Page 79 of Kiss the Bride

Liv is wearing my jacket.Liv didn’t swap it before heading off with Mitch. How did I not notice?Okay,I dare to breathe,there is hope.

“How are my three favorite ladies!” Mitchel saunters into the restaurant as if he owns it. With all the confidence in the world,he grabs Olivia around the waist and plants a lingering kiss on her forehead before she has a chance to react or move away. At least he hadn’t risked humiliation by going for her lips. When Olivia extracts herself and brushes away his hand, Mitch turns to Jess, “Good to see you, Jessie-girl. Are you here to whisk mygood friendHunter back to civilization?”

My fist tightens at what I want to do to mygood friend, but being thrown in a cell won’t help my cause.

“We came to check on our friend. Didn’t realize you’d have the same idea,” Jess’s tone is cool and impersonal. Good. Mitch hasn’t won her over to his side, yet.

“Needed to give my girl some time and space before coming up and continuing our honeymoon.”

“Don’t you need a wedding before a honeymoon?” I don’t mean to sound like a jealous jerk, but who the hell does he think he is? At least Jess smirks and Olivia has to look away before Mitch sees her grin.

“Olivia, sweetheart, did you think about what I suggested?” Mitch does a full body turn until he’s isolated Olivia, coming between her and her friends, or her and me. “What do you say we continue this honeymoon and work on rebuilding what I stuffed up?”

I wait for her reaction.Come on, give me something, I silently urge. Come on, don’t let him do this to you—to us. Tash and Jess are exchanging raised eyebrows with each other and sympathetic glances my way. I don’t need a pity party; I need Olivia to remember the last days of us rebuilding what I broke.Come on, Liv, come on. I’ll fight for us, but I need to know you want it, too.

“You said you wanted to talk. I didn’t say I wanted to listen.” Olivia steps back and Mitch follows, caging her against a table. I see their past replaying in her eyes and hope she remembers how it ended. “I said I want space and time to think.”

“Hope Hunter was a gentleman and gave you space.” Mitch doesn’t even have the grace to look my way, while I wait for a sign that Liv wants me to step in and rescue her. Our eyes meet in a storm of emotions that I can’t read. Does she love me? Is she falling back in love with me? Does she trust that this time I won’t walk away?

“Mitch, it’s not as easy as pretending what happened with Lina didn’t. I know what I saw.” She turns back to him and her face screws up, “I can’t unsee it and it wasn’t your best look.”

“And baby, I’m so sorry,” Mitch says as Liv’s friends try not to laugh at her insult. “Forget the past. Think about the future. The rest of this holiday, counseling, the rest of our lives together and I’ll make it up to you.”

“Livia, how about us girls hang this afternoon and tonight.” Jess says, breaking in when I can’t. “Chill, drink, and give you time away from the guys. We’ve got a villa on the other side of the island, away from the honeymooners. Stay with us tonight and catch up with the guys tomorrow for breakfast.”

“Everyone’s gotta eat. How about we have a late lunch and then you ladies can take my special lady and pamper her silly.” I can’t believe Olivia isn’t telling Mitch he can take his late lunch and shove it before swimming back to the mainland solo.

“Actually, I need to talk to Hunter, first.” Olivia moves to the side and reaches for my hand. I feel the connection even before our fingers touch—but can she? “Come and talk with me?”

Shit.Mitch’s look is pure cocky bullshit. He thinks he’s won, and my gut can’t convince me otherwise.

Olivia wants totalk. Is there a worse thing in the world than hearing the woman you love wants totalk? Nup. Didn’t think so.

“Whatever you want,” I agree, accepting hugs from Tash and Jess before they do the same to Olivia and we head outside. Our fingers touch again but when she doesn’t lace them together, I take that as a sign.She’s choosing him.

“Want to get a table out here, or go down to the beach?” I’d rather get a bullet in private, just in case my body decides to go all pussy on me and shed a tear or several.Fuck.

“Beach would be good.”

Love is supposed to be simple. You find someone you can’t live without and you just … be with them. So, why do I feel like I’m about to load the pistol, and take aim so Liv can fire it at my heart? At least, when I offer Liv my hand to help her over a clump of rocks, she doesn’t let it go as we make our way through the labyrinth of paths, following all signs to the beach. I refrain from looking back to see if Mitch or the girls can see us through all the trees.She’s still wearing my jacket.

“Here.” I strip off my shirt for Liv to sit on as we stop at a clearing with a perfect view of the water. The sand isn’t damp, but it can’t hurt to remind her of how I’ve always treated her. Protecting her from the sand has a side benefit of reminding Liv she’d clung to my naked chest last night.

“Thanks.” She pats the shirt for me to sit close and it’s automatic that when I lean back, one arm is behind her, supporting her if she needs. “My head’s spinning.”

What does that even mean? “Liv, I don’t want to pressure you, but I don’t want you to forgive him without knowing you have two other options.”

“Two?” When she looks at me, there is so much love between us that I don’t know why we are even having this conversation. What’s to discuss? I love her. She said she was over Mitch. Why aren’t we hiring a boat and taking Jess and Tash on a tour around the island and leaving Mitch to find his own way back home?

“Yes, two,” I say, remembering I’m her friend, first. “Me, obviously.” I wave down my body. “What you see is what you get, and I think it’s your best choice.” I sober up and go serious. “But also, no guy at all. You can go back to Sydney and take time toget over Mitch, sort out your life, and decide what you want. I’ll still be there and I guess if Mitch is real, he’ll still be waiting, too. This is your life and your decision on your timeframe. You don’t have to decide today or even this week.”

Have I shot myself in the foot? I love Liv but at the first sign that Liv and Mitch are back together, I’ll be on the first flight out of the country.

“Mitchel wants me to give him a second chance.”

“What doyouwant?”

“I don’t know.” What the hell? Last night she crept into my bed. She wanted me and I don’t think we’ve ever felt closer or more in sync. I want to kiss her until she takes back her words, caress her body until it remembers there’s no one else but me. I want to make love to her right here and now, and to hell with who sees. Damn the consequences. If this is our last moment, Olivia needs to know what she’s throwing away.

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