Layla #2
Was cheating redeemable? I thought of Chad and instantly thought nope. In any event, the situation wouldn’t be resolved tonight at the wedding. Nor did I want to bring it up. So, when Kellan returned, I simply smiled and scooted closer to him so we could hold hands under the table.
He looked incredibly handsome in a suit and tie that made me anxious to get it off of him later. Perhaps I would be scoping out a coat closet, after all.
He grinned, leaning in to whisper, “Penny for your dirty thoughts.”
“How do you know they’re not completely innocent?”
He chuckled. “Because I’ve learned your expressions, and the one you’re wearing is my favorite.”
“Is it now?” I loved this flirting as if we were the only two in the room.
“You two are way too forking adorable. Seriously,” Keira commented while taking a bite of her salmon dinner.
“We are forking adorable, aren’t we,” Kellan replied, smiling and making no apologies for our PDA.
“I don’t suppose you have a brother? Wait, you do.”
Kellan about spit out his beer. “Although it might be strange to have my sister dating my friend, I don’t suppose I can talk. After all, here I am with his sister. But he lives two hundred miles north.”
“Darn.”
After dinner, they cut the cake, and the bridal couple had their first dance. As soon as there were other couples on the dance floor, Kellan invited me to join him out there.
Being in his arms on the dance floor felt natural. Like it had the night we’d met.
“Do you remember the first time we danced? At the bar?” He pulled me close as a love song played.
“I was recalling that night, too.”
“One of the best nights of my life.”
I leaned back, smiling. “Was it now?”
His smile faltered. He was afraid to say the wrong thing.
I could see it in his face. I’d seen the same expression off and on since the weekend at his house where I’d told him I wasn’t ready for a relationship.
So now he was trying not to come on too strong.
Attempting to give me space. He was trying to respect my fear of my own emotions and my need for proceeding slowly.
But in this moment, I wasn’t scared. I felt safe.
Safe with a man who wouldn’t let me down.
The only question was whether I could trust that feeling.
Two hours later, I was tired. It was late in the evening, and I’d danced, drunk a couple glasses of champagne, and had a great time.
Kellan was a perfect gentleman. And a perfect date.
Part of me wished he wasn’t so perfect all the time, so I could feel as though I wasn’t quite so imperfect by comparison.
I was more than ready to get back to the hotel and slip out of my heels and this dress.
Then I could have him all to myself for the rest of the night.
I hugged his sister and parents, saying goodbye.
I looked forward to seeing them next month when they were planning to come up for a weekend in Seattle.
It felt comfortable to say that and mean it.
Thinking about a longer-term commitment with their son wasn’t quite so scary as it had once been.
As Kellan and I headed out of the reception hall into the lobby, one of the bridesmaids came running up to us. “I’m sorry to ask this, but could I borrow Kellan? We need help loading the gifts into the father of the groom’s car.”
He looked apologetically at me, clearly asking permission to leave me alone.
“You go on. I’ll wait here.” The country club’s lobby had huge wingback chairs, which allowed me to get off my feet.
“I’ll be right back.” He gave me a quick kiss and was off to help.
I settled into the chair and was taking out my phone to keep myself busy when someone spoke.
“Hello there.”
I glanced up to see none other than Kellan’s cousin Brandon. “Hello.”
“I’m Brandon. Brother of the bride.”
“I’m Layla. Kellan’s—” I paused and then went for it. “—girlfriend.” The word felt good to say. It felt even better to think about telling him I was ready for it.
“I saw you two earlier on the dance floor. It’s really good to see him so happy.”
Every word rang true and sincere, making me relax my guard. “And I’m a happy girl with him.”
He put his hands in the pockets of his tux and rocked back on his heels. “We used to be close.”
“I know. He told me.” I held his gaze, watching him deflate as he realized I knew the sordid history.
“I’ve apologized a thousand times. This many years later, he still won’t talk to me.”
“Why did you do it?” I didn’t ask with malice or anger, but with a healthy dose of simple curiosity. Honestly, it was a question I often wondered about regarding Chad. What drove someone to cheat?
“You’d think after all this time I’d have a better answer.
The truth is I don’t even know. See, I was asleep on the couch.
My girlfriend had broken up with me the night before, so I’d drunk a decent amount of whiskey.
I woke with Carly on top of me. I wasn’t clear-headed enough to realize what was happening until it was too late.
It’s a lame excuse, but I sincerely didn’t act intentionally.
And I certainly had nothing to do with her afterward.
I hate her about as much as he does for what she did to our friendship and to our future plans.
Anyhow, I’m sorry to dump that history on you.
” He flashed a sheepish smile. “I promise it wasn’t my intent when I came up to say hello. ”
“I’m the one who asked. Your sister’s wedding was lovely.”
He seemed to appreciate the switch of topic. “It was. It’s nice to see them so happy. Hard to believe they’ve been together since high school.”
“Wow, that’s a long time.”
“It is. They went to the same college—” He was cut off by the sound of Kellan’s voice.
“What the hell are you doing?” Angry didn’t even begin to describe how Kellan looked as he strolled up, clearly addressing the question to Brandon.
His cousin immediately flushed. “I was talking to Layla about the wedding.” He threw me a pleading look, probably knowing if I mentioned we’d been talking about his ex, Kellan would absolutely lose it.