Page 165 of Wingwoman
“It’s so not okay,” Neil muttered beneath his breath.
This time, it was Liam who turned beet red. “I really am sorry.”
“Iknow.” I recognized the fear in his voice. The relationship with my siblings was still so new and fragile. Something as small as this wasn’t going to destroy us. “Seriously, Liam. We’re fine.” I pushed onto my toes and kissed his cheek briefly.
Grabbing my phone from the table, I backed out of the room. “I have to go check on the flowers,” I said before shutting the door behind me with a heavy exhale.
Okay, fine. It was an excuse to get away from that scene in there, but Maxie did ask me to make sure the flowers were set up and check on the bouquets. She was busy helping Vivian get ready and I could use a break from my extremely large family. I loved them… truly I did. But it was a bit overwhelming going from being an only child to having four sisters and three brothers.
Flower arrangements seemed like theperfectbreak.
The bouquets were lined up in the vestibule, just outside of the open French doors of the chapel.
I lifted the first one, noticing the ribbons wrapped around the stems had twisted a little.
I wasn’t sure if Viv was a bridezilla or not, but I knew Maxie would absolutely shit a brick if she saw these. I got to work straightening the ribbons.
I was on my third bouquet when a throat cleared from behind me.
My heart fluttered.
Josh?
Was he here? Would I speak to him? Would I forgive him?
I wanted to. I so desperately wanted to trust him. Forgive him. Be with him.
I tried to pretend like the thought didn’t send a display of fireworks off in my chest.
I slowly turned around, ready to face him. Ready for the conversation I thought might never come. “Jo—Brent?!”
“Babe,” he said as casually as if we hadn’t packed up our lives together and moved on. As if he hadn’t cheated on me, then proposed to that girl with my ring. It was funny though… I hadn’t thought about that or the ring or even cared in some time.
Involuntarily my nose scrunched as he took a step closer. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I left you a message,” he said seemingly genuinely surprised I wasn’t running into his arms and thrilled to see him. “I had an audition in Texas and said I’d stop by the wedding. The invitation was still up on the fridge.”
“And you thought it would be okay to crash my dad’s wedding? That I’d evenwantyou here?”
He tilted his head. “Don’t tell me you’re still with that twangy country singer after that song he released about you.”
“I—”
“Look, Hope,” he cut me off, stepping in and wrapping thick hands gently around my biceps. “We both acted rashly. I think we needed to get some things out of our system, you know? We were too young to get engaged. Too inexperienced.”
Frozen. I was utterly frozen.
Josh was right. The damn plan workedtoowell.
I shrugged his hands off me. “Which engagement might you be referring to, Brent? The one with me? Or her?”
He sighed and shook his head. “That was just a publicity stunt.”
I nodded aggressively as if that made any sense. “Doessheknow it was a publicity stunt? Hell, does she even know you’re here in Austin at my dad’s wedding?”
“This isn’t about her—”
“Of course it isn’t. Just like it probably wasn’t aboutmewhen you were seeing her behind my back?”
