Page 17 of First Comes Marriage

“Don’t be. You saved me from an expensive divorce.”

“I should have found you. After. Made sure you were alright. You were my friend and I—”

“I wouldn’t have listened,” he said. “I wanted to believe it was your fault.”

“Why?” That single syllable tugged at his heart.

“Because it was easier that way.”

She deflated in front him as the full force of his words settled over her. He’d been ready to believe the worst of her because doing so meant he didn’t have to acknowledge his own disastrous choices. If Sabrina was the reason his wedding fell apart, then he didn’t have to face the fact that he shouldn’t have been getting married in the first place. He’d thought he was in love, but he hadn’t known Holly at all.

“I’m sorry, wildflower,” he said, the old nickname falling from his lips too easily.

Her eyes softened, her red-stained lips pressing together to hide the way they quivered. “I forgive you.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“But I do. Friends?” she asked, holding out a hand to him.

He huffed out a breath, something loosening inside his chest. “Friends.”

He squeezed her hand lightly, the feel of her skin on his remaining even after he’d released her. She stared at the hand he’d been holding, flexing it as though she felt it too.

“Thank you for believing me,” she said softly. “If anyone was going to, I’m glad it was you.”

“How is it possible that your parents don’t know the truth?”

She sighed. “Maybe they also thought it was easier to believe it was my fault. You know, when I started volunteering at the food pantry that summer, my mom tried to convince me it was a waste of time. She thought I was doing it to avoid finishing my grad school applications.”

“Which you kind of were.”

“But as soon as I introduced you to Holly, suddenly Mom was happy I’d been working there. At least until the wedding. Then she was right back to accusing me of embarrassing the family.”

“Holly never told them what happened?”

Sabrina sputtered an incredulous laugh. “Holly have an uncomfortable conversation? Holly admit she messed up? You should know better than anyone that my sister doesn’t do either of those things.”

The memory of receiving that text message on his wedding day washed over him, shame and anger sinking in his stomach. It was bad enough to be left at the altar, but to have your wedding called off over text message? It was unforgiveable.

Beside him, Sabrina had begun spinning her margarita glass again, leaving patterns of condensation on the bar top, her lips turned down and brow furrowed. He gripped her knee and turned her towards him, using his own leg to stop her momentum when she was positioned between his thighs. “What happened today?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Mom wanted to remind me how successful andappropriatemy sister is. Not like me. I’mthe family fuck up.”

A low noise rumbled in Baz’s chest. “Will you stop saying that?”

“Just once I wish Holly felt like the fuck up, ya know? Just once I wish she was jealous of me.”

Baz studied her eyes, a deep green that reminded him of a forest, of getting lost in the twists and turns of trees and overgrowth, of inhaling the sweet summer scent of moss and damp earth, of wildflowers. How did she always smell like wildflowers?

Her eyes dropped to his mouth, and he felt the ghost of her gaze as it traced his lips. At the back of his mind, an idea pushed through the cloud of alcohol, the twining branches of guilt and anger and a strange sort of relief.

Without taking his eyes from her, he lifted a hand to hail the bartender. “Another round.” She raised her eyes to his and he lowered his voice, for only her to hear. “Then let’s make her jealous.”

Chapter Six

“That’s definitely the one.” Sabrina stabbed her finger at the photo on Sebastian’s phone.

It had taken several tries before they had managed to snap the selfie of the two of them without his thumb in the frame, or one of them making a weird face. But the final image, of Sabrina sitting on his lap at the bar, his hand curled around her waist and tugging her back against his chest, was perfect. Holly was going to lose her mind.

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