I swallowed as I realized we were basically standing in an embrace in front of everyone, though it didn’t matter much to me whether anyone was watching or not. When I felt Jack’s nose brush my neck, my fingers tightened on his shoulder and a small shiver went through my body. I smiled.
“Does everything have to be a battle between us? Do you despise me that much? I’m taking care of it, Rose. Trust me. I’ll be donating one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in both our names.”
He finally pulled back and peered into my eyes. Like a fish, I opened and closed my eyes. Despise him? What gave him that idea?
“I could never despise you, Jack,” I whispered, feeling out of my depth.
Satisfied, he nodded once. “Let’s find our table.”
I closed my eyes for a quick second, trusting him to steer me away from any obstacles, and let out a deep breath. For the time being, playing the role of husband and wife was going to play some real tricks with my mind, and I wasn’t sure if I was gonna handle it all that well come the end of the night.
I opened my eyes and noticed we were passing the kids’ table. One of the little girls—she couldn’t have been over eight—was looking up at us with wide eyes, so I winked at her and watched her quickly drop her gaze back to her lap as she played with the edge of the white tablecloth.
When I faced forward again and Jack came to a halt, I still had a smile on my face. Maybe tonight won’t be so bad after all, I thought, but then when I saw who was standing in front of us, I wasn’t so sure about that anymore.
Bryan smiled at us, not a happy smile like you’d expect from someone you’d considered family for long years, but a mocking one.
“What a great coincidence to run into you two here!” Bryan exclaimed, looking from me to Jack. “Oh, this is a good night indeed.”
“Bryan,” Jack returned tightly.
I couldn’t say anything because I could see the couple standing right behind him, talking to an older woman. I was paralyzed.
As Bryan leaned forward to press a kiss on my cheek, Jack pulled me slightly against him so my shoulder was leaning against his side. I didn’t react. I was shocked into silence.
“Congratulations on your marriage again. I know we started on the wrong foot, but we can’t let little things like that get in the way of family, right Jack?” he asked. Bryan’s fake smile slid off his face when neither Jack nor I responded, and he followed my gaze and looked over his shoulder. “Jodi, look who I found here.”
Jodi turned to face her brother and her…companion turned with her.
I felt the remaining blood drain from my face, and as they strolled toward us, Jack’s hand tightened around mine. I was thankful that I was leaning against him because otherwise I didn’t think I could’ve stayed upright for too long.
Jodi and my ex-fiancé, Joshua, who had his hand around her waist, stopped in our little circle and greeted us as if nothing was wrong. It was the first time I was seeing him after he had broken up with me via text. It felt like it’d been ages, and now he was at a charity event with Jodi.
Even though I had no feelings left for my ex-fiancé anymore, I felt my heart break into little pieces all the same. Jodi smiled at me as if this was all normal and congratulated me on my marriage and apologized on missing the opening of my coffee shop, just like Bryan had. It seemed just as fake and forced. I couldn’t even nod in return because I couldn’t take my eyes off of Joshua. He spared me one glance and then looked anywhere but me.
I think Jack and Bryan exchanged a few more words, I could hear Jack’s clipped and anything-but-happy tone, but the pounding in my ears prevented me from making out specific words. Starting to feel a little dizzy, I took my shocked eyes off of Joshua when Jodi leaned up and whispered something in his ear, earning a low chuckle from him. I’d been on the receiving end of that chuckle before, and I had loved the warm sound. Now it made my stomach turn.
I leaned harder on Jack, thankful that he was so big and strong next to me. He moved our joined hands from between our bodies and rounded his arm around my waist, my hand still very much attached to his, my arm bent.
I didn’t exactly know what to do with myself, so when I felt Jack’s warm lips against my temple, I looked up at him with a dazed look.
“You want to go find our table?”