Page 37 of Three Pucking Wedding Dates

“Wait,” I call out, my voice laced with determination. Darting in front of him, I block his exit. “Do you know where Iris is?”

Theo’s icy blue eyes narrow, and his jaw clenches. “No,” he replies curtly. “But I don’t want you around her anyways.”

His words sting, but I refuse to let him see how much they affect me. I cross my arms, mirroring his earlier stance. “And why’s that?” I challenge, my tone laced with sass.

“Because,” he says, his voice dripping with disdain, “you have enough trouble of your own without dragging her into it.”

I can feel my face heating up with anger, but I hold back any retort that might slip from my lips. The tension between Theo and me is palpable, a thick fog that threatens to suffocate usboth. He tries to edge past me again, but I refuse to budge, digging my heels into the floor.

“Can we talk about this, please?” I plead, meeting his icy gaze with stubborn determination. “You’ve been treating me like dirt ever since I came back, and it’s not fair.”

“Fair?” Theo scoffs, his voice cold as steel. “Life isn’t fair, Oakley. You should know that by now.”

I grit my teeth, fighting back the tears that threaten to spill over. “You weren’t always like this,” I say softly, staring at him with a mixture of hurt and longing. “You used to be kind to me, even when you were cold to everyone else. I saw a part of you that no one else did.”

“Things change,” he replies dismissively, shifting his weight impatiently. “People change.”

“Is that really all you have to say?” I ask, my voice trembling. “Does everything we shared mean nothing to you?”

For a moment, Theo hesitates, and I see a flicker of emotion in his eyes. But just as quickly, the walls come back up, and he shakes his head. “It was a long time ago, Oakley. We were teenagers, and you need to let it go.”

“Maybe,” I admit, my heart aching with the weight of our history. “But that doesn’t excuse the way you’re treating me now. It’s cruel, and I don’t understand why.”

“It’s not my job to explain everything to you.”

“Tell me,” I plead, desperation tinging my voice. “What happened to the man I knew back then? The one who wasn’t afraid to show his sweet side?”

“Sweet” has never been a word commonly associated with Theo, but there was a time when he wasn’t completely closed off. A time when he’d let me in, if only for a moment.

His jaw tightens, and he looks away, avoiding my gaze. “That guy?” He scoffs, shaking his head. “He grew up, Oakley. Maybe you should try doing the same.”

A mixture of anger and hurt surges through me, and I barely manage to bite back a retort. My fists clench at my sides as I struggle to find the words to defend myself. But before I can say anything, the sharp ring of my phone cuts through the charged silence between us.

I glance down at the screen, my heart skipping a beat when I see my dad’s name flashing across the display.

Theo takes the opportunity to disappear through the door.

I shake my head, not bothering to go after him. I have bigger fish to fry.

My phone buzzes again, but I quickly reject the call.

“Why are you avoiding your dad?” Iris’s voice makes me jump, and I turn around to face her. “Or, maybe we should start with why you’re sleeping with Gray?”

My lips part, and I try to get words out, but nothing comes out. She doesn’t even know the full truth—that I didn’t sleep with just one of her brothers, but I’d slept with Reid as well…on the same night…together.

If she knew the truth, she’d never talk to me again. And with everything else I have going on, I just can’t bear the thought of that.

I can’t bear their judgment any longer, and with a choked sob, I rush to Iris, throwing my arms around her and burying my face in her shoulder. My tears soak the fabric of her blouse as I cling to her like a lifeline.

“Oakley…what’s going on?” Iris asks, her voice filled with concern. Her initial shock at my sudden breakdown gives way to the caring friend I’ve always known her to be.

“Everything’s just…too much right now,” I whisper between sobs.

The warmth of Iris’s embrace envelops me, and for a moment, I allow myself to forget the storm raging inside my heart. As the tears subside, I pull away, sniffling and wiping at my face with the back of my hand.

“Ugh, sorry, Iris,” I say, my voice still thick. “I didn’t mean to get my tears all over you.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Iris reassures me, her hazel eyes sparkling with understanding. “We’ve always been there for each other, right? Friends forever and all that jazz.”

---