Chapter 10 #2
Mason hadn’t shown any sort of interest in her, and Audrey would never touch a man who was in a relationship with someone else, much less engaged… but she also didn’t want to be the kind of woman who lusted after someone else’s man. Even if he had no interest.
“So, Yasmine, how’s the wedding planning going?” Jennifer asked as they paused for Claudia to start doling out the cards for the second phase of the game.
“Oh, we haven’t really started yet.” Yasmine was looking at the layout of cards in front of her, as if she was studying them and thinking of a strategy. “I have a vision, of course, but we have to figure out the details.”
“Something big, something small?” asked Naomi.
Yasmine opened her mouth. Closed it, frowning.
“I… always wanted a big wedding, but I don’t know. Is that appropriate for an arranged marriage?”
“I don’t see why not. It’s still a wedding and a marriage, right?” Jennifer said encouragingly.
“I’ve been to a lot of weddings that were basically arranged marriages, even if they didn’t call it that,” Audrey offered, determined to do her part as a girl’s girl.
Yasmine was really sweet. She deserved to be reassured and supported.
And Audrey was telling the truth. Her wedding to Cash would have been like that if she’d given in to her parents’ pressure after she’d caught him cheating. “All of them were huge weddings.”
“I guess.” Yasmine sighed, fiddling with one of the cards even though it had been perfectly lined up with the others.
“Yasmine.” Naomi’s voice was gentle. “Do you want to marry Mason?”
“Yes. I want marriage and kids, just like he does. I think our parents did a really good job setting us up. I’ve finally broken the curse.” She lifted her head, smiling, though her voice was more matter-of-fact than excited.
“You also always wanted romance.”
“Well, two out of three isn’t bad.” Yasmine laughed, garnering a few smiles, though no one laughed along with her.
Audrey’s stomach churned with sympathy that she was sure the other woman wouldn’t want. She couldn’t help it, though. Even though Yasmine was joking and laughing, she could practically feel the other woman’s pain emanating from her.
“Is Mason at least trying to be romantic?” Jennifer asked. “I’ll kick his butt for you if he’s not putting in the effort. You two might just need a little spark to light the fire.”
“Well… he kissed me.”
That got a round of silence, and Audrey had to metaphorically sit on the little green-eyed monster in her head again.
“Um… had you two not kissed before?” Claudia asked after a long moment with a frown.
The whole night she’d been pushing the game forward, making sure they didn’t slow down for too long, but now she was making an exception.
Everyone had their cards, so they could start Phase Two, but she wasn’t moving things along.
“We’d done pecks on the cheeks, but we hadn’t kissed-kissed,” Yasmine explained.
“And that’s supposed to be romantic?” Jennifer wrinkled her nose. “I feel like the romance is supposed to come before the kiss.”
“Yeah, Jensen kept buying Jennifer pickles even though he refused to ask her out,” Naomi said. “Has Mason gotten you anything other than the engagement ring?”
“Well… no.” Yasmine sighed.
“How was the kiss?” Cassidy asked.
“Um…” Yasmine appeared to be searching for words, and the expression on her face was not encouraging.
“Oh, dear. That bad?” Cassidy made a face.
“The subs at the club are always all over him; I feel like we’d have heard if he was a bad kisser,” Jennifer said.
That made Audrey’s stomach flip over for a different reason. Great, more unwanted jealousy.
Maybe she needed to start dating. She’d wanted to focus on her bakery, but if she was dating, maybe her brain would stop focusing on a man she couldn’t have.
Even if his fiancée didn’t seem super enthusiastic about him, which was a travesty in her opinion. But feelings couldn’t be forced. They were still getting married, regardless.
“It wasn’t bad, it just… I don’t have a brother, but it’s what I imagine kissing my brother would feel like,” Yasmine explained.
Jennifer immediately recoiled, and Claudia made a retching noise that Audrey felt compelled to echo.
The idea of trying to kiss-kiss David… blech.
Yup, that was the noise. “Things will get better. They have to.” If the level of determination in someone’s voice could affect outcome, Audrey had no doubt that things would get better for Yasmine and Mason.
And she was happy for them.
Really.
“Right well.” Claudia cleared her throat as she looked down at their completed Phase 1 of the game. Apparently, there were three in total, and even after playing through the first one, Audrey still didn’t feel like she knew what she was doing yet. “Let’s start Phase 2.”
Putting her head down, Audrey focused on the game. Tomorrow, she’d download a dating app. Or maybe she’d wait until after tomorrow night. Cassidy and Ashley had convinced her to go to the Outlands tomorrow night to celebrate her soft opening, just to see what it was like.
Maybe she’d meet someone there who would help this unwelcome attraction to Mason dissipate.