Page 96 of Say I Do

Yes, we talked about things. Real things. And we had sex all over the penthouse, the car, and the club, but I didn’t know the small things that made up his life. His past was as blank to me as mine was to him.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Harlow asked as his arms snaked around me. He buried his face against my back. “Shouldn’t we be getting ready?”

“Yeah.” I hadn’t even heard him come into the room. My back was still tense, on high alert. When I didn’t move, he rounded me and tilted his head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said shortly. “Let’s get ready to go.”

Harlow’s smile disappeared. “Are you, uh—” He pressed his lips together. “Nevermind.”

I wanted to ask what he was about to say, but my phone rang, interrupting me. Harlow stepped into the shower as I looked down at the caller ID. Reluctantly, I answered.

“Yes, I’ll be there on time. I’m sure mom will already be there. She’s been blowing up my phone about the wedding.”

I groaned as my father droned on. He didn’t want anything, yet he wanted everything. Part of me wanted to tell him to fuck off. It wasn’t my job to make sure every little piece of the puzzle was in place where it concerned him. I had bigger shit to worry about.

“My phone’s dying,” I lied as he rambled on. “I need to shower and get ready.”

I hung up in the middle of him talking. Whatever he said didn’t matter right now. If it were important, he would have called me with direct orders. Since he hadn’t, I didn’t feel like dealing with his shit. I shut the phone off and tossed it on the counter as my stomach churned.

Shit. I haven’t hung up on him since our fights about Gianpaolo.

I tried my best to keep the peace, but times were changing. Where I once listened to my father without much push back, I found myself questioning every move. I shut my eyes.Why can’t things stay the same?

I shook it off and stepped into the shower. Harlow glanced at me before he turned away. I stared at him. A million questions came to mind, but it was like my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth.

“Who did you take to prom?” I blurted out, not knowing why the fuckthatwas the question my brain landed on out of the hundreds I had.

Harlow paused before he turned to blink at me. “Um, some guy named Preston. Why do you care? That was ages ago. Are you gonna want to interrogate him too?”

“No.”

“Then why did you ask?” he pushed.

“Nevermind,” I muttered as I grabbed the soap.

Harlow’s features colored with confusion before he shrugged. “What? Are you trying to get to know me?”

“Is there something wrong with that?”

“None of that shit matters anymore. It’s in the past. You know enough about me already.”

Do I?Harlow and I were virtually strangers at this point. Did he want to keep me at arm’s length? Why did someone else know so much about him, but I knew nothing? It left an uncomfortable taste in my mouth. I sealed my lips and went back to showering.

When we slipped inside the car, it felt quieter than usual. Harlow and I often fell into silences, but they weren’t tense. If anything, they were comfortable. No need to run our mouths when we could sit back, listen to blues music, and stare out the windows.

This wasn’t that. I glanced over at Harlow. He stared out the window, but his hands were clenched tightly in his lap. His grip was so tight his knuckles had turned white.

I reached out but moved my hand away again. Somehow, a wedge had worked its way between us. Was it my doing? Was it his? I wiped a hand down my face.This is why I said never again. Should have left things where they were.

“We’re here,” Tony said as he glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “Been here for a minute.”

Had we? I glanced around. Sure enough, we were at St. Margaret’s, the church my mother had picked out.

“Let’s get this over with,” I said shortly.

I climbed out of the car and slammed the door behind me. First, the rehearsal, then the dinner. That’s all I had to get through.

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