Page 213 of Bridesmaid By Chance
And how come it took me so long to realize it?
Maybe because I’m so fucking jaded from my father’s behavior. Maybe because I’ve closed myself off from feeling this way, not wanting to get hurt again. But by doing that, I hurt her, and that’s something I will never forgive myself for.
I glance down at the curve of her lips, the swoop of her nose, the length of her eyelashes… She’s so goddamn beautiful, but that’s not what I like the most about her. I’m addicted to her personality, to the way she has no problem standing up to me, to how she constantly challenges me, making me fucking laugh. How insightful she is, how she makes me think differently and forces me to be a better person. She’s…she’s the entire package, meaning I can’t fuck this up again.
I drag my fingers down her back and back up. No, I need to do everything to keep this.
And I know where it starts.
I kiss the top of her head and slowly slip away from her and out of bed, making sure she stays asleep before I grab my phone off the nightstand and close the bedroom door before walking out to the terrace, naked.
I take a seat on one of the chairs and unlock my phone. The backlight of the screen nearly sears my eyes, but I sift through my contacts, and when I find Jude’s name, I hit it before bringing the phone up to my ear.
I don’t expect him to answer. I expect him to send me straight to voicemail, which is fine—I have an idea of the kind of message I’m going toleave him—but when he answers the phone, I can feel my entire body stiffen.
“What the fuck do you want?” he says as I put the phone on speaker.
“I need to talk to you.”
“I’m sure you fucking do,” he says and I’m sure if we were having this conversation in person, he’d be spitting venom.
“I’m sorry, man.”
“Sorry for what?” he asks. “For marrying my sister? For not telling me about it? For leaving her in fucking London all alone?”
“Yes,” I answer. “For all of it.”
“I trusted you. I fucking trusted you. And then you pull this bullshit. How, how am I supposed to move forward from this? You broke our trust.”
“I know,” I say, shame filling me up. “I fucked up, Jude.”
“Were you just using her?”
“At first, yes,” I say, telling the truth. “It was mutual.”
“So you bought her.”
I wince, knowing how that sounds. “We made an agreement,” I say. “But…it’s different now.”
“What do you mean it’s different now?”
I pinch my brow and say, “I…I care about her.”
“No,” he says. I can practically feel his fist coming through the phone. “No, not fucking happening.”
“Jude, I didn’t?—”
“Do you really think I want you, fuckingyou, Hudson, to have feelings for my sister?” I swallow the lump in my throat. “You have a better relationship with your office desk than your fucking family.”
I don’t want that to be a true fact, but given my track record…
“You’re not trustworthy. You’re more interested in the company than your family. And you go back on your word, so why would I ever want my sister to be witha man like you?”
His words hit harder.
Harder than I expected because there’s a hint of truth to them. A truth that reopens a wound.
A wound that I thought I closed, patched up, only for him to rip it wide open.
