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“Oh, come the fuck on – if you two are really together, why the hell would you think it’d be okay to come to my wedding? Huh?”
“Why the hell did you think it was okay to leave your fiancée to marry my ex, you fucking idiot?” Mason challenged. “It’s no different than you being with Eva, Aaron. If I have to accept the fact that you’re with my ex, you have to accept the fact that I’m with yours.”
Aaron slowed his thrashing against Noah. “Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because you can’t fucking compare that!” he muttered defensively.
“Why not?” I finally demanded. I hugged Mason’s arm to my chest as I stepped forward to cut my eyes at Aaron. “What do you really think is the difference, Aaron?”
He looked freshly shocked as he gaped at me, letting his eyes take me in, traveling from my face to my body. “What’s the difference?” He stared unblinkingly through the wetness of my robe. “The difference is I’m not my brother. I’m not someone who fucks any pretty thing with long legs or a nice rack. I’m marrying Eva, who he never even gave a shit about. Right, Mase? Did you?” he inquired with mock curiosity, tilting his head like a fucking parrot. “You didn’t even know her middle name till you saw the wedding invitation. Right? So that’s the difference. You never cared about Eva – but Taylor? I care about her and I can’t even have the fucking relief of knowing you’re taking care of her because everyone here knows you’re just sticking your dick in her to get back at me!”
“That’s not what this is.” Mason broke free from me to growl inches from Aaron’s face. He was only slightly taller than his brother but somehow, he dwarfed him as he stood enraged before him. “In case you didn’t realize considering the way you abandoned her, this woman’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you. And it’s not just you, you little shit, she’d be the best thing to happen to any man who’s lucky enough to have her so don’t fucking run your mouth telling me what I have with Taylor, because you clearly have trouble recognizing when something is too good to be anything but real.”
I could feel the air stripped from my lungs. They weren’t even meant for me but Mason’s words had me floating so high I had to clutch him to stay on my feet. I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, resting my forehead on his arm so I could feel the words sink in. Of course, Aaron wouldn’t let me have the moment for long.
“Don’t fuck around, Mase. She’s just another conquest before you move onto the next. You don’t care about anything besides that tight little pussy between her legs.”
“Watch your fucking mouth.”
“Or what?” Aaron challenged, something manic about the laughter behind his eyes. “I’ll hurt the feelings you don’t even fucking have, Mase? Give me a break. I’m your brother. I’ve known you my entire life and I know for a goddamned fact that you didn’t magically fall for her.”
“I think we’ve already established that you don’t know shit.”
Aaron sneered cruelly. “For fuck’s sake, it’s Taylor we’re talking about here, so if you really believe any of the bullshit you’re even saying, it’s only because she just fucked you stupid.”
“You’re an asshole,” I hissed immediately, hating that there were suddenly tears in my eyes. Aaron was already backtracking but I shook my head, letting go of Mason and storming past all three of them. “Screw it, Aaron. I’m not here for your approval,” I said, feeling either defeated or liberated – I wasn’t even sure. “I’m just here to move on like you clearly have but fuck it, I can move on at home, so enjoy your life.”
“Wait!”
There were two sets of footsteps following me now and I knew they belonged to Mason and Aaron.
“Taylor, wait.” Aaron’s hand caught my wrist and squeezed for all of a second before Mason had him yanked back. I spun around expecting to see a fight but what I saw instead was Aaron’s dogged pursuit of me, pain flashing in his light eyes as I looked at him with disgust. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I’ve learned to stop giving a shit what you meant.”
“Baby, please, just let me explain for a second!”
I winced just as Mason’s lip curled over “baby.” Aaron wore a pleading look now, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel remotely bad as I let Mason come to me and circle a protective arm around my waist. “I told you I’m not your baby, Aaron. And you’ve already tried and failed to explain.”
“Just give me one second to talk to you in private, Taylor,” he whispered desperately. “I can’t stand to see you with him. You know I fucking can’t. You know how much this hurts me!”
“Yeah, and the way you feel now? That’s how I felt when I held the invitation to your wedding in my hand. When I found out that you hadn’t left me because you got cold feet – you left me because you decided to trade up for a better bride,” I said coldly. “Well, guess what, I decided to trade up too, and you can either accept that or you can back out of yet another wedding and be the world’s biggest coward for the second time this year.”
“And if I did that, would you leave him?” Aaron returned shamelessly.
Mason started at him with a fury he quickly contained – maybe because I pulled him back, maybe because he realized we’d wanted this. Exactly this. Forcing Aaron to question his engagement was our whole plan but with the question he’d just blurted at me, I felt suddenly at odds with the mission. I sensed that Mason did too.
“Answer me,” Aaron urged tremulously. “Please.”
The silence thickened the breezy night air. I’d never felt such tension in my life and yet somehow, I
found myself almost wanting to laugh. “You don’t get answers right when you want them, Aaron,” I finally said, my voice steady. “I wanted answers from you too, but you didn’t answer my calls, my texts, my emails or voicemails. I cried alone countless nights trying to figure those answers out on my own while you were off living the life with Eva. Popping bottles of champagne and giving yourself permission to forget about the person you loved for three years because that was easier, that felt better. So guess what? I’m doing that tonight.” I let Mason’s hand take mine as I glared unapologetically at Aaron. “And you can sit around and wonder the way I did.” With that, I murmured to Mason, “Let’s go.”
And we did.
*
