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“You were great, Mike,” Lou praised him as his friendly eyes mine.
“It’s nothing serious. You passed out, but you’ll be fine.” Mike went on to say that he suspected that the chaos of the last few days—which Lou was so kind enough to fill him in on—and exhaustion were the reason for my ‘episode’. Little did this man know that the memory of losing all sense of reality while Lucas fucked me senseless was why. I’d never been fucked like that before. Up until that point, it had always been… blah. Phil claimed to be an excellent lover. He’d often joke that Casanova had nothing on him, but truthfully, Phil should be the last man bragging.
Each time I’d lain with my ex-fiancée, I’d always thought sex wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. Lucas changed that. One night convinced me that I’d been completely wrong. Sex with the right person was beyond mind-blowing.
“I’m just glad that you’re okay,” Lou said sweetly. “You scared the shit out of me. One minute you’re fine and then next, BAM! You’re down for the count.”
“Yeah,” I said weakly and slowly managed to sit up. “Oh no!” I suddenly remembered where I was and why. “The wedding!” I gasped. A tremor ran through me as Lou’s text messages filled with descriptions about the ‘bridezilla’ flooded my still-foggy mind. “I bet Vanessa’s pissed!”
“Oh, she’s pissed all right, but not because of you,” Lou said with a sly smile as she shot a sideways glance towards the doctor. Mike gave us a tight ′I’m going to leave now′ smile before he quietly exited the room.
“What did I miss?” I met Lou’s eye. The room tilted again, followed by a wave of nausea, but I managed to stave it off.
“Luke called off the wedding.”
My jaw dropped into my lap. Every single one of my nerve endings tingled and threatened to blow like a transformer struck by lightning. “He did what?”
“Right after you collapsed. Lucas caught you before you hit your head on the floor and carried you in here. He refused to leave at first, but his dad—the doctor that was in here was his dad—all but forced him out. Then he went into the room where Vanessa was getting ready. There was a lot of yelling. A lot more shouting and minutes later, the door slammed, followed by shouts that there would be no wedding. That the whole thing is off.”
“He did not!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He called off the wedding!
“He did, and I think it might be partially because of you.” Lou shot me a knowing look.
“Lou, I can’t believe it.” To say that I was stunned was an understatement.
“Believe it.” Lou affirmed with a nod. “Oh, and he left this for you.” She fished a note from out of her bodice and handed it to me. The note had been sealed with Scotch tape. I was genuinely surprised that she hadn’t opened it. Lou wasn’t shy about reading a note meant for someone else. She was nosy and made no excuses. “Now, since you’re awake and looking a thousand times better, I’m going to go check on the bride and let her know that you’re awake and doing all right,” Lou announced as she got to her feet and left me alone.
Once the door was shut, I broke the tape’s seal with my fingernail and unfolded the small piece of paper that bore the chapel’s letterhead at the top.
″Meet me tonight. The Japanese garden outside the hotel near the waterfall. 7pm.”
That was all it said. Nothing more. Nothing less. Despite that, my body was alive. It felt like thousands of tiny sparklers sizzled across my skin. Drawing in a deep breath, I tried to slow my heartbeat down as I attempted to wrap my head around all what had happened.
This was definitely not how I thought Vanessa’s wedding would go. Far from it. Due to the distance between us—she in San Francisco and me in New York City—I hadn’t had the chance to meet her fiancé until today. Every time she mentioned Luke, she neglected to provide a description. Hell, she rarely used his name, choosing to use her nickname for him, Hot Stuff, instead. I didn’t even get a wedding announcement. If she had said that her fiancé was a literal tower of a man with pale blond hair and eyes that rivaled the sky, I might not have come.
Or would I? If I had suspected that her Luke and mine were the same, would I have just let her have him? Would I have just stepped back and hoped they’d be happy together? If I was going to be honest, absolutely not. The week that I’d spent with Lucas was the best of my life and the intimate moments that we shared—him fucking me so hard that I saw stars and then on the last night, us making slow, sweet love until time didn’t exist—completely ruined me for any other guys that might come after. Lucas was mine. We were meant to be together. Friend or not, there was no way I would have let Vanessa marry him.
An enraged sob echoed from the hallway. I knew it was Vanessa. I listened for a moment as she screamed and cried from being dumped at the altar. Picking myself up, I checked myself in the mirror by the doorway and went out to help with damage control.
“Ariel!” Vanessa’s screech came as I stepped outside and found her, Lou, Vanessa’s mother, the other bridesmaids, and a handful of other women that I didn’t know, standing clustered together in the middle of the main room. “Ariel!” Vanessa broke loose from the throng and rushed over. “Are you okay? I’m so glad that you’re okay.” She clung to me, squeezing me to the point that it hurt and I couldn’t breathe. I hugged her back, suddenly feeling like a jezebel and not completely certain that I deserved her concern.
“I’m all right, Vanessa,” I said. “Thank you for asking. But what about you? Lou told me what happened. How are you? Are you okay? I’m so sorry.” I pulled back to take a quick look at her. Although her cheeks were wet, her makeup was still pristine. Her eyes were clear and not red-rimmed and swollen like I’d expected them to be. Vanessa should look like hammered shit, but she didn’t. Part of me was devastated that she was upset, but part of me glad because I was definitely NOT sorry.
“I’ll be fine,” she spat bitterly. “I guess it’s better to find out before the wedding instead of after.”
“I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling.”
“Eh. Shit happens. If he’s in love with someone else, then fuck him! It’s better this way anyway. At least now I won’t have to pay for an expensive divorce lawyer.”
My insides seized as I fought hard to keep my face neutral.
Luke called off the wedding because he’s in love with someone else. Because he’s in love with me. Luke. Loves. Me!
I fought against the flutter that swirled across my belly. Guilt followed immediately after. What was I doing? I shouldn’t feel this happy. How could I be happy knowing I was the reason for her misery right now? Should I tell her I was to blame? That I was suddenly the ‘other woman’ even though he was mine first? Despite those questions, my body sang out the happiest song it knew and nothing was going to kill my joy.
“Thanks for coming and thank you for being here,” Vanessa said before giving me one final hug. “I appreciate it. Promise me that we’ll see each other again. Before my next wedding.”
I promised her that we’d do our best. I tried to force a lighthearted laugh, but failed miserably. With a casual wave, Vanessa said goodbye and promptly left the church to go back to the hotel.
