Page 66 of Her Football Star Ex

“You’d better,” Kira said. “You were the one who suggested it in the first place.”

Derek turned to Vincent. “What about you?”

My gaze briefly drifted to Vincent, who stood with his fingers tucked in his pockets, as if he was uncomfortable with the dynamic of the four of us together like old times. But he said, “I’m coming. My mom and Arianna took Jaxon for the weekend so I can stay out late tonight.”

“Great!” Derek smiled and took Kira’s hand in his. “We’ll see you guys over there, then.”

When they were gone, I looked up at Vincent, feeling somewhat awkward being alone with him after the distance we’d had the past month.

“I guess I’d better head over there, too,” I said, when nothing else came to mind.

But when our gazes met, there was an anxious look in his eyes that made me pause.

I furrowed my brow. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” He shook his head and dug the toe of his shoe into the carpet. “I just—” He sighed—the way he always did when he was worried about telling me something. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m bringing a date to the wedding tomorrow.”

My heart froze in my chest before plummeting to the earth, and it took a moment for it to remember I needed it to work in order to stay alive.

A date?

Vincent was bringing a date?

And I knew when I looked at him, I probably had the most confused expression.

“I know the last time we spoke, I told you I hadn’t started dating yet,” he said the words quickly, his eyes wary. “So I figured I should let you know before tomorrow so it doesn’t catch you off guard.”

My mind was still trying to absorb the fact that he had a date.

Vincent was moving on?

Why did that make my chest hurt so much?

His expression became more worried the longer I took to respond, so I made myself say, “Th-thanks for the heads up,” before he could wonder what was wrong with me.

Was this the part where I told him I was a loser and planning to come alone?

Man, for some reason I had expected him to not look for a date.

I wasn’t ready for him to date yet.

He checked the time on his watch. “Anyway, we should probably get going before Derek and the other groomsmen eat all the food.”

I nodded. “Yeah, his brothers looked pretty hungry.”

But as I followed behind Vincent to the church’s parking lot, the numbness washing over me told me I wasn’t nearly as hungry as I’d been a few minutes ago.

25

Emerson

“When we wereat the church I had no idea you were Vincent Lake’s ex,” Landon whispered under his breath as we sat at the table in the private dining area at Rioja.

“Yeah, that’s me,” I said, scooting my chair closer to the table, still trying to regain my composure after learning Vincent was officially moving on.

For some reason it was hitting me harder than I thought it would. And with the conversation I’d had with Ivy still fresh on my mind—her pointing out to me that I was subconsciously comparing every guy I went out with Vincent—had me wondering in my head if Iwasstill in love with him.

Because if I had really moved on, the thought of seeing him with someone else tomorrow wouldn’t have made me so sick to my stomach, would it?

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