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His gaze sharpens. His jaw tenses. I can tell he doesn’t like that I’ve invaded his personal space, even though it seems like his personal space extends out an absurd distance.
“Go ahead and talk.”
“In private. Go to the bathroom and take the first door on the left. Go down the hall and into the first office on the right. It’ll be unlocked.”
“Why would I do that? You haven’t spoken to me in a decade.”
Gian looks at me and I swear there’s a novel in those eyes. It’s like the last ten years he’s been holding this back, saving it all up, and now he can’t help but let his feelings overwhelm him.
Maybe I’m just projecting. I feel overtaken and caught off-guard. I shouldn’t respond to him at all—Gian’s nothing to me now. Whatever we had, it was nothing more than a week-long fling when we were in college. Ten years should’ve been long enough to dull the pain of what came after.
Except it hasn’t.
“Meet me there in ten minutes,” he says, his voice insistent. “It’s good seeing you again, Allegra. You look incredible.”
I suck in a breath. I hate the way he says my name. Like there’s reverence in his tone. I don’t want his compliments.
But I also crave him worse than I ever dreamed.
He walks away before I can respond. I’m shaking with anger and discomfort, and I jump when someone touches my arm.
“You okay?” Sophia asks, laughing a little as she gives me the glass of wine I was waiting for. “Who were you just talking to?”
“Nobody. I mean, it was just Gian Rossi.”
Her eyebrows raise. “Really? I thought you two knew each other back in the day.”
“In college. I guess we had a class together.” That was how it started, anyway. But Sophia doesn’t know what happened next.
“Well, Saul’s looking for you. Says there are some people you should meet. Hey, tonight’s going great, right? I kind of thought there’d be at least one or two fights, but nobody’s gotten punched yet.”
“The night’s young and the bar’s still open.” I hesitate, sipping my wine. My mind’s racing so fast I can barely stand. If I go with her now, I’ll get sucked into a conversation with Saul, and who knows how long it’ll take before I can extract myself. But can I really do this? Can I ditch my own engagement party to go speak with the guy who broke my heart? The brother of the man I’m supposed to marry?
“Good point, there’s still plenty of time for the meatheads to throw down. I just hope my guy’s face doesn’t get too messed up.”
“Too messed up? There’s an acceptable level of messed up?”
“Come on, I love a crooked nose. Like Owen Wilson? It’s so sexy.”
“How about missing teeth? Are those sexy?”
“I mean, kind of, right?”
“No, not right, that’s completely unreasonable.”
“Veneers look great these days. Honestly, his teeth might suck. Knock them out and get an upgrade.”
“You’re insane.”
She throws an arm around my shoulders. “That’s why you keep me around. Now come on before your husband-to-be starts sending out the goons.”
I hesitate, glancing back at the bathroom. This could be my only chance to speak with Gian before he disappears, and even though I’ve hated him for all this time, I’m still curious. My body reacted to him, that lightning-and-fire feeling in my stomach still fresh like the first time he touched me, and I don’t know what it means.
But I know what I want.
“I have to use the bathroom first,” I say, extracting myself from her.
“I’ll come!” She pats her hair. “I could use a break.”
