Chapter 24
JUNO
Alight breeze ruffled my styled hair, sending rogue pieces to flutter in front of me, distorting my view of the glowing restaurant sign.
One of their hands wrapped around each of my own, offering silent comfort and support as I gazed at the humming orange light, building up my courage and patience to walk through the door.
A sense of relief washed over me knowing this could’ve been me, this exact restaurant on this exact day, but instead of being twenty-four hours from sealing my life to a baby narcissist, I was free, living a life I actually enjoyed and didn’t dread every morning.
Nostalgia swirled as I looked through the painted glass to the party going on inside.
I had chosen this place because it was where I first met Eric.
On the short walk from the hotel, I’d prepared myself for the grief to hit me full force standing here, that the pain that nearly killed me when I first left would come roaring back.
But instead, I felt nothing but weight-lifting liberation.
Sensing his stare burning into the side of my face, I shifted my attention up to Langston.
He studied me like he was actually concerned about how this affected me, and not because of how it would reflect on him, but because he cared about me, my feelings, my emotions.
Turning to West, a giggle escaped at him fighting with the collar of his shirt, pulling it away from his neck like it was tightening by the second.
It was then that the relief vanished and I was overwhelmed by utter gratitude and love for the two men at my side.
Love might be too strong a word considering things were new between us, but then again, they actually weren’t.
This, between the three of us, had been building, almost to the boiling point, since I arrived in Anchor Bay.
Nostrils flaring with a deep inhale through my nose, I forced my feet forward up to the glass front door, the guys matching me step for step at my sides.
For a second, I wondered what it would be like to do this alone, to face the crowd without any support.
There was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t have come.
But with West and Langston at my sides, I could not only handle whatever the night brought but maybe anything.
With a white-knuckled grip, Langston pulled the door open, guiding me through first with a firm hand pressed against my lower back.
The moment I stepped across the threshold, all the laughter and loud, excited chatter stopped.
It was as if all noise of any kind was sucked from the room as every face turned our way, gazes flicking between me and the guys with mixed expressions of disgust and curiosity.
I felt the heat build along my cheeks and down my neck under all the critical stares of the twenty-plus people attending the rehearsal dinner.
“The entire time you were at that shower, Langston was sharpening his knife,” West murmured in my ear. “So if you want anyone taken out, I know a guy.”
Just like that, his words plus the humor lacing them had all the tension draining from my taut muscles. I huffed a laugh, shaking my head in fake exasperation, but shot him a smile full of gratitude as I forced myself deeper into the viper’s nest.
Pushing through the still-silent crowd, the happy couple approached us both with wide, fake smiles on their faces.
I noted Eric’s too-tight hold on Stephanie’s waist; it seemed more controlling than romantic or protective.
Her rigid posture was obvious, making her movements stiff as she leaned in for a hug, constricting her arms around me so tight that I almost couldn’t breathe.
Her hold felt desperate; I half expected her to whisper, “Help me,” in my ear.
“I’m so glad you could make it, Juno, and… friends.” Eric’s words were as stiff as his posture as he glared at Stephanie’s back. “All right, that’s enough of that. You just saw her this afternoon. Release my June Bug.”
When the words registered, I narrowed my eyes at Eric, lips parting to correct him, but I should’ve known Langston would beat me to it.
“Not yours,” he practically growled, then gestured to West. “Ours. If you try to claim her like that again, I will see it as a challenge. And she fucking hates that nickname, so don’t use it again.”
“Whatever, it was just a wording mistake,” Eric said condescendingly. “I have the best girl here tonight, so why would I want to claim her?”
“Fucking hell, you’re trying to die tonight, aren’t you,” West bit out, his fingers tightening around mine. “Stop being an asshole, Evan. You know exactly what you’re doing, and it is disrespectful to all of us, including your future bride.”
“It’s Eric,” he snapped. Based on the curving of West’s lips, he was quite enjoying pissing the asshole off. “You two weren’t even—”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Stephanie said in a rush, hands up in a placating move as her frantic gaze bounced between all of us.
She grabbed Eric’s arm and sealed her side against his.
“No need to get upset over mistaken wording.” Her little nose scrunched in her attempt to make a silly face to ease the thrumming tension.
