“She caught me on a bad day,” Brynlee says. “I’ll have to apologize. Not today, but one day. Maybe.”
I hear a familiar song playing, and I stand up from my seat to hold my hand out. “Dance with me?”
“I don’t know—”
“Please?”
Sighing, she takes my hand and stands. I lead her to the dance floor and hold her close. We both know everyone watches, so shesmiles up at me adoringly. As great as she is at acting, the smile isn’t real. I know what a real Brynlee Carmichael smile looks like.
“That was amazin’,” I say.
“I don’t like people who think they’re better than others.”
She defended me. Even though she’s upset with me, she defended me. She loves me, and I made her think I don’t feel the same way. That I’m not head over heels, tripping over myself in love with her. Worse, she thinks I don’t believe her.
Just as I’m about to tell her how I really feel and confess what I found, her eyes widen, and she freezes.
“What’s wrong?”
“Okay, Bryn, you’ve had your fun. It’s time to come home now.”
I turn around and see none other than Kevin Sandoval standing in the middle of the dance floor wearing a suit I’m sure costs more than my first pickup. He’s shorter than me, but he’s definitely better looking. I wouldn’t mind leveling the playing field by breaking his stupid nose.
“How did you… You sent flowers to my house. You found out where I was,” Brynlee says, and she shakes her head. “What are you doing here? You’ve caused enough problems for me.”
Her tone is even but deathly serious. Everyone around us stares in awe, and I know what they’re thinking. She makes more sense with him than she ever did with me.
“I came to get you. It’s time to come home.”
Just like that, I know my world has officially fallen into the inevitable black hole I’ve been fighting against accepting. It’s clear I’ve lost her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Brynlee
Rhett tenses beside me, and I know he wants to punch Kevin. As much as I’d love someone finally putting him in his place, Kevin would ruin Rhett. He’d sue him and drag it out so long that Rhett would never recover, and I can’t let that happen.
“I am home, Kevin,” I say, moving to stand between them. “I told you that.”
“Yeah, okay. Sure. Let’s go.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Didn’t you like the roses?”
Is he serious right now? Blinking at him, I don’t even know where to begin. All I want to do is yank at my hair and scream. “I prefer wildflowers over roses, so I set them to a nursing home.”
“You sent five hundred long stem red roses to a nursing home?” Kevin asks, his eyes wide and tone unbelieving.
He has the gall to look upset even though the amount he spent is the same as anyone else in here pulling change from between the seats of their car. “You don’t listen when I speak, do you? Like, at all.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m not going to be impressed with an obscene number of roses you paid someone else to pick, arrange, and deliver. That’s not from the heart. That’s from the wallet. And when we last spoke, like, two hours ago, you should have picked up on that. I don’t care what you can buy. It’s not what I want.”
“You’ve made your point, okay? We’re getting married in three months—”
“You might be getting married, but I sure as hell am not.”
