She stopped the steamer and sprayed the dress down, then she packaged it neatly inside of the garment bag. It was almost like she was sealing off the night and all the memories I had.
A lot of people commented on the flowers, Sasha told a few people who I was but after a few conversations, I was tired of talking about myself, so I had to escape. It was why I went outside in the first place. The water fountain was peaceful, the moonlight serene. And I had to admit that the arrangement did look good, I was just so glad to have done a good job.
I wished my mother could have seen it. Maybe not the othe
r events of the night, but the ones where people told me I was an amazing florist. That I had a keen eye for design, and that they would love for me to do one of their events. I hoped it were true, I loved doing this one.
And it felt so good to really know what I want to do. I wanted to run that flower shop and design the arrangements for events and weddings. It would be like putting my mother where she always wanted to be, showing people something beautiful.
The man from the party was just an odd bonus. One that was still running through my veins.
“You’re off somewhere.” Ivy said to me.
“Oh, I’m just thinking. I have to turn in.” I got off the counter and hugged her.
“Thanks so much for the dress.”
“No problem. I’ll lock up on my way out.”
I got under my covers, the sound of her finishing up wasn’t loud enough to keep me awake. Of course, I went to sleep thinking of him, remembering our little tryst.
What was unfortunate was that it was the only memory I had of him.
Chapter Ten
Tristan
I should be more of an asshole.
But Mom didn’t raise me that way. If someone needs your help, help them. Right.
Levi and I had been friends for years, but I didn’t even know he was engaged. Maybe I was an asshole; but in my defense, the past few weeks had been hectic. The divorce, Vivian dragging me into court, and that woman from the party.
The woman in the blue gown.
It had been a month and I still thought about her every fucking day. My head and my cock hadn’t gone back to normal since they met her. I thought about asking around about her, but I never did. Part of me didn’t even want to get involved with anyone else. Especially after what Vivian did.
Levi thought he could get her to sign four weeks ago, but that was a complete failure. She still dragged me into court, drove up the lawyer fees and did everything but humiliate me since she lost. I had proof she cheated on me. Emails, texts, even security footage of that dickhead optometrist leaving my fucking house numerous times.
She still took a large sum of my money, though even ten million wasn’t much of a dent. And I let her keep the damned house, she had tainted it enough. I was fine in my new bachelor pad. But I was tired, mentally and physically.
Then, out of the blue, Levi dumped a wedding in my lap. Not mine, of course. He started dating Gabriella back in college, ten years ago. So, I was surprised it took them this long to get married. Apparently, she wanted to be finished with her residency and into her fellowship before she agreed to marry him. I had only met her once because she was a very busy dermatology resident for the past few years.
“When was the last time we did this?” Levi and I were out at the greens. I thought back to months ago.
“I don’t know. Almost a year I think.” I took a swing. I was definitely losing this round.
Levi stepped around the tee. I was surprised he even liked golfing; he was a refined country boy pretty much, who worked his way up the ranks. I think it’s why Gabriella stuck around for so long.
“Any word from Vivian?” he asked before his swing. I shook my head, picking up the tee and my club bag.
“No, and she shouldn’t be saying anything. I thought that was in the clause.” We moved on to the next green in the golf cart. The sun was beating down on me, sweat beading at my neck. But it was still relaxing somehow. Sometimes we played racquetball, but the weather was nice today.
“Yeah, it us. Just checking. She doesn’t seem like the type to listen.” He laughed. That was for sure.
“How is Natalie?” He asked. We stopped at the next tee and got set up.
“You still have the hots for my sister?” I accused, he laughed off the joke. It was a running joke we had for years.