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As corny as it sounds, Dad’s words and belief in me sent courage pulsing through my body. I could do this. Iwoulddo this. With Bella returning with Alex, I gave an emphatic shake of my head. “All right. Let’s do this!”
Chapter Three: Gaby
Just like Dad had anticipated, I was the Dancing Queen. Everything I had worried about evaporated the moment the music blared out of the speakers. With every swish of my hips and curl of my hands, I owned the moment. Of course, it hadn’t hurt that I did exactly as Dad had instructed—I had tuned everything out and listened to the beat of my heart.
I finished to a round of applause erupting over the ballroom. After giving a dainty curtsy, I hurried off the front of the stage with the rest of the bridesmaids falling close behind. Mason and Laurel rose out of the ornate chairs they had been sitting in to meet me. “Gaby, that was breathtaking,” Laurel gushed.
“Really?”
As she nodded, Mason replied, “You truly captured the essence of the lyrics. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done better.”
My grin spread so wide it caused my cheeks to hurt. “Thank you. It means so much.”
He smiled. “No, thank you for honoring my dad’s culture.”
After giving him a quick hug, I then made my way through the rest of the crowd gathered around the stage. Everyone was so kind and complimentary. My face was literally aching from smiling when I finally made my way over to get a celebratory glass of champagne.
When I turned around, my heart shuddered in my chest. There he was—Mason’s best man. Except to me, he was the epic douchelord who wounded me beyond repair when I was just an awkward teenage girl. As I watched him maneuver through the party guests, I became transported to another time and place.
It was Maya and Sara’s Sweet Sixteen. It was in a ballroom like the one I currently found myself. It was the first time I’d seen Noah Fitzgerald in years. He’d stopped coming to the twins’ birthday parties, so I had no way of seeing him outside of social media posts of the twins that he was tagged in. Somewhere along my 10thbirthday, I’d gotten a humongous crush on him. Of course, he was absolutely clueless.
At almost fifteen, I wanted nothing more in the world than to have a boyfriend. But the guys my age never were interested. Neither were the guys older or younger than me. Somehow, Bella had managed to skip that awkward teenage phase that so many of us must endure before we escaped the cocoon to emerge a butterfly. She’d had a string of boyfriends even though her heart really only belonged to Jude. As for me, I was entrenched in braces, glasses, and twenty extra pounds. All night long I’d been on the sidelines watching the other girls my age dancing.
Even with my self-esteem holding on by a thread, I was bound and determined to ask Noah to dance. The fact that the only time he’d danced all evening was out of obligation with the birthday girls didn’t matter. I just knew he would dance if I asked him, and once he got to know me, he would totally fall for me.
If only I could’ve talked some sense into my younger self.But alas, I had to relive for years to come that painfully awkward moment of me crossing the room to my ultimate rejection. In spite of the time that had passed, I could still feel my palms sweating, my heartbeat thrumming wildly like a hummingbird’s wings, and my knees knocking under my formal dress.
“Hey, Noah,” I said.
He flicked a quick glance over his shoulder at me. “Hey, Bella.”
“Um, no, that’s my sister. I’m Gaby.”
“Sorry. I’m always getting you two mixed up.”
“You’re not the only one.” I mean, people usually mixed up our names. It certainly wasn’t because I looked anything like my gorgeous sister.
Turning around, he gave me a smile. “What’s up?”
Oh God, this was it. For a moment, I couldn’t find my voice. I just stared into his beautiful blue eyes. It was the first time I noticed they had flecks of green in them.
Just as I was a few seconds away from being a full-on Gaby statue, I snapped out of it. “I, uh, was wondering if you wanted to dance.” I swallowed hard. “You know, with me.”
Noah’s eyes popped wide. “You’re asking me to dance?”
At his question, the guys around him snickered. I ducked my head. “Uh, yeah.”
After glancing back at the guys, he chuckled. “Sorry, Bella, but I’m not dancing tonight.”
His words sliced through my chest to knife my heart. His rejection hurt that much. Not only could he not bring himself to dance with me, but he still couldn’t even get my name right. I escaped the ballroom and spent the rest of the night locked into a bathroom stall.
All these years later, the memory still stung.
As my mind shuddered back into the present, Noah’s eyes locked with mine. A cocky grin curved across his lips—one I was sure he had given hundreds of other girls. Dammit to hell. Why had time been so good to the bastard? Apparently, the universe loved to hate me since he was even more handsome than he was back in the day. From comments here and there from Maya or Sara, I knew he’d grown into an epic womanizer—the kind of man I loathed with a fiery passion.
After saying something to those he was standing with, he started making his way towards me. Although part of me wanted to bolt, I knew there was no escaping him. If I didn’t talk to him tonight, I would still have to see him tomorrow. After all, I had to walk down the freakin’ aisle with him. Ugh, the thought of him touching me made my skin crawl.
When he finally stood in front of me, I fought the urge to knee him in the balls. “Well, hello,” he drawled.
