Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
I turned my back on her and walked back over to Copper before saying, “Let’s go inside. I want to see Cerise.”
“Copper.”
I stopped when Apollo called Copper’s name.
Copper turned, and Apollo said something softly enough that I couldn’t hear.
Apollo nodded and headed toward the building.
Surprisingly, when we’d had our altercation, we hadn’t drawn any attention from the people around us or the front door security.
At least, I thought we hadn’t.
When we got to the front and I was asked for my invite, I handed it over.
“This your plus one?” the security guard asked, checking out my hand.
“Yes,” I said. “Copper Clayborne.”
“Don’t start any fights inside or I’ll kick you out,” the security guard ordered before saying, “There’s some ice in the kitchen.”
My lips twitched and I thanked him before grabbing Copper’s hand with my non-injured one.
Copper immediately bypassed everyone and headed for the kitchen where he got me some ice among some frazzled looking kitchen workers who didn’t care one bit he was in their space.
He wrapped it up in a towel and then handed it to me.
I placed it on my fist and grimaced.
“You think it’s broken?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.
I wanted those hands around my body.
“Um.” I hesitated. “I don’t think so. It doesn’t hurt terribly anymore. Just initially after I hit him.”
“Good.” He looked angry that I was hurt. “I don’t want you getting hurt on my account.”
I rolled my eyes. “Copper, those things he said about your dad and your sister…he deserved what I did. At the least. He could get fucked up in the back alley, and have his eyes picked out by the neighborhood rats, and I still couldn’t care less.”
His lips twitched. “He’s right, though.”
I tilted my head. “About what?”
He swallowed and looked away. “You and your son deserve better than a man like me.”
Before I could answer, the door to the kitchen burst open and a frazzled looking Cerise made her way inside.
She looked…upset.
Really upset.
But my heart was still in my throat where it’d been placed there by Copper’s words.
I opened my mouth, ready to force him to acknowledge me, when Cerise made a keening sound that had my head whipping around to face her.
Copper wasn’t forgotten, but there was a sound that a person made when they were in serious trouble, and Cerise was making it.
“Cerise?”
Cerise’s head whipped around and she stared unseeing at me for a long moment before her shoulders slumped and she ran toward me.
I braced, and the only thing keeping me on my feet when her tiny body hit mine was Copper’s hand on my back.
Cerise immediately dissolved into tears.
“Cerise, what’s wrong?” I pushed, my arms going around her.
She sobbed into my neck, but I did make out a few words.
One of which was “Taigen.”
I stiffened immediately, that name bringing back the memories that made me want to murder someone.
“Taigen?” I asked. “Slow down, Cerise. What are you mentioning Taigen for?”
She sniffled hard, a sob choking her, before she pulled away and furiously wiped her eyes.
Her gaze flicked up to Copper, then back to me before she started talking.
“I just wanted a day, Baker. Just one day!”
I smoothed her hair back from her face, then used my thumb to swipe the mascara from under her eyes. “What happened? Slow down. Deep breath. What happened?”
She did all of those things, then started explaining.
Copper moved so that his hips were resting against the counter behind him, his eyes on the two of us, showing his silent support without more than a hip lean.
“Okay, so I will have to start from the beginning.” She swallowed hard, her voice rough with repressed tears. “Jade, Markus, and I were friends from college.”
I already hated where this was going, and she hadn’t even started yet.
Jade was Cerise’s twin sister, the favorite.
Jade was also the most horrible person in existence, and if she’s mentioned at all when it comes to Cerise’s fiancé, Markus, I wasn’t thinking good things.
“Okay…” I waited, belly tight.
“So Jade, Markus and I became really good friends. To the point that Markus counts Jade as one of his best friends, right?” She hastily wiped away her tears.
I nodded.
“So, Mom asked Markus and me if Jade’s fiancé—whom I hadn’t met until tonight, though I’ve been shown a ton of pictures—could propose to her tonight at our rehearsal dinner. I said no, because obviously, this is my rehearsal dinner. I want it to be about me. That’s not selfish, right?”
That question she asked to Copper, who shook his head.
No, it wasn’t selfish at all to want your wedding to be about you.
“That’s what I thought!” she cried, throwing her hands up. “And so I said no, and Mom was fucking pissed. But I ignored her and went about my business. Anyway, right before you came in, Jade and I were standing in the room talking about how excited we were about tomorrow. And none other than Taigen comes in with Markus. I’m too shocked to do anything, just staring in shock at my high school bully not only standing next to my fiancé, but also at my wedding festivities in the first place. And he gets down onto one knee and proposes, in the middle of my freakin’ party, to my sister. And she accepts!”