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“Then, I can’t help you. If you came here, hoping for another outcome, then you’re going to leave disappointed.”
“Well, at least I tried,” she muttered as she crossed to the door.
“Safi,” I groaned.
She stopped with her hand on the handle. “Maybe you don’t love me, but if you don’t love him either, then you shouldn’t go through with it tomorrow.”
Then, she wrenched open the door and left.
I watched her go, feeling more melancholy than I had in months. And wondering if, in some way, she was right. I hadn’t told Gavin that I loved him. I’d said the words in my head, but that wasn’t the same. If I couldn’t tell Gavin how I felt, was there any way I could get married tomorrow?
30
GAVIN
“I’m cashing out,” I declared to the party.
Strangers at the poker table groaned in relief. My friends began to protest, but I held my hand up to stop them.
“I’m up fifty thousand for the night. I have never had a winning streak like this in my life. I know when to bow out.” I pushed my chips toward the dealer. “Color me up.”
Alcohol and good luck coursed through my veins. I’d won more hands than I’d lost at poker. Something that never happened with my friends. Either Sam was feeding me cards or luck had truly been on my side tonight. I wouldn’t put it past them to have rigged the game so that I won at my bachelor party. But I wasn’t stupid enough to let the game fall out of my hands. I could barely see straight. The cards weren’t going to get any better when I was seeing double.
“Other than the wedding, this might be the smartest thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Court joked. “Get out while you’re still ahead.”
“Worried I’ll take all your money, Kensington?”
Court rolled his eyes. “Good luck with that, King.”
Camden stood from the table and buttoned the top of his suit coat. “I was never worried.”
Court and I exchanged a look. Nothing ever fazed Camden Percy. Well, nothing since everything with him and Katherine had worked out. And even then, he’d really never shown his displeasure with that arrangement.
“I could keep going,” Sam said as he pushed his chips to the dealer next, “but I would like to get home to my wife.”
“I can’t believe you’ll all be fucking married before me,” Court grumbled. He punched me in the arm. “Especially you.”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly in the plan. Then, you had a two-year engagement,” I reminded him.
“It hasn’t been that long,” Court said. “Though, sometimes, it feels like it. I should have gone to the courthouse. The whole elaborate wedding is such a mistake. Penn tried to warn me.”
“Since when have you ever listened to your brother?”
Camden laughed under his breath. Camden and Penn had long been rivals. He probably would have disagreed with him on principle.
“Never,” Court agreed. “But in this, we’re agreed. He was the smart bastard to elope. My mom would never forgive me if I did the same. So, here we are. At least you and Whit made it all happen quickly.”
“I mean … her dad is dying,” I reminded them. “Hence the expediency.”
“Hence the whole reason you decided to go through with it,” Sam added.
“But not anymore,” Camden said.
“No, not anymore,” I said with a drunken smile on my face. “Tomorrow, she’ll be my wife for real.”
Once we had chips colored up, Camden set down several thousand-dollar pieces as a tip for the dealer and then gestured for us to leave. Only Camden could be that casual about tipping like that. We exchanged our chips for cash, exited the gambling hall, and fell into an awaiting limo. Court poured another glass of whiskey, which Camden took, but Sam and I declined. I couldn’t drink another drop. I had to be semi-coherent tomorrow. I wanted to be fully coherent for Whitley.
Maybe I had plans to be lucid for tonight too. Because Whitley had said that we should spend the night apart, but I had no interest in that. I had every intention of sneaking up to her apartment and seducing her. Neither of us was a virgin or innocent by any means. I didn’t want to spend another night away from her again.
