Chapter 32
thirty-two
Reese
"Wh-what the—" The words stumbled from Caroline's lips, stuttering with disbelief and outrage.
It was the groom, Caroline's sister's fiancé, or now her husband. This guy should have been swept up in celebrating his wedding, I don’t know… maybe focused on the bride. But here he was, busy marking his territory on Stella, the maid of honor.
In that moment, everything else faded—the music from the reception happening on the other side of the barn, the laughter, the clinking of glasses.
Behind us, a loud gasp made us turn before a voice tumbled out in hurt, "Someone mentioned they heard noises coming from the barn… and I had the worst feeling when you were nowhere to be found... how could you do this to me? And on our wedding day?"
Caroline's grip on my arm tightened, her slender fingers pressing into my flesh as her sister stalked past us. I wasn’t sure if that reaction was because of the situation we’d just walked into, or because her sister mentioned noises from the barn.
Either way, her sister needed to know what was happening.
"Charlotte, I—I was going to talk to you about this," Dan stammered. There was something pitiful in the way he reached for her, like there was a way to fix what she’d just seen.
Charlotte’s death glare shifted, refocusing from the betrayer to his accomplice. "Tell me what? You were hooking up with my best friend? Well, now my ex-best friend."
Stella’s lips parted. "Charlotte, we were going to tell you," she said, stepping away from the groom. "We didn't think you'd choose to have the wedding happen so quickly… and there was never a good time to tell you."
"Never a good time?" Charlotte threw back. "Maybe before I got married?"
The murmur of voices around us grew as an audience began to gather.
Caroline's parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins were now watching this scene unfold.
Their presence seemed to amplify the gravity of the moment, each set of eyes reflecting a collective disbelief.
The Matthews family had not seen this one coming.
I reached for Caroline's arm, my fingers closing around her slender wrist. "Let's give them some space," I whispered, leading her away.
She nodded, and we walked off together, leaving the chaos behind. The dance floor was practically abandoned, the DJ hanging out nearby with nothing to do. Overhead, fairy lights flickered, casting a soft glow over a party that felt like it had already ended.
"Dance with me?" I asked, doing my best to distract her.
Caroline let out a soft laugh as she took my hand. "Didn’t see that coming," she mused, gazing at the abandoned space around us. "I guess we don't have to worry about impressing anyone now."
"You impress me," I confessed, the words spilling out like a secret. Her eyes met mine, reflecting the depth of the night sky, and for a moment, it was like time itself had paused, waiting for her to respond.
She let out that small laugh again, but it was different this time—sadder. Her gaze fell, and she pulled slightly closer. "I don’t impress anyone. I made so much of this wedding about me and hoping that I didn’t look pathetic, and now, I just feel so bad for Charlotte," she whispered.
"Yeah," I agreed. "But, eventually she'll be okay. And I have a feeling this unnecessary pressure your family puts on you both to get married won't be an issue anymore."
A sharp scream shattered the quiet, yanking us out of our little bubble. Suddenly, Stella came sprinting out from the side of the barn, her face full of panic. "Charlotte!" she cried, her voice cracking with desperation.
I turned just in time to see Charlotte, her wedding dress swishing behind her as she ran after her ex-best friend. Their parents trailed in a flurry after them, outstretched hands desperate to mediate the situation.
"Damn it all," Yaya said, letting out a sigh as she swept by us. "Well, we might as well drink our sorrows away. Bartender, I need a double!"
Caroline and I snickered at Yaya as she made herself comfortable at the bar.
"Thank you for being here," Caroline said softly, almost..
. grateful. Her gaze flickered away, then back, like she didn't want to admit it.
"I wanted you here more than I realized.
And my algorithm was torturing me today.
Some video edits of you dancing and lifting up your shirt in the locker room keeps popping up on my timeline. "
"Fucking Bailey," I laughed, spinning her in a circle before I pulled her into me and whispered with a sly grin, "You know, you can't get rid of me that easily." Her hand found its way up my arm, holding on tight as the DJ started playing a slow song.
Her mom's eyes met mine as she walked by, and surprisingly, I found approval in her nod. Maybe after tonight I was no longer the enemy.
