Chapter 18
Andrew straightened and turned an angry stare at Jason, who was standing next to Macy with a confused look on his face. “Your friend has to go.”
Jason held us his hands, sensing Andrew’s volatile mood. “Whoa, man. Who?”
“Mark.” Rolling his shoulders, Andrew reached back and grasped the back of my neck, pulling me forward and into his side. “He just showed his ass to Cupcake, and it’s not going to fly. He’s gone or I’m setting Lucas free on him.”
Macy frowned even harder. “What happened, Sara? Are you okay?”
I shook my head and then nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I’m okay. Mark just... He was just rude to me.”
Jason reached forward and clapped Andrew on the shoulder. “He’s gone. I’ll make sure he leaves. I’m sorry about that, Sara,”
Macy cupped my cheek and looked me over. “I’m so sorry, babe. Do you need anything?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. It mostly just pissed me off.”
Andrew grunted. “She was handling it on her own before I stepped in. She had a long list of reasons that he sucked going.”
“That’s my bestie!” Macy laughed and then eyed her brother’s arm around me still. “So. You saved Cupcake, huh? Tell me, big brother, why you’re still touching my best friend.”
“Cupcake is having dinner with me. As a thanks for helping her take out the trash. I’m just making sure she doesn’t evade me.” Andrew drew me even farther into him. “I’m thinking if I spend enough time forcing my company on her, she’ll stop thinking of me as the asshole I was as a kid.”
Rolling her eyes, Macy shook her head. “Fat chance.”
“Do you have an issue with me stealing Cupcake for dinner?”
I held my breath as Macy looked at me. “Are you okay with hanging out with him? You don’t have to just because he pretended to jump in and save you from a fight you seemed to be winning.”
I smiled and nodded. “I think I can handle him.”
Frowning again, Macy pointed at her brother. “Don’t be weird. And don’t boss her around. And don’t think she’s going to like you more than me. We’ve already had that conversation. I’m the best friend.”
Feeling emotional still, I reached out and pulled Macy into a tight hug. “I love you.”
She blinked a few times before hugging me back just as tightly. “Love you, too, Cupcake.”
Jason cleared his throat and shoved his phone into his pocket. “I’ve got to take care of this before we eat.”
Macy took his arm. “I’ll come with you.”
They said their goodbyes and left us standing there, me feeling like we’d just almost gotten caught. Andrew sighed and took my hand. “Come on.”
He had a table for us at the back of the restaurant. Fresh flowers were wrapped and waiting for me in my chair. “This would’ve felt a whole lot better if none of that would’ve happened.”
I grabbed the flowers and smiled. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten flowers on a date. Smelling them, I blew out all the tension that Mark had tried to put on me. “It’s perfect. These are beautiful.”
Andrew helped me into my chair and sat next to me. “You’re beautiful.”
I was debating telling him that I thought he looked like heaven when he was angry, but Macy’s voice rang out.
“Sara! You’re going to want to see this.”
Andrew sighed. “Go on, Cupcake.”
I delicately stroked my hand over his, hoping no one saw it. “Coming?”
He laughed. “How’d you know? Come on.”
We walked together out of the restaurant and into the lobby, where a small crowd had gathered. Macy grabbed my hand as soon as she saw me and pulled me away from Andrew.
“You’re a popular woman.”
I was about to ask her what she meant when I got through the crowd and saw Milo sitting on a chair with his favorite guitar.
He had a ton of flowers around him, and as soon as he saw me, he smiled and started strumming out a tune I instantly recognized.
The first song we’d kissed to, romantic and slow; it had been one of my favorites.
I could see several of the women around me clasping their chests, falling for the act. Me, on the other hand, I felt like throwing up. Never in my life had I ever been popular with men, and out of nowhere, they were lining up for a chance with me. It made no sense.
Milo started singing to me, giving it his all as he did.
I knew all the looks, all the points of the song where he’d put emotion and even when he’d pretend to blink back tears.
I’d seen him perform the same song a million times in dive bars.
He didn’t realize his act was so obvious when you watched it more than once.
While the other women swooned, I crossed my arms over my chest and counted to one hundred.
I wanted to know why the hell he was at Macy’s wedding, putting on a pathetic show that was as transparent as a slab of glass.
My mind wandered while he finished crooning his song.
I wondered where Andrew had gone and if he was going to knee Milo in the face, too.
I knew I shouldn’t hope for violence, but Milo was a special case.
When the song ended, people clapped and cheered, looking at me like they were waiting for me to break into tears. They were going to be disappointed.
Macy was at my back. “Oh, my god, this is awkward.”
I elbowed her. “You couldn’t have locked the doors or something?”
“Good fucking luck!” She shoved me towards Milo, an evil grin on her face.
So much for the supportive best friend from earlier. Groaning under my breath, I faced Milo and closed the gap. “Um, Milo. What are you doing here?”
He smiled up at me. “I came to surprise you. Come here.”
I cringed when he reached for me and pulled me into a hug. “Milo, what the hell?”
An awkward silence fell over the crowd as they started to realize that it wasn’t a happy reunion. Milo looked around, the smile on his face frozen in place. “Don’t act like that, baby. I couldn’t stay away. You know I love you.”