Damn, how many times had I done that, forced a distraction to keep things from escalating because Eric was a self-centered tool who loved to provoke?
She beckoned me forward. “Come on, let’s find Dad. I told him you were coming, and he said he couldn’t wait to see you.”
Somehow, I doubted that, unless he was eager to rehash how big a disappointment I was, which was probably the case.
Yay, me.
West’s fingers slipped through mine as Stephanie dragged me toward the back of the large room.
With a quick glance over my shoulder, I swallowed a laugh at both men standing shoulder to shoulder, their heavy glares leveled at Eric as he talked, hands waving in excitement as he no doubt attempted to win them over to Team Eric.
Maybe it made me a bad person, or at the very least petty as fuck, but knowing they saw through his “good guy” mask made me immensely happy.
Most people saw the version of him that he wanted them to see, not the one he truly was inside.
It was one of the reasons I’d stayed, because for the longest time, I believed his mask too.
That his anger and control issues were just stress-induced or a fluke, not who he truly was.
Plus, I didn’t want to be the bad guy, which leaving him ultimately made me become to everyone in town.
“Dad.”
At Stephanie’s voice, he turned. I didn’t even attempt to force a smile, not wanting to waste the energy on him. The genuine smile he wore from the conversation he’d been in with the three older gentlemen slipped into a disapproving, tight-lipped frown when his gaze fell on me.
“I told you she would come.” Stephanie beamed at him, seemingly oblivious to the animosity between us.
“So she returns,” he muttered before tipping back the remaining clear liquid in his highball glass. He thrust the empty tumbler at Stephanie, sending the ice clinking against the sides, and hitched his chin in the direction of the open bar. “Grab me another while I catch up with your sister.”
Who knew that word could sound so disgusting?
Without waiting for her response, he turned to face me straight on while adjusting the cuffs of his shirt beneath the navy blazer. “I cannot believe you actually showed your face here after the shit show you left us high and dry with when you ran away.”
The normal apology or overexplaining myself didn’t spill from my lips as he stared at me, waiting for my response. I simply blinked at the man I used to be so intimidated by. Whose words I believed too much—that I was too geeky, too quiet, too everything he thought wasn’t normal.
Now, standing in front of him, I didn’t feel apprehensive at all. Instead, hot, boiling anger filled my chest at him and myself for believing all those lies. For allowing the weak man to make me feel so fucking small when I wasn’t.
“Earth to Juno.” He huffed and shook his head. “Do you even know how to act normal in social situations?”
“I do, I just had nothing to say to your comment.”
He arched a brow, surprised by my backbone. “Well, I hope you’re not here to try and win him back. He lucked out with your poor decision, falling for Stephanie after the weeks of comfort she offered him after you left.”
I snorted. Sure she did. I almost gagged thinking about the “comfort” she gave him.
“I’m glad Eric found someone who will make him happy, who’ll focus on him first like a good wife should,” he continued. “A woman who will make the sacrifices needed to ensure he’s taken care of.”
“Right,” I drawled, hating myself a little more, knowing I once believed the bullshit that came from his mouth. “What about what Stephanie needs and wants?”
“She has him, someone who can provide. That’s all a woman really wants anyway.”
I just mouthed, “Wow.” It was all I could come up with.
“At least a normal woman.” His gaze shifted over my shoulder. “I can’t believe you brought that fucking sideshow act with you. Have some damn respect for your mother’s reputation.”
“My dead mother’s reputation?” I tilted my head. “Or do you really mean yours?”
“Fuck, you’re a brat. Always were, though. I’m sure they’ll get tired of you too, just like Eric.”
His words hit right where he wanted them to. I tried to keep my features neutral despite my stomach dropping so fast I felt nauseous, but the evil grin that crept up his cheeks told me I had failed miserably.
“Oh yeah, he told me all about how selfish you were, all the shit you did to him. Let’s be honest, Juno, you’ve never been the type to make anyone happy or give them what they need.
You’re just—” He gestured toward me. “—you. Though good job on losing some of that weight. I’m sure those two appreciate it. ”
I swallowed hard to keep the bile creeping up my throat at bay.