Page 2 of Six Nights in Paradise

“What?” I cried. How could he say that? We were having a moment. We finally kissed and I was ready to make him mine. To become his.

“I don’t think of you like that,” he declared and then winced.

What the hell?

“But,” I began, fighting back tears, “you kissed me,” I said, touching my fingers softly to my lips, trying to capture the feel of his kiss and commit it to memory.

“No,” he bit out. “Youkissedme.”

Why was he so mad about it? He seemed to like it just fine a minute ago. Now he was acting like it was a mistake.

He regretted kissing me. And there I was, preparing to offer up my virginity to the boy I’d been crushing on since seventh grade.

My face flamed with mortification.He doesn’t want me. He never wanted me. How could I be so stupid?

“Take me home,” I demanded with a sniffle. Tears slipped down my cheeks and I turned away from him, staring out the window pointedly.

He reached for my hand, whispering my name, but I jerked it away as soon as I felt his touch.

“Just take me home,” I repeated.

He sighed and shifted into gear. The short drive home felt like an eternity, the quiet discomfort a suffocating third wheel nestled between us. I regained my composure and dried my eyes, hoping no one would notice I’d been crying. When he finally pulled into my driveway, I got out before he could say anything and bolted to the door. I fumbled with my keys, my hands shaking, the sound of blood rushing in my ears. A hand on my forearm startled me and I dropped them, the bundle of metal landing with a dull thud on our welcome mat. He bent to pick them up and slid the pink key markedHomeinto the lock, opening the door to my salvation. Before I could get away, his hand landed on my arm again, his grip gentle, apologetic. I looked up into his pained eyes and my heart cracked open a little.

“Please don’t tell your brother about this,” he pleaded, a hint of fear tightening his features. I frowned, not expecting that to be the last thing he said to me tonight.

“Don’t worry,” I assured him. “I’m not going to tellanybodyabout this.” He hung his head and scrubbed a hand over his face, his eyes full of regret. Before he could say anything else, I stepped inside and shut the door, shutting him out entirely.

We never spoke of the incident, pretending it never happened. But he came over less and less, most likely to avoid running into me. When he was there, I found a reason not to be. When he left for college, I breathed a sigh of relief, glad not to have to face him, or what I thought was the biggest blunder of my romantic life.

Turned out, I was capable of far worse.

Dalton

“I can’t believe she called off the wedding with only five days to go!” Aiden fumed from the corner of the island, both hands braced against the marble, his jaw clamped tight as he shook his head.

My eyes remained locked on the counter, varying hues of grey, silver, and white swirling over the speckled surface. I let the tranquil pattern lull me into a false sense of peace. I should’ve been fuming, too. “At least she didn’t leave me standing at the altar,” I mumbled before taking a swig of my beer. “Silver lining, I guess,” I offered with a shrug, still in shock from the bomb my fiancé – well,exfiancé now – dropped on me two nights ago.

Gianna and I had been engaged for nearly two years. Our wedding was supposed to go off without a hitch this weekend. She and her mother had planned everything down to the last detail. The caterer was booked and had been paid months ago. Our venue was the most sought-after wedding destination in the city. We’d secured our date and paid our deposit as soon as I slipped that ring on her finger. The wait list was a mile long, and if we hadn’t secured our spot that very moment, we would’ve missed out on the prime date during peak wedding season. Thank God her parents were footing the bill for everything else except the honeymoon, because it put a serious dent in my savings, but I was more than willing to do whatever made her happy.

Too bad it wasn’t enough.

“How can you be so calm about this?” Aiden asked incredulously. “She called off your fucking wedding!” he nearly shouted. “After everything was paid for! You’re never getting that money back!”

I brought my hand to my face, pinching my brows together before scrubbing my fingers over my stubble-covered jaw. I hadn’t shaved since that night, the night my world came crashing down on me.

Two nights ago

“I can’t do it, Dalton,” Gianna announced from across the table. We were at Exeter having dinner before everything became so hectic that we wouldn’t have time to share a nice meal together until the rehearsal dinner.

“Can’t do what, babe?” I asked before placing the bite of steak I had just sliced away into my mouth and chewing.

“I can’t marry you.”

My jaw froze mid bite and my gaze settled on hers. She wrung the napkin in her hands furiously, her lips pulled into a regretful frown.

I forced down theinadequately chewed morsel and set my fork on the plate. “I’m sorry,” I croaked, shaking my head. Surely I hadn’t heard her correctly. “What was that?”

“I’m calling off the wedding. I don’t want to get married.”

---