I pushed his arms off of me and shook my head. “Milo, you shouldn’t be here. This isn’t okay.”
Finally understanding that I wasn’t going to play along, he cleared his throat and leaned closer to me. “Can we talk somewhere?”
I gestured to the flowers. “Sure. Do you need to clean this up first?”
“Jesus.” He muttered and then shrugged. “I thought you’d like them. They’re your favorite.”
I frowned and shook my head. “No, they’re not.”
Throwing his hands up, he looked around. “Fine. I don’t care what happens with them. These people can have them.”
Barely containing the urge to scream at him, I walked away from him into the bar.
Standing in the back corner, I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for him to join me.
As soon as he did, I unleashed on him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?
Why are you here? We’re not together, Milo.
That pretty much kills your invitation to the wedding. ”
“I don’t want to be broken up, baby. I miss you. The house isn’t the same without you.”
I snorted. “I’m sure it’s not. It was nice having a maid for two years, right? You’re wasting your breath being here, Milo. There’s nothing that would change my mind. I’m sorry you had to come all this way to hear that, but no thanks.”
“Sara. I know I messed up, but I truly am sorry. I just got caught up in something, but that’s all over now.” He tried to take my hand but I pulled away. “Please give me a chance to talk to you.”
“I’m not doing this. Especially at Macy’s wedding. You need to leave.” Frustration and shame were boiling just under the surface for me and I wanted to be a million miles away from him. Walking away, I didn’t look back. I just hurried through the resort, down to my room, and straight into my bed.
I barely got my shoes off before I crawled under the blankets and completely hid myself away.
The unrequited fury I’d pent up for Milo was back, and I wanted to scream.
How he’d thought showing up at Macy’s wedding was a good idea, I didn’t know.
It was insanity. It was a wedding, not a chance for him to make a big display of himself.
I hadn’t thought about him at all, I realized. I’d been consumed with the guys. I’d been stressed and upset at times, but mostly just enamored and happy. They’d taken my mind off of everything, but there was Milo, dragging everything back out in an embarrassing manner.
Even that display showed how little he knew about me. I hated that kind of thing. I didn’t want to feel pressured to react a certain way in front of a crowd of people. I liked personal moments. I liked romance and honesty, not whatever Milo had been attempting.
The nerve of him to show up after cheating on me in our bed! I wanted to march back down and tell him to go fuck himself. I was getting ready to do just that when a beep sounded at my door and Andrew let himself in.
He looked at me, in bed, and his shoulders slumped.
His eyes moved around the room like he was looking for Milo and I realized he really was worried that I’d brought Milo to my room and climbed into bed with him.
Milo wasn’t around, but Andrew was. He was going to get the brunt of my anger, it seemed.
“Are you seriously looking for him? In my room?” I threw the blanket back, revealing I was still in my clothes. “I’m not a slut, Andrew. I’m not just fucking everyone, even if it might seem that way. I told him to leave. I want nothing to do with him. You should know that.”
He shook his head and walked closer. “I was making sure you weren’t with Macy, Cupcake. I know you wouldn’t do that with that asshole.”
My anger deflated and I pulled the blanket over my head. “I’m so angry, Andrew. I want to push him off the mountain. I can’t believe he showed up here and did that. I’m mortified. I had to look like a jerk in front of everyone because he’s that selfish.”
I heard the rustling of clothes and looked up to see Andrew undressing. After his shirt was off, he grabbed his phone and tapped out a message before sliding it on top of my dresser. His belt slid free, and then he stepped out of his pants.
“What are you doing?” My body was already reacting to see him shirtless. It was hard to ignore the pull between us.
In just briefs, he walked closer and climbed into bed with me. Reaching over, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. “We’re going to talk, but I just need to hold you. Warren’s bringing dinner later.”
I relaxed in his arms and sighed. “I’m just so angry. I haven’t thought twice about him since I’ve been here. I don’t care about him. I don’t want to see him. I just want him to fade into a distant memory.”
“He will. He’s not welcome here. We got rid of one asshole tonight. We can get rid of another.”
“Things are so much easier when I’m with you and Warren and Lucas. It feels so natural. How is that possible?”
He pressed his lips to my neck and stroked my stomach. “Sometimes it’s right.”
His words hit me right in the chest and I didn’t bother hardening myself against them.
Instead, I rolled over and kissed him. I poured all of my feelings into being with him and giving myself to him.
After a night of dealing with jerks that people thought I should be with, I wanted to be with one of three perfect men, even if I wasn’t supposed to be with him.
Andrew was tender, covering me in kisses before sliding into me and making love to me while kissing me and telling me how beautiful I was. We came together, and I knew then that I was in trouble.
Not once in my entire two years with Milo had I ever felt my heart ache over him. I’d never had a moment that I thought things were perfect. I’d never wondered when the other shoe was going to drop, because they were always both on the ground.
With Andrew holding me and Warren on his way up, Lucas probably right behind him, I had an ache in my chest and a worry in my gut that things were going to fall apart. I desperately didn’t want them to.