Page 37 of The Enemy: Extended Edition

And then he whispers, “I was definitely the bad guy. I just wasn’t against you like you thought.”

I feel Ryan’s lips on my skin for the rest of the day and on into the night. Like he left a tattoo on my skin. It’s there, tingling and reminding me that everything has changed.

During the rehearsal, I keep my distance from Ryan. But he looks amazing in his black suit pants and button-down linen shirt, so my eyes continuously seek him out from across the room. Every time we make eye contact, I instinctively touch the spot on my neck that I have vowed to never wash again. I’m going to wrap it in caution tape just so no one ever taints that patch of skin again. I’ve christened it as Ryan’s.

My stomach does barrel rolls when it’s time for me to take Ryan’s arm and practice walking down the aisle together. He covers my hand where it’s resting on his arm, and I curse myself a million times for imagining myself wearing a white dress and mouthing na na na, boo boo to every woman who’s ever given Ryan the I’m-all-yours look. You better believe I would invite them to our wedding. I’m a gloater.

Point is, this all feels like a dream where real life is hovering just beyond the edges, ready to overtake me at any moment.

Logan and Stacy practice the vow portion of the ceremony, and Ryan’s gaze is searing into mine. I want him to look away, but he won’t. I widen my eyes in the classic STOP LOOKING AT ME sign, but he just makes a goofy kissy face back at me. I’m so mad at him for making me laugh. For taking a sledgehammer to the cement walls I’d constructed around myself. For making me flush and giggle like a ding-dong in front of this whole wedding party.

After the rehearsal, Ryan tries to make his way to me at every turn, but I avoid, sidestep, and duck behind every potted plant I can find, because the more he makes me smile and blush and tingle, the more terrified I become. I KNOW that whatever Ryan feels for me is fake. Or maybe not fake, but temporary. His life is far away from here, and it’s going to call him back in two days. I just have to resist him for that long.

A heaviness grows over me during dinner, but I refuse to let it show, because this is Stacy’s big night, and I’m determined to make it as wonderful as possible for her. I will keep a smile on my face tonight even if I have to tape the corners of my mouth to my earlobes.

But the only time I genuinely laugh the entire night is when Stacy makes Ryan stand up during dinner. “Attention, everyone! Can we all give a round of applause for having our very own Michelin chef, Ryan Henderson, make all this delicious food for us tonight?”

Ryan’s face turns blood red, and I know that he’s dying inside at having his name associated with green beans and mashed potatoes. I snap a quick picture, because this is probably the only time I’ll ever see him embarrassed. Maybe I’ll have the photo enlarged and printed. It will hang over my mantel, and it won’t be creepy at all.

FINALLY, the night is over, and everyone begins to leave. I stand from the table and kiss Stacy’s glowing cheek, forcing myself to not focus on how much losing her is going to hurt.

“Tomorrow’s the day,” I say, giving her one last hug.

“Tomorrow,” she repeats with a dreamy expression.

I look over Stacy’s shoulder and lock eyes with Ryan, sitting at a table across the room. Tomorrow takes on a whole new meaning in my mind. Tomorrow is the wedding—the end of the reason Ryan came to visit. Tomorrow, the carriage will turn back into a pumpkin.

Ryan’s eyes beg me to let him take me home, but I shake my head.

Enemies or not, I am still June, and he is still Ryan. Our lives have taken different paths, and they don’t intersect. I refuse to let a man break me again. No matter how many figurines I could set on his ab shelves.

CHAPTER 16

June

“No,” I whisper, staring longingly through my car window at the keys lying innocently in my front seat. “No. No. No.” I haven’t locked my keys in my car since I was sixteen.

How could this happen? Then again, the tears bubbling up behind my eyes remind me I have had just a tiny bit on my mind lately. And I tend to turn into Space Cadet June when I’m overwhelmed. Don’t think about how overwhelmed you are, June. Don’t think about Stacy moving. Don’t think about Ryan leaving. Don’t think about how you’re going to have to run your business with someone other than your best friend.

I’m thinking about all of it.

Oh god, now my eyes are stinging and my nose is tickling and I just want to get into my car, where I can let it all out in peace.

I lightly pound my fist against the glass—begging it to let me in. “Please just open up,” I say in a wobbly voice. “If you do, I promise I won’t let your seats get all crumby anymore.”

“That’s a big promise.”

I scrunch my eyes shut. Dammit. Of course Ryan would be out here right now while I’m locked out of my car and tears are clinging to my lashes. I didn’t want to see him anymore tonight. My heart is all twisty and achy, and spending more time with him is only going to make it worse.

I feel him approach at my back. “You okay?”

“Fine!” I say, not turning around. “Apparently my keys are mad at me and have locked themselves in there.”

I’m trying to sound happy and cute, but my voice is cracking with emotion and Ryan doesn’t even pretend to miss it.

“June?” I feel him approaching me. “Look at me. Or do I need to carry you into a shower again?”

This pulls a little laugh from me as I turn around to face him. “I swear I don’t cry this much normally.”

---