Page 2 of Broken Love (Love 2)
"All this is our first date."
"Admit it," Tory says, clinking my champagne flute with hers and bringing me back to the present. "You've still got a thing for him."
"Don't be silly. It was a long time ago."
"Based on the way you were eye-fucking the shit out of him, I'd say time doesn't matter."
"I was not! I shouldn't be here. It's all my fault Cade and I broke up. I should have apologized to him a long time ago."
"Maybe you should do that tonight. In the meantime, I've got my eye on groomsman number three. Do you know who he is?"
"Friend of the groom," I say with a sly smile.
"Yes, that was in the wedding program. Which is slightly bothersome as it probably means they went to college together, and I'm going to have to go cougar. Again. Don't care, though. He's hot. And I didn't see a ring. Come on, let's do a drive by."
"A drive by?"
"Yes, we're casually going to walk to that bar over there, and on the way, if he's as cute up close and doesn't seem like too much of a douche, we will ask him to join us for a shot in honor of the bride and groom."
"Um, no, we're not. Cade is standing right there next to him."
She grabs my arm and pulls me anyway.
Thankfully, Cash and Ashlyn arrive at the bar when we do, so instead of having to make eye contact with Cade, I'm able to congratulate the happy couple.
"I think this calls for shots!" Tory yells out.
Groomsman number three agrees. "How about some Fireball?"
"Go with tequila," Cade says. "Palmer is allergic to cinnamon."
Surprised he remembers, my gaze flickers toward his gorgeous blue eyes. When he meets my stare, I turn away. I have to stop looking at him. It's like I'm stuck in one of those bad dreams where something is just outside your reach. In this case, I'm standing on opposite sides of a glass door, staring at the most gorgeous man I've ever seen, but every time I try to open the door to be with him, I find the door is locked. Which is fitting. The door to Cade and me together is permanently locked, and I'm sure he purposely threw away the key. Actually, he probably torched the key and melted it down to nothing, so it could never, ever be used to unlock that door again.
And I deserve that.
The group gathers around the bar, minus Cash and Ashlyn, who move on to greet more guests.
"I'm Tory," she says, holding her hand out to groomsman number three. "If we're going to do shots together, we need to know each other's names."
"This seems like a no-names kind of night," he laughs. "In honor of the bride and groom."
"I don't get it," Tory says.
"Haven't you heard the story or seen the video of how Cash and Ashlyn met?"
"I saw the video from The Elle Show of how he proposed," Tory admits, but then she lies. "But I don't really know the whole backstory. I'm the plus one."
The groomsman glances at Tory's perky boob job, which is prominently on display in her low-cut, bronze cocktail dress, and apparently he decides she's worth telling the story to.
"It just so happens," he says, "that the bride and groom met at a wedding, just like we are now. They got drunk, hooked up, flew to Vegas, and got married. They didn't tell each other their real names."
"How could Cash not have known who Ashlyn Roberts is?" Tory inquires. "She's pretty famous."
I'm trying very hard to pretend to be enthralled with their conversation, but I can feel Cade's eyes on me.
"He knew who she was, but she didn't know who he was," the groomsman continues.
"But his brother, Cade, is her agent. Cash looks like him." Tory is playing dumb to keep the guy talking. She totally knows this entire story.
The groomsman waves his hand. "Doesn't matter. They figured it out, and now we are here at their wedding." He passes around the shots and says, "To a no-names kind of night."
We clink our glasses together then down the shots. The groomsman passes me a lime wedge, but I shake my head, causing him to pull me aside.
"My name's Jared," he says with a cocky smirk.
"I thought this was supposed to be a no-names night?" I reply, giving him shit, even though I have no interest in him.
"It is. But for you, I'll make an exception. You need to know what name to say when I make you scream later."
Cade comes up from behind Jared, clamping his big hand down on Jared's skinny shoulder.
Jared glances back at Cade. They share some kind of a look that causes Jared to immediately ditch me. He saunters over to Tory and throws his arm around her, which earns him a hint of a smile from Cade.
"So does this mean you're not married?" Tory asks Jared.
"Nope, I'm single as a Pringle," he replies.
I expect Cade to say something to me, but instead he turns away.
