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“My bad,” he said. “I keep forgetting Alicia’s the only one who’s supposed to be eating for two.”

That got a laugh out of everyone. The saleswoman wasn’t too concerned, though; the alteration on the trousers would be minor, the jacket still fit fine, and there were vests in stock in his updated size.

“Any word from the missus?” Andrew asked Matt.

“Yeah.” Matt glanced at his phone. “She should be here in—oh, hey, there they are.”

They?

My head snapped toward the front of the store, and my stomach hit the floor. I’d thought he was getting her opinion via text—not that she’d be coming in.

And definitely not that she had two of her bridesmaids in tow.

My stomach very nearly lurched up my throat at the sight of Leann.

No. God, no. I can’t deal with her. Not now.

I could never deal with her, but one look at her this time had me just as raw and ripped open as when I’d poured my ugly past out for Riley to see. Fucking hell. And there was no way for me to bow out. No way to—

“You know,” Riley said, rolling to his feet from the bench. “It’s going to get wicked crowded in here.” He gestured at Leann and the other bridesmaid. “Let’s all get out of the way and go get the guys some coffee!”

He didn’t even give them a chance to object before he was herding them out of the fitting area. Leann tried to protest, I thought, but he was chatting away about how he needed them to show him which coffee place was the best. Over his shoulder, he called out, “Guys, have Nolan text me what you all want. This one’s on me!”

All the men nodded and murmured along the lines of “oh, hey, yeah, I could use some coffee.”

And just like that, the woman of my nightmares was gone.

My pulse was still in the stratosphere and my palms were still sweating, but breathing came easier now. Little by little, I unwound, my whole body tingling with that“holy shit, the mortarjustmissed us”feeling.

Andrew elbowed me and grinned. “You writing down coffee orders or what?”

Writing down… coffee orders…

“Guys, have Nolan text me what you all want. This one’s on me!”

Oh. Right. That.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Yeah, just, uh, let me get my phone.” I gestured at the dressing room. “I left it in my jeans.”

I stepped out of the fitting area and into the dressing room, and I paused for a moment to close my eyes and take a few deep breaths.

Leann was gone. Not forever. Probably not even for the rest of the day. But for as long as it took them all to go find coffee, I had a reprieve.

Because of Riley.

Because of the man I’d been so afraid would balk and think less of me once I told him what had happened.

He’d said yesterday that he believed me.

Today…

Holy fuck, today,Ibelievedhim.

Chapter 25

Riley

In retrospect, all those years of biting my tongue around my family may have served me well.

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