I had made a total fool of myself and the wedding was ruined for me. I knew I couldn’t just leave straight away though. I didn’t want him to think he’d had that much of an effect on me, so I painted on a fake smile, chatted to the girls and even had another dance.
It’s getting close to midnight now and I know I can realistically leave without it looking suspicious. Other people have already started to leave. I finish the last of my drink and turn to Bernie. “Well, that’s all for me.”
“Oh, no way, Sierra. It’s early yet. Stay a while,” she says.
I shake my head.
“Go on, have one more drink,” she coaxes me.
I’m really not enjoying being here and Chance is clearly avoiding me. It’ll be best for us both if I just slink away. I shake my head. “I’m sorry, but it’s been a long day and I’m tired.”
“Your loss.” Bernie laughs. “You’ll miss Sebastian’s robot dancing once he’s really drunk.”
I laugh and get up. “Another time maybe. Night,” I say.
“Night,” she says, waving after me.
I cross the dance floor, heading for the exit. I step off it onto the carpet and come face to face with Chance. He starts to turn away and I almost do the same, but then I think… no, fuck him. He doesn’t just get to treat me this way. I think all of the wine is influencing my decision to force him to acknowledge me, but I don’t care. If my flirting was making him uncomfortable, I would much rather him have just said that than play along and then ignore me.
I reach out and touch his arm, hating when I can feel my skin tingling where we touch, even though I’m so mad at him. “I’m leaving,” I announce and then cringe inside. This wasn’t even close to how I imagined this conversation would start.
“Okay,” Chance replies coolly. “I expect you in early on Monday, ready to make up for the slack from over the weekend.”
“What happened to no work talk?” I snap.
He shrugs and goes to move past me.
I side step, standing in his way. “Is something wrong?” I ask.
He doesn’t reply. He just stares at me with barely concealed anger.
I’m not sure how he gets to be the one who’s angry here.
He goes to step around me again.
Again, I block his path. “No. You don’t get to treat me this way. I don’t appreciate your mood swings and I’m not a mind reader.”
“What are you talking about?” he demands.
I almost walk away then. He’s clearly playing dumb on purpose, but I decide I’m not going to give him the opportunity to think he’s somehow, the wronged party here. “I’m talking about you blowing hot and cold on me for no apparent reason. One minute, we were having a laugh, and don’t try to tell me you weren’t flirting with me because I won’t believe it. And then the next minute, you were looking at me like you can’t stand the sight of me. What was it? Did I make you uncomfortable having a laugh with you? Or are you so full of yourself you’re offended because I took a phone call while we were talking?”
“Let’s just say my mood swings are linked to whether or not a person deceives me,” he says.
Okay, now I’m lost.
My utter confusion must show on my face because Chance rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Okay, I’ll spell it out for you. It would have been nice if you had told me you were in a relationship before we had sex. I’m not the kind of guy that gets involved in drama like that Sierra and you of all people know that about me.”
I barely register what he’s saying after the part about me being in a relationship. What the hell is going on here? “Okay, back up a step or two there,” I say. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about the ‘hi baby’ phone call,” he snaps. “You should have told me Sierra, not have me find out by over hearing something like that.”
I can’t help it. As I realize what he’s referring to, I throw my head back and laugh.
Chapter Fifteen
Chance
I’ve spent the entire night after talking to Sierra, trying my best to avoid her. I’ve done well at it too… until now. I had just been to the bathroom and as I came back into the ballroom, she was heading for the exit. I looked away quickly when I saw it was her, but she wasn’t having any of that.
She seems to want to drag the whole thing out and make it even more painful. I finally told her I know about her boyfriend after trying to get away from her a few times. At first, she tried to play it like she didn’t know what I was talking about, but now, she’s actually fucking laughing at me.
Maybe being faithful doesn’t mean much to her, but it does to me. I know I’m not exactly Mr. Warm and Fuzzy Relationship Guy, but I believe a relationship is between two people. I don’t want any part of anything that involves one of those people being cheated on.
I shake my head in disgust at Sierra. How could she be so fucking callous? I mean fair enough, we had a fling, so if she wants to laugh at me, then whatever. But her poor boyfriend is the one she’s really making a fool out of.
I go to walk away and once more, she stops me, putting her hand on my arm.
I ignore the way her fingers make my skin tingle and try to shake her off, but she keeps her grip and waits until I’m looking at her face.
She’s stopped laughing now. “I’m sorry for laughing, but this is all just a big misunderstanding,” she says.
“Oh really?” I’m sceptical, but
