Page 74 of The Love Wager

She stopped walking and looked at him, irrationally irritated by his use of her shortened name. “Ben. Hi.”

He smiled and said, “You look great.”

“Thanks.” She rubbed her lips together and looked at a spotjust past his shoulders, because she didn’t want to see his warm brown eyes. She said, “Yeah, you, too.”

Of course Ben was the kind of perfect guy who couldn’t abide the elephant in the room, so he said, “Listen, I don’t want this wedding to be awkward—”

She held up a hand. “It won’t.”

“—so I hope you’ll accept my apology.”

She dropped her hand and did look at his eyes then, shocked by his words. Apologizing had never really been his thing, even when he’d ripped her heart out. Hallie crossed her arms, suddenly cold, and said, “For...?”

“For everything.” He squeezed the Fiji water bottle he was holding, like he was nervous, and said, “I’m so sorry.”

She looked at him and was seriously conflicted. Part of her wanted him to suffer forever, because she could still feel the pain of his rejection. She might not want him anymore, but she’d be lying if she said that certain songs didn’t take her right back to that September and still fill her with an aching melancholy.

But a larger part of her also didn’t care. She looked at him, at his beautiful face, and all she felt was nostalgia.

She swallowed and said, “It’s history, Ben—all is forgotten.”

His eyebrows went up and he turned his head a little, like he wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. “What?”

“I’m over it, so we’re cool.”

“Wow.” He smiled, looking totally surprised, and she wondered if she’d ever be able to look at him and not feel a tiny bit sad. She’d never want to get back together with him, but she’d probably also never feelnothingfor him, either. “I can’t believe you’re being this nice about it all.”

“Why?” she asked, and they both shared a smile. Because the last time they’d spoken, she might’ve called him Satan (amongst other choice words) and taken his beloved World Series baseball.

She shrugged and said, “You weren’t that hard to get over, Scarf.”

Jack

Jack:Are you cold or just really happy to be at this rehearsal?

Hallie:First of all, you will not make me look down at my own breasts with your childish behavior.

Jack laughed quietly and looked up from his phone long enough to see her stick out her tongue at him. She looked down at her device and started typing again.

Hallie:Second of all, I got sent to the principal in junior high because when Jon Carson said that exact same thing to me, I went on a rant in the lunchroom about how he obviously knew nothing about nipples. I got in trouble for saying NIPPLES and he got off.

Jack:I bet he did.

Hallie:You’re an idiot.

“Hallie, for God’s sake,” her mother said, putting her hands on her hips and yelling, “can you put down your phone for five minutes so we can have a damn rehearsal here?”

Hallie rolled her eyes and set her phone on the empty seat beside her.

Jack laughed again from his spot in the gallery. The wedding was going to be outside the following day, but they wererehearsing inside because another wedding was going on today.

Everyone else in the room had a role in the wedding, but Jack’s only job was to sit and watch the train wreck. Hal’s mom and sister both seemed to be intense about every single detail, and Hal’s ex wouldn’t stop staring at Hal, but she had spent the entire time looking bored because she was on her phone.

Texting him.

Busted, he texted.

He watched her absolutely ignore her mother’s warning as she glanced at her phone and quickly sent:Quit getting me in trouble.

---