Page 118 of Harrison's Wedding

I walk over to their bar to distract myself and ask, “Does anyone else want a drink before we head out?”

“Hi, Harrison,” Ariana laughs. “Sure, I’ll have a vodka and orange.” As I’m picking up the vodka to pour her drink, she says quickly, “Actually, maybe just an orange juice for now. We can drink later.”

I whip my head around to glare at Gabriel. He’s standing next to Ariana and looking back at me with a completely impassive look. I’m certain that he said something to Ariana, and I’m frustrated that my friends are treating me this way.

“Fine. Orange juice it is, Ariana. Anyone else?” I raise an eyebrow at Gabriel.

“Coke’s fine for me,” Gabriel says.

“Me, too,” Hayden chimes in.

I grit my teeth and say in a cool tone, “Sure.”

I pour the drinks before pouring myself a whisky from the bottle of Glenfiddich Gabriel has. I pour myself a double before handing the drinks out, and I notice the look that Gabriel exchanges with Hayden when he sees the drink I’ve poured myself. I can’t stand their judgment, but I can’t stand living this life without Heather worse. So I lift the tumbler to my lips and take a deep drink.

I deposit myself on the sofa next to Ariana as I do, and pure judgment emanates from my friends. Ariana catches my eye and smiles at me as she takes a sip of her drink.

“How has work been lately?” I ask her for something to say.

“Good. I found Heather an apart—good. It’s been good.”

She flushes bright red as she realizes what she’s said to me and cuts herself off. I sigh and smile at her.

“I’m glad you’re friends with Heather again. I heard she read your letter?”

Ariana nods. “Yeah. I wasn’t sure if anyone told you or how much you wanted to know.”

“I’ll never not want to know what is happening with Heather,” I mutter as intense pain crushes my heart in my chest from the knowledge that we live separate lives now.

I can barely breathe because my chest hurts so badly, but Ariana doesn’t seem to have noticed that I’m dying inside, and she continues speaking as though I’m not.

“Well, Sebastian invited Gabriel and me out to Galena when Heather was out there with him. We all talked and I finally found out exactly why he hated me.” Ariana sighs and shakes her head. “Anyway. It’s in the past and we’re all friends agai—shit, I’m sorry, Harrison.”

She cringes as she looks at me, and I give her a rueful smile. “It’s not your fault. I’m the one that fucked someone else.”

“Harrison, that’s really not fair to you.” Ariana frowns at me, then asks, “Are you coping?”

I don’t know how to answer her question. Am I coping? No. Of course not. But I don’t want to burden her with this, so I force a smile onto my face.

“Yeah, it’s not great, but I’m getting by.” I finish my drink and tell her, “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just get myself a refill.”

By the time we leave for dinner, I’ve finished the second drink. We go to some fine dining place in downtown Chicago, and I wish we’d gone somewhere like Giovanni’s instead. The paparazzi are there when we arrive, and I tense up as they approach our vehicle.

Ariana places her hand on my arm and squeezes it quickly. “We’re here with you, Harrison.”

“Thanks, Ariana,” I say, and give her a tight smile.

We wait where we are for Michael and Jesse to join us after they’ve parked the other SUV. The second we get out of the car, the paparazzi descend on us.

“Hey guys, Sebastian isn’t here tonight. What’s up with that?”

None of us respond to the question. The bodyguards are keeping the crowd away from us as we make our way toward the restaurant.

“Harrison, is the wedding off?” another person calls.

I feel a stinging pain in my heart and my hand instinctively flies to my chest, where I press Heather’s ring against my skin.

“Are you going to tell us how long she’s been sleeping with Sebastian?” the first person asks.

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