Chapter 17
Matteo
She was acting weird, and I didn’t like it. I was aware of what happened last night, but I didn’t want it to be awkward. No girl had been able to make me feel that way in a while. I was not in love with the girl, but there was something there. It was undeniable.
I could tell over the course of the first few days that my disgust with her had worn off. I was getting to know her for who she really was. She was funny, charismatic, thoughtful, and cared about others. At one point, I was the same way before my heart got broken into pieces. I wanted to get back to that man again. I’d become that man again over the last few days. It was all because of her. She didn’t let me feel sorry for myself or deny myself the chance for happiness. Like she said, I had to be ready when the opportunity presented itself. What if that opportunity was right now with her? Sure, it was not the traditional way to find someone, but she was thrown into my lap. I couldn’t believe this was all just a coincidence. It had to be more than that.
I was going to have to make some big decisions since tomorrow was her last day here. I would have to make up some story about why we broke up. But the thing was, what if I didn’t want to? What if I wanted her to stay? The thought scared me because how could I know if she felt the same way without just asking her? That would be too forward. I didn’t want her to feel like she had to reciprocate my feelings. If she did, that would be great, but if she didn’t, my heart would be broken again. Was I ready for that step?
The church was finally all decorated, and everyone was hungry. The one thing I hated about my family was the fact that while being here, they always wanted to eat meals together. What if I wanted to have dinner alone with her? To them, she was my girlfriend. We were in a romantic setting. How could they not think about that?
We headed back to the hotel to get changed before heading to dinner. I wanted so badly to just pull her close to me and ask her to stay, but I didn’t. I was scared. Instead, we both got dressed and headed to dinner. Not a word spoken between the two of us.
All throughout dinner, all I could think about was how tomorrow was going to go. I had to come up with a plan. What story was I going to use when she had to leave tomorrow? Honestly, I had planned the big breakup scene for the reception, but now, after last night, should I still do it? I didn’t want to hurt Lacey. She might take it the wrong way.
Shawn pulled me aside at dinner. “What’s going on? You both have been acting weird today. Is everything okay between you two?”
“Yes, we are just tired and were up late. Don’t worry, we are fine.” I lied to him because we weren’t fine, either in the real or fake relationship, but something had to give. I couldn’t be okay knowing that tomorrow I had to send Lacey away. She would indeed be upset with me tomorrow. All I could do was make the most of the time up to then. I was bound to do so.