“Teeny!” He rounds me and blocks my way, stopping me from getting to my car.
“What,Everett? What?” A tremor starts to slither up my fingers, traveling all the way to the dip between my shoulder blades. I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience. He’s really here. I’m not imagining this.
He takes a deep inhale. “Hi.”
I scoff, crossing my arms and turning away from him. “What are you doing here?”
“Having dinner? I’m here to meet?—”
“No, I meanwhyare you here? Why did the universe have to bring you here rightnowwhenI’mhere? As if?—”
“Josh invited me.”
My mouth clamps shut.Josh invited him?“Tonight?”
He nods. “Look, I’m already late,” he says, running a hand through his perfectly wavy hair. “But…can we talk? Maybe after dinner?”
“Wait a minute,” I say, ignoring his question. A scowl twists my features, and I glare at him. “You’re here to see Josh?”
He nods again. “Did he not tell you?”
“Everett!” We both turn toward the entrance of the restaurant to see Josh greet Everett. “I just got your message.” He holds up his phone, waggling it in his fingers in Everett’s direction. “I thought maybe you got lost.”
“Uh, no.” Everett glances at me before facing Josh. “I just ran into Teeny.”
“Man, it’s good to see you!” Josh exclaims, pulling Everett for a hefty embrace. “Let’s go inside. James and Andrew are here too.”
Everett takes one last look at me, so much implied yet unsure in his slightly agape mouth and dark, pensive eyes.
“Teeny, come on,” Josh calls. He doesn’t ask what I was doing outside, why I look distraught, as if I’ve just witnessed a crime. Instead, he guides Everett past the hostess booth, and I reluctantly follow behind. By the time we’ve made it to our table, I’ve had about ten different discussions in my mind. Ones that feel confusing and angry and outright frustrating.
I should’ve just left, driven off in the safety of my car. Why did I foolishly come back inside like everything would be fine and dandy and I’d be able to sit through a whole meal with Everett in the same room? And what the hell is Josh thinking, inviting Everett here? Is he the third groomsman I never bothered to question my brother about? And why wouldn’t he tell me this? And let’s say Josh just randomly decided to ask Everett to be a part of his wedding. Why did he agree to it? After all these years? He had to have known I’d be here too.
“Teeny?” I hadn’t realized I was just standing there, my hands loosely braced on the back of my chair. As soon as I hear Josh’s voice call my name, a confused and concerned tone laced into his voice, I realize I’m practically glaring at Everett. “Is everything okay?”
Everett’s eyes follow Josh’s gaze, taking in the way I’m frozen. A gentle smile softens his entire face, and it makes my breath hitch, remembering all the times he looked at me like that. When I’d catch him watching me paint or doing my homework. It was always that smile that opened my heart up just for him. And it’s been closed since the last time I saw him.
“Yeah,” I say meekly. I take my seat and Everett hovers over the empty one next to mine.
“Mina,” Josh calls from across the table, his hand gripped over Everett’s shoulder. “This is Everett.”
“Ohmigod!” Mina exclaims. She shuffles out of her seat and rounds the table to meet Everett. “Josh has told me so much about you. Thank you so much for coming.”
Everett smiles warmly. “Couldn’t miss one of my best friend’s wedding.”
I catch Everett’s eyes when I look up at the three of them exchanging introductions, and I regret it instantly. I didn’t know I could feel angry and sad at the same time. Those two emotions start this violent back-and-forth quarrel trying to overpower the other, but neither one is winning. The second I feel like the anger’s going to bubble over, this deep ache stabs at my heart. It’s resurfacing from years of searching for some level of closure while scared to face the reasons behind it.
Everett settles into the seat next to mine, the only empty one. I catch James shifting uncomfortably to my left, nudging me carefully with his elbow.
“You good?” James whispers. He glances at Everett quickly, acknowledging him in a way that only I notice before his concern refocuses on me.
Unable to speak, I nod. Even though all I want is to tell him no. To beg him to get me out of here. Somewhere safe where I can shove away this entire encounter like it never happened. Where the existence of Everett can be completely ignored instead of sitting inches from me, where I can study the shiny buttons on his jacket sleeve and get an intense whiff of his cologne.
“Yeah,” I finally say, my voice barely above a whisper. “I’m fine.”
There’s a small stain on the tablecloth. Something that was once red, like marinara or ketchup. It looks like the fabric has been washed and bleached, but this stubborn stain somehow sustained all those efforts. I focus on it, hoping that maybe it’ll help me. Take me away somewhere on a mythical journey to teach me the ways of being so relentless it could withstand the harshest of products. But then I feel a warm hand perch on my shoulder. A consoling squeeze comes from James’s touch, and I realize I don’t know how to be that stubborn. I don’t know how to banish someone I loved to the point that I thought my heart was going to explode. I only know how to feel broken.
CHAPTERTWO
