Page 95 of Student Seduction
“Good to see you again, Emersyn,” Axel greeted me. “Congratulations on…” he waved a hand around. “All of this.”
I smiled back at him. “Thank you. And thank you for coming. There’s an open bar over there and some amazing food.”
Sophia laughed heartily, a sound like wind chimes made of champagne flutes. “Aw, Honey. Look, she does remember you.”
Honey?Did she just callAxelhoney?
Aiden must’ve seen the confusion on my face. “Sophia isAxel’sfiancee,” he informed me, leaning forward, whispering conspiratorially. “I don’t actually have one, but I didn’t want to correct you in a text message. Especially since it was the first one I’d received in a while.”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach.
“Oh, um…” I glanced helplessly at Drew, who thankfully broke in.
“That’s my fault. I was having dinner in Tribeca the evening of the engagement party. I must’ve misunderstood.”
Drew tossed me an apologetic grimace.
“It’s okay,” Sophia said, mostly to Drew. “I tell Axel all the time if he acts up, I’m going to trade him in for the younger model.” Everyone chuckled lightly at her teasing. Axel rolled his eyes. I was still taking in all the life-changing information as she continued. “My family is from Brooklyn. My grandparents still live here and aren’t in good enough health to travel to the wedding,” she told us. “That’s why we came all this way to have an engagement party.”
“That’s really sweet of you to do for them,” I said, trying to contain how thrilled I was that she wasn’t engaged to Aiden. I could quite literally kiss her face. Might make things awkward though, so I restrained myself. Barely.
Sophia shrugged. “They practically raised me. If I hadn’t been offered an amazing job in Charlotte, I never would’ve left New York.”
“Lucky for me,” Axel added.
Sophia and Drew engaged in a side conversation about how fabulous New York was and what she did for a living. Something about environmental science from what I could hear.
I couldn’t focus. Everything I thought I knew had changed and I didn’t know what to say now. Or how to conduct myself. The steel wall I’d erected around my heart was no longer necessary but it wasn’t exactly coming down on command.
Once they’d finished talking, Drew waggled his eyebrows at me. My gaze slid over to Aiden.
Single, not engaged Aiden.
Axel gave him a nudge, then put his arm around Sophia. “We’re going to grab a drink. Can we get anyone anything?”
“I’m good, but thank you,” I said, glad I’d finally figured out how to make my mouth move again. Drew and Aiden echoed my response.
We watched as they turned and made their way to the bar area.
“So…” Drew began once it was just the three of us, “My bad about the engagement mix up. I’m going to go find my better half and let you two kids catch up.”
He was gone before I could tell him he didn’t have to leave.
Aiden’s eyes locked on mine and I was instantly seventeen again.
My breathing was labored, my heart skipped beats all over the place. My poor champagne-filled stomach rode a roller coaster with a dozen vertical loops.
I swallowed thickly and tried to bring some moisture to my mouth.
“You look beautiful, Emersyn,” Aiden said, breaking the thick silence. “Stunning, actually. You took my breath away when I saw you. But then, you’ve always done that.”
My chest rose and fell as I breathed in his words.
“Thank you,” I said softly. “I thought…” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter now, I guess. But when I heard you were getting married…It threw me I guess. More than I should probably admit.”
He nodded. His voice was solemn when he spoke. “I can imagine. When I saw that handsome older gentleman standing near you when I first walked in,” he jerked his chin toward where James stood talking with Drew. “I thought I was too late. Sophia offered to pretend to be mine just to help me save face.”
“Too late?”
