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They made a show when they realized they had to move around seating arrangements to make room for me.
“We didn’t think she’d have a plus-one,”Faye’s mother said, her over-injected lips giving my new girlfriend a mocking smile.
Her family members are firing off question after question, as if trying to catch us on our lie. They’re so desperate; it’s sad. It’s easy, playing this game because we know everything about each other. We’ve done so much boyfriend-girlfriend shit together even though we can never be boyfriend-girlfriend.
I can’t cross that line because I can’t lose her.
She’s one of the most important people in my life.
The rehearsal dinner is in the banquet hall of the hotel we’re staying in. It’s also where we’re having brunch in the morning, and the wedding will be held outside the hotel in the garden.
“That was dreadful,” she mutters when dinner is finished and we head back to our rooms. “Thank God you came. I would’ve smothered myself with my napkin.” She blows out a breath and loops her arm through mine. “We need to get out of here before they play another round of Twenty Questions. Swear to God, they were more interested in our love life than the bride and groom’s.”
Carolina isn’t much of a touchy-feely person, except with me, which makes me feel so damn special. It took her a while to warm up to me and my charm. Now, she has no problem leaning into me, sticking her feet in my lap, and resting her head on my shoulder when she’s tired and we’re watching a movie.
Me, on the other hand? I started the whole arm-over-the-shoulders shit as soon we talked. Like she says, I have no boundaries when it comes to her—with the exception ofnever, ever, everhaving sex with her again. That is the only boundary … and hurting her.
“Our love life, huh?” I ask, and she tucks her face into my chest, not wanting to have the conversation of me calling her out for herlove lifecomment. “It’s simple, why they paid more attention to us. The bride and groom are lame as fuck. No one cares about them.”
She pulls back to playfully slap my stomach. “Rex! You’re going to get us kicked out of the wedding.”
We disconnect after stepping into the elevator, and I hit our floor number. Since her parents had already booked her room, I had to bribe the hotel manager to put me next to her.
“I don’t think you’d have a problem with them booting us,” I comment as the elevator doors close. I lean back against the wall and cross my arms, staring at her.
She looks gorgeous. It’s always hard for me to keep my touches platonic, but it’s fucking hell when she dresses up. Her dress hardly shows off any skin—and by hardly, I mean, the bottom of her legs, ankles, and arms. My cock twitches as I remember how perfect she looks under that dress. With every friendly touch I give her, there’s not-so-clean thoughts behind it on my end. I’m proud of how strong I am for holding back.
At dinner, she pulled her black hair into a ponytail, showing off the neck I’d shoved my face in after I came inside her. All I thought about during the main course was how soft her skin would be as I kissed that neck … how she’d react to my lips on her.
She lights up every damn room she walks into, and I hate how much people give her shit for being her. She doesn’t have a boyfriend because she’s selective—thank fuck—and I respect that she’s picky.
“True,butmy parents would,” she says, cutting me out of my thoughts.
She’s right. Her parents are all about family and doing the right thing. They’re also strict and expect Carolina to be perfect. That’s one issue I have with them. Carolina was always stressed about school because they put so much pressure on her. She wasn’t allowed to get a bad grade or miss homework because they were focused on her scoring a scholarship. She got a B on a paper once—a fuckingB—and her parents lost their shit. She’d hung out with me the night before, and they blamed it on our friendship.
We shuffle out of the elevator when we hit our floor, and she digs through her clutch for her key card.
“Are you coming in and hanging out?” she asks while unlocking it.
“Only if you promise not to fall asleep in ten minutes.”
She glances back at me as we walk into the room. “I can’t make any promises. Stress makes me sleepy, and my stress meter is in the double red.”
I flip on the light. “Stop being stressed then. Who gives a fuck what these people think?”
She sighs. “I know.”
I snatch the extra key card lying on the desk. “I’m taking this.”
She falls down onto the bed and drags her heels off her feet. “Huh?”
I hold up the card. “This is my copy.” I open my wallet, pull out my extra key card, and drop it where hers was. “Here’s my spare for you.” I stick my new key into my pocket. “In case I need to get into your room or you need to get into mine.”
“Gotcha.” She jerks her head toward the bathroom. “Let me change first.”
“Same. I’ll be right back.” I run to my room and change into gray sweats and a tee.
When I return to her room, she’s walking out of the bathroom, wearing similar sweats and an oversize tee with our high school’s logo on it.
