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I wish we were.
“No secrets here.” Case edges his hand closer to mine.
“How’s Beauregard?” Drake slides his glasses back on. “Is he planning on joining you in New York, Em? It would be great to see him once Jane and I are back.”
Case scoops my hand into his. He squeezes it gently.
I look to him because I don’t know if this is the right time to tell my brother that my journey to married bliss is over. This is Drake’s wedding day. I don’t want to drag my drama into it.
Case dips his chin slightly in a nod. “ Tell him ,” he mouths.
“Should I?” I question back quietly.
“Should you what?” Drake asks as he inches closer to the camera on his tablet. “What’s going on, Em? I know something is up. You didn’t sound like yourself on our call the other night.”
I turn my attention to my brother even though Case is circling my palm with the pad of his thumb. It’s both comforting and arousing. His touch is light, but there’s a promise of something more beneath it.
“I ended things with Beauregard.”
Drake’s eyes widen beneath the dark frames of his glasses. “What?”
The confused look on his face mirrors what I saw when I told my parents that I called off my engagement. They were shocked. My mom cried. My dad left their house to rush off to talk things over with Archibald.
I was left standing in the middle of their kitchen, watching my mom mourn the death of my relationship.
It wasn’t until I told Whitney that I felt the comfort of a hug and heard words of encouragement.
To quote my sister, “ You’re too badass for that loser. He doesn’t trim his ear hair, Em. He was never the guy for you .”
“I’m not marrying him.” I straighten my shoulders.
“You love him,” Drake insists. “You two were meant to be.”
I blow out a heavy breath. “I cared for him, but I don’t think I ever truly loved him, Drake. I made the choice that was right for me.”
Feeling confident in my declaration, I glance at Case. He offers me an encouraging nod.
“You might regret this. What if you wake up a year from now and wish you were still with him?”
The words sting because my brother is questioning my heart’s choice. It’s almost word-for-word what my dad said to me the day after he spoke to Archibald about the break-up.
I tell Drake what I told my dad. “I can’t settle based on what-ifs. I didn’t love him. I loved myself enough to realize that before I made the biggest mistake of my life.”
Silence surrounds me as Drake mulls those words over, and Case sits next to me, stroking my palm with his fingertips. He’s offering me the encouragement I didn’t realize I’d need.
My brother’s approval has always meant the world to me, but I’m not a kid anymore. I don’t need to see eye-to-eye with anyone on this. I have to find peace within myself and I do.
“We’ll talk about this more when I’m back in New York.” Drake yawns. “I’m dead tired, Em. I need to catch a few hours of sleep before I marry my girl.”
I ignore the comment about continuing the conversation, because as far as I’m concerned, the discussion is over. I’ve made my decision regarding my ex-fiancé.
“You’ll hang out in New York until I’m back, won’t you?” Drake asks. “Promise me you will.”
“As long as you’re back soon.” I nod. “There are things I need to take care of at home.”
“She can stay as long as she likes, Drake,” Case pipes up.
I look over at him. His eyes are pinned to me.
“Good.” Drake’s voice lures my gaze back to the phone’s screen. “You should check in with Elias tonight, Case. There’s an issue with the new app launch.”
I glance down when I feel Case’s hand slide from mine.
He shifts the screen of the phone so his is the only face in Drake’s view. “What issue? I thought we were on track with the launch of Letter…”
“There’s a recurring error in the framework,” Drake interrupts.
Case’s shoulders tighten. “We’re less than three months from our launch date. This is coming up now?”
“It’s been ongoing.” Drake yawns again. “I left it in the hands of our lead software engineer, but he quit. I’ve got a new guy on it now.”
“A new guy who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing?” Case leans closer to the phone’s screen.
“He’ll figure it out, but Elias dropped me a message to tell me that it’s taking longer than I wanted, so it’s worth looking into.”
Case’s clenched fist on his thigh says more than any words can. He’s frustrated.
“I’m ending this now to call Elias,” he warns my brother. “Enjoy the day, Drake.”
“Goodnight to all,” Drake calls out.
Case is on his feet as soon as the screen goes dark. “I need to go to the office, Emma. This is important.”