Two women joined us on the dance floor. One paused, calculating as she looked me up and down, taking in every detail. Her lips twisted into a smirk, the kind that knew more than it should. "Damn, Caroline," she purred. "Are you going to introduce us?"
"Of course," Caroline replied, although I could tell she didn’t really want to, "This is Reese. Reese, these are my cousins."
One of them leaned in slightly, assessing me. "Love that for you, Caroline."
Their laughter faded as they made their way to the DJ booth to request a song. I drew Caroline in closer, my hands resting just above the dip of her waist, feeling the soft fabric of her dress beneath my fingers.
"I need to talk to you about something," I whispered in her ear, inhaling that intoxicating shampoo of hers. “I never knew.”
"Never knew what?" she asked, absentmindedly.
I felt the subtle sway of Caroline's body against mine, living for the way she began to relax against me.
"I never knew about the dance," I confessed. "First off, if I was going to ask you to a dance, I would've done it myself."
There was a pause, and her blue eyes searched my face.
"You didn't know?" she asked, disbelief lining the edges of her words. "But you were there. Your girlfriend was there, she—"
Her gaze held me, intense and questioning, as if she was trying to understand but was now reading the truth written in my eyes.
"She wasn't my girlfriend… I just asked her because we sat next to each other in math. I don't think I talked to her much after that dance. I knew something happened at the punch table, but I had no idea about any of what you told me."
She stayed quiet, letting my words sink in. In the soft glow of candlelight, I caught the flicker of something in Caroline’s eyes—hurt, maybe disbelief.
"All this time… you really thought I’d do that to you?" My chest tightened as I continued. "I’m sorry it happened, but I need you to know—I’d never do something like that."
She leaned into me gently, her head coming to rest against my shoulder. "I'm sorry for everything. We spent all these years hating each other because I thought—"
I couldn’t hold back a grin—she was so ridiculous and sweet that it made my chest ache. Before she could say another word, I leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head, cutting her off gently. “It’s okay, baby.”
Her gaze flickered away for a second before snapping back to mine, a storm of emotions swirling behind those eyes.
“What happens now?” she whispered. “When things go back to how they were? When we have to face reality and we’re actually done… when you have to release me?”
For the first time in what felt like forever, she was letting me in.
And damn, if it didn’t make me want to hold on even tighter.
This fucking reputation of mine, which I’d never intended to own, but somehow couldn't escape.
We continued to move together, our audience fading, leaving only us.
Her hand was so small and relaxed in mine, her other arm draped over my shoulder.
"Caroline, you've been here in this town my whole life, and now that I see you, really see you, I can't go back to how things were. Things stopped being fake for me almost as soon as we started."
"But this was never supposed to be real," she said, her voice catching on doubt. "I'm so wrong for you, and you're… you’re—"
"I don't give a fuck what I am as long as I'm with you."
Before she could respond, we shifted on the dance floor, and two figures made their approach—her Nana and Papa. Her Nana's eyes locked onto mine, sharp and discerning.
"And who is this strapping young man?"
Caroline stiffened beside me, her grip on my hand tightening. I knew this was her father’s parents, two people she said had been the hardest in the entire family to impress.
I extended my other hand toward her Nana. "Reese," I said, my voice steady. "Nice to meet you."
"It's a pleasure," she said with a tight smile, her eyes flicking upward to meet mine. "You know, I have seen Caroline many times over the years, and never have I seen her glowing this way. You two make a beautiful couple."
"Thank you," I grinned, glancing at Caroline. "I think so too."
Caroline's papa stepped forward, not looking pleased. "And what exactly do you do for a living?"
Caroline spoke before I could. "He's only going to be the best pitcher in the MLB soon."
Her Papa's expression shifted, like she instantly lightened the mood. "Baseball?" he asked, curiously, as he turned to Caroline once more. "Don't you forget to bring us to a game then, dear. I’ll bring that jersey of mine I won back in 1981."
Caroline laughed a real laugh for the first time all night. "Will do, Papa."
The wedding had drained me, and Caroline stayed behind to help her parents and sister—they all had suites at the event center for the night.
By the time I pulled into my driveway, all I wanted was sleep.
But as I rolled to a stop, I noticed the downstairs lights were still on.
At this hour, that could only mean one thing—someone was up.
And from the looks of it, something was going on.