s get through this wedding, and then I’ll figure out how to tell Jasmine.”
Michelle huffed. “Only because it should really come from you, but let the record show that I think this is a disaster waiting to happen, and I will one hundred percent be saying ‘I told you so’ when the time comes.”
“Fine,” Ava ground out. She placed the last donut hole on the pyramid. It was flat on top, thanks to the four that had fallen and the one Michelle had eaten.Not perfect.
You are five donut holes short of a pyramid if you think you can keep kicking this can down the road, that sarcastic little inner voice taunted.
“We’ll see about that,” Ava muttered to herself, and then she hefted the tray and carried it out to the party.
Chapter 41
After Jasmine texted the group chat to say the shower was winding down, the guys finished their second round of drinks. As they were leaving to go help clean up, Roman’s phone rang.
“It’s my lawyer,” he said, glancing at the screen.
Ashton waved him off. “Take the call. We’ve got this. See you at rehearsal, sí?”
Roman said goodbye to Ashton and Gabe and accepted the call. While he listened, he wound his way around the edges of the lounge, where it was less populated. Most people were by the bar, or in the cozy seating areas.
“You’ll be there, right?” his lawyer asked. “I don’t think we can push this deal through without you.”
“Of course,” Roman said, even as his gut sank. He’d been hoping to cut back on his travel commitments before the wedding, but it looked like that wouldn’t be happening.
After they hung up, Roman stuck his hands in his pockets and continued to pace the perimeter of the room, turning over everything Ashton and Gabe had shared.
