Page 51 of And the Best Man Ran Away With the Groom

Me:No??I miss you so much. I can’t even sleep properly without your arms around me. I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but fuck it—I don’t want this to be over yet. I want to be with you.

Jack Macey:Uh…okay maybe meeting up today isn’t such a great idea…

I stare in confusion at Jack’s message, before glancing at the one above it and letting out a shriek or mortification. My thumbs fly across the phone screen as I furiously type back.

Me:NO! IGNORE!

Me:That was meant for someone else!

Me:You messaged just as I was replying to them????‍??

Jack Macey:Damn, and here I thought you were pining for me after all??

The first thoughtthat hits me when I climb onto the stool at the table Jack’s selected in Copper Tree’s beer garden is that I’m definitely, one hundred percent over him. It’s so weird to think that only a few weeks ago I was planning to spend the rest of my life with this guy and now I feel absolutely nothing. Or…maybe notnothing;I can still acknowledge that he’s a bloody attractive guy, and there’s definitely affection there, but as far as everything else goes it’s as though a switch has been flipped. And if I’m being honest, I’m pretty sure it happened even before everything with Trent.

“Hey. You look…refreshed,” he says, offering a wry smirk. “I guess it was a good trip?”

My face flames with the reminder that thanks to that texting faux pas from this morning he knows way more about my trip than I intended to tell him. “Yeah. It was a lot of fun.”

“I’ll bet. Little Creatures?” he asks, hovering his phone over the QR code on the table.

I nod. “Yeah, thanks.”

Jack orders our beers and sets his phone down before returning his gaze to me, the amusement from earlier gone now. “So…”

I arch a curious brow at him. “You wanted to catch up?”

He nods. “Yeah. I wanted to apologise for the way I behaved at the wedding. It was really shitty of me to bail like that.”

“It was,” I agree. There’s no point beating around the bush; he did behave badly and I’m not about to let him off the hook for it. But I won’t rake him over the coals either.

He offers me a look of sincere regret. “If it helps at all, it really wasn’t about you. It was my issues. I honestly thought I was ready to get married, and I thought we were really great together, but then when it really came down to it…” he trails off, letting out a heavy sigh.

Our beers arrive and I take a generous swig as I consider how to respond. Finally, I decide to just be honest and share the realisation that’s come to me during my time away. “We were great together,” I admit frankly. I can’t argue with that; I wouldn’t have agreed to marry someone I didn’t have a great relationship with. “But I think when it comes down to it, we didn’t really know each other properly, did we? At least, I don’t think I ever actually got to know therealyou.”

“People don’t really want to know the real me,” he says. He’s aiming for a wry tone, but I catch a flicker of bitterness in his eyes that makes me recall the conversation I had with Trent about Jack’s parents and their expectations for him.

“I don’t think that’s true. Trent seems to know you pretty well and he’s never run screaming.”

A fond smile lights Jack’s face. “Yeah, but that’s Trent.”

My phone buzzes in my pocket and I tug it out, letting out a wry chuckle when I see who the text is from.Speak of the devil.

Trent Darcy:Need to see you ASAP! You at home?

Me:Out drinking. Copper Tree in Brunswick

Trent Darcy:On my way

“I’m glad that you’ve found someone else, but I really have to draw the line at you sexting right in front of me,” Jack says dryly.

I snap my head up, feeling my face burn crimson. “Not sexting,” I grumble, shoving my phone back in my pocket.

“Uh huh.” He sips on his beer, eyes shining with wry amusement. “So, what’s the deal? I got the gist earlier that it’s over, but you don’t want it to be?”

I arch an eyebrow at him. “Isn’t this a little weird for you?”

He shrugs. “Not really. I don’t need any specifics, though.”

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