Page 162 of Wingwoman
When I looked up, he was three inches closer to me, his elbow brushing mine. The touch lingered for one breath… two breaths… and it surged goosebumps up my body. Every cell in my body hummed in his vicinity.
“Why didn’t you?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
With his swallow, I followed the line of his throat, hypnotized by the bounce of his Adam’s apple and the nervous tick at his jaw. “Because I thought I didn’t deserve you. Hell, I still don’t know if I do, but your dad…” He paused, his gaze drifting briefly to the door. “He had a lot of insights.”
My heart took off at a gallop, slamming into my ribcage as he lowered his head slowly, dipping his mouth to mine. But our lips didn’t touch.
He hovered, his mouth centimeters from mine, as the molecules between us sparked to life.
The music crooning over the speakers of the bar stopped, the DJ’s voice on the radio blasting through our moment. “And because it’s the song everyone’s talking about and requesting… here’s the new Josh Gabriel tune!”
That song.
That fucking song.
Despite everything, I still cared for Josh. Deeper than I cared to admit even to myself.
It was also why I couldn’t be trusted around him.
I wasn’t rational.
I wasn’t thinking clearly.
Clearing my throat, I stepped back. “What’s done is done. You made your choice. Now you have to live with the consequences.”
Josh didn’t look surprised in the least bit. He simply nodded, eyes glossy, resigned to his fate.
I turned to go outside to wait with my dad, but Josh’s voice halted me mid-step. “I’ll see you Saturday.”
Slowly I turned to face him. “Saturday?”
“The wedding.”
I shook my head. “No… you’re not… I mean, you can’t—”
“Well, provided there still is a wedding.” His gaze drifted to the door where my dad stood beaming, giving us a drunken thumbs up. “But something tells me Vivian and Rick will be just fine.”
“Josh, this is so incredibly inappropriate—”
“I made the wrong choice,” Josh said, cutting me off. “I messed up. I know that. And I can accept the consequences, even if they break my heart. But don’t confuse me respecting your space with apathy. When it comes to you, I’m anything but indifferent.”
“Even if the consequences break your heart,” I repeated his words. “I thought that’s what you wanted.”
He blew out a heavy breath, then grabbed his scribbled-on napkins, shoving them in his pocket. “I thought so, too, but I was wrong. And a wise woman once told me I can’t expect anyone else to forgive me if I don’t first forgive myself. I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it.”
“Hey, that sounds like something you would say, Bug,” my dad chimed in, blissfully clueless as always.
With a quick parting smile and a final flash of that dimple of his, Josh disappeared through the door.
What thehellwas I supposed to do with that information? Seriously. It was a lot to process all at once. Josh was sorry. He chose wrong. He’s coming to my dad’s freaking wedding.
I fell into the closest booth, head in my hands.
“Good news,” Dad said, his words still a little slurred. “The wedding’s still on. And Vivian wants me to come home tonight.”
“That’s great, Dad,” I said, not lifting my head.
“I mean… don’t get me wrong. She’spissed. But she said she knew the moment Neil, Liam, Finn, and Addy showed up on our front door that I might have a rough night.”
