Page 106 of Defend Her Heart

The line disconnects, and my eyes stay locked on Avery as she reaches into the limousine. She pulls out the most ridiculous looking bouquet full of daisies and it causes me to laugh, but nearly breaks my heart in the process.

Maybe she’s changed. Maybe she does like daisies. Maybe I don’t know Avery the way I thought I did.

It’s this realization that has me sitting back and watching her walk up the steps to the church. I wait until the doors are closed to exit my vehicle.

Jogging across the street, I take the steps two at a time until I’m at the doors of the church. Taking a deep breath, I pull them open.

The ceremony has already begun so I close the doors behind me as quietly as possible. I slide into the last church pew, doing my best to go unnoticed, which isn’t too hard, considering there’s got to be over two hundred people here and I’m about a football field away from where Avery stands with Bryan.

My brain doesn’t even register what the priest is saying. Everything around me fades away and all I can see is Avery.

Her beautiful black hair. Her soft emerald eyes. Her devastating smile. And that’s when I see it. She turns her head slightly, and I see the dimple I’ve kissed a thousand times.

It’s then that I realize she’s showing that off for someone else now. Someone else is making her smile. I’ll never get the chance to kiss it again.

All of a sudden, this massive church feels way too small. My lungs lock up so hard that I press a fist against my sternum, like that will help me right now. Because this is it. This isn’talmostlosing her. It isn’t another unanswered text or another year spent convincing myself I’m okay without her.

She’s standing at the altar in a white dress—albeit surrounded by a fuck ton of daisies I know she hates—looking at another man the way she used to look at me. For the first time in my life, I realize it’s not always the people who leave that break your heart, but it’s the ones you push away.

I don’t remember making the decision. One minute I’m sitting frozen on a wooden church pew, the next, I’m shovingthrough the heavy church doors hard enough that they slam against the brick outside.

So much for going unnoticed.

The warm air hits my face and it’s suffocating. I drag in a breath that burns all the way down because Avery is inside marrying someone else, and I finally understand.

I waited too long.

Connor stands abruptly from the bed and walks toward the giant window that lines one of the walls in his bedroom. He pushes the curtains open and gazes at something in the distance. A minute goes by, but he still hasn’t said a word, so I join him where he’s standing.

Since we’re so high up, we have the perfect view of the Fox River and part of downtown Green Bay. The city is bustling with cars, the morning traffic at its worst. My eyes move away from the city to the street below and I watch an older couple walk hand-in-hand across the street. They disappear around a corner just as Connor begins to speak.

“I was there.”

My forehead bunches, my eyes narrowing as I try to understand what he just said. I must’ve misheard him because there’s no possible way.

“You were where?” I turn to him now, hoping he’ll look at me, too.

Connor reaches his hands to the back of his head and leans up to look at the ceiling. “I was at your wedding, Avery.”

I stumble backward. Connor’s hand flies out, steadyingme. He takes a step closer to me, keeping his arm wrapped around my back.

“Let’s sit,” he says, motioning to the chair that held the peonies that started this whole conversation.

He escorts me over to the chair, sitting first and then pulling me into his lap. Wrapping an arm around him, I look at him seriously.

“You were at my wedding? In St. Louis?” The moment I say the words, the more confused I become.

Connor nods. “I was.”

That’s it. That’s all he says. Of all the times to turn broody, he chooses now? Not happening.

“I’m going to need more words than that, Connor. What do you mean you were there? How did you even know about it? How come I didn’t see you?”

I search my memory for anything that could point to him. There were so many people there, maybe I just missed him. But how could that be? He wasn’t invited. Did he crash my wedding? The wheels in my head are spinning, and I feel Connor’s hand rest on top of mine.

“Slow down, Aves. Let me explain.”

I reposition my body so I’m straddling him now. There’s no way he’s going to avoid eye contact with me during this conversation.