I'm not sure what just happened, but I think it was some guy-code thing.
And it pisses me off.
Tory sees the rage on my face, takes my hand, and drags me off to the bathroom.
"What's wrong?"
"Did you see that!?" I rant, as we step inside the ladies' room, finding a long line. "Cade cock blocked me! Not that I wanted that guy's cock, because you already called dibs on it, but Cade didn't know that!"
"Since you don't have a cock," she replies. "I think it's called blocking the box."
"Oh, no," the girl in front of us says. "It's called twat blocking."
"I thought it was boxed," another woman says.
"Baseball players call cock blocking stealing signs."
A voice from inside one of the stalls yells out, "It's called clam jamming."
Pretty soon everyone in the bathroom is giving us their opinions.
"Twat swatting or twat stopping."
"Beaver dammed."
"Va-jected!"
I shake my head at Tory. "Whatever. It really shouldn't matter what part you have. I got cock blocked because I will be having no cock tonight."
"There's still time," Tory says. "You can have the groomsman. You need to get laid worse than I do, honey. It's been far too long."
"But why would he cock block me and then walk away?!"
As soon as the words tumble out of my mouth, Cade's mother steps out of one of the stalls.
I put my head down, hoping she won't notice me and, thankfully, she squeezes past us without saying a word.
"Holy buckets," Tory says when the door closes behind her. "Wasn't that his mother?"
"Uh, yeah. You can kill me now."
By the time we get back from the ladies' room, everyone is being seated for dinner in the elaborately decorated ballroom. We find our table assignment then discover we're seated next to Jared--who probably switched our cards--along with a group of he and Cash's rowdy fraternity brothers.
The dinner conversation is bawdy and fun. The toast Carter gives is heartfelt and funny. Dinner is four courses of deliciousness. Then we watch as the happy couple shares their first dance and then as they cut the cake.
Tory and I immediately head straight for the cake while the boys opt for the bar, promising to bring us back more shots.
"Tell me why you broke up," Tory says. She wasn't my assistant back then, and I've never told her. It's not something I like to talk about, and I usually avoid the subject.
But tonight I comply.
Must be the shots.
"I got my first big break in a starring role. The contract had a nudity clause. I said yes. Cade said no. We fought about it. Broke up. End of story."
"That's not the end of the story," Tory says, putting a forkful of cake in her mouth. "I see the way you look at him."
"If I had a shrink, he'd probably tell me I'm standing in the way of my own happiness. That I need to let go of the guilt I feel about it. It's just that when we broke up--even though I was the one who did the breaking--it destroyed me. I hated myself. Hated him. But, mostly, I hated my heart. I think I'm still grieving. I've dated since then but never had more than a casual relationship. And it doesn't help that he's an ag
ent. That he's hot. That we seem to end up at a lot of the same events and parties. It's like a constant reminder of my idiocy."
"Take a bite of cake," she says. "It's divine. Remind me again--when was the last time you ended up at an event together. The time before Fashion Week." I roll my eyes. She knows the answer to her question. Probably wrote it on my calendar. She grins at me then snaps her finger like she just remembered. "Oh, I know. We both saw him at that charity 10K. He ran, right?"
"Yeah," I say flatly. "He and Carter ran in it together."
"Those boys shirtless. Jogging. It was better than a Chippendales show. Remember the way all those women were gawking at their muscles? You'd think they had their dollar bills ready."
"If I recall, you were the one taking photos of their abs from afar."
She giggles. "Those Crawford boys are scrumptious. I'd like to take a bite out of--"
"Tory!"
"I'm just saying. Hard to believe no one has snagged them yet."
"Well, one did. Ashlyn. Thus, the wedding..."
"Whatever, all I know is we are going out for the bouquet toss."
"You can take part in that craziness," I tell her. "I'm not. That's the last thing I want to do."
"Oh, yes you are. Even if I have to drag your ass out there."
"You can drag me, but I'm not even going to attempt to catch it. I shouldn't even be here. This is ridiculous. I brought a gift. Made an appearance. Let's go."
"We're not going anywhere. One of us is getting laid tonight. And if you don't want Jared, I'll take him for myself. I'm pretty sure he wants to get naughty, and I think mama can teach that boy a thing or two."
