Be careful what you wish for, people. You just might get it.
The high-pitched beeping of the alarm jolts me awake from a dream—I was standing on the balcony of my bridal suite, watching Max and Courtney making out on the beach as the soft waves lapped over them. I tried to yell at them—to find out what the hell they thought they were doing—but no sound could escape my throat. I attempted to move but my feet felt like they were glued in place. I had no choice but to watch helplessly as they laughed in between kisses, Courtney biting Max’s lip playfully.
“Fuck you both!” I scream into my pillow, where a pool of saliva has formed.
“Good morning to you too!” a voice says—one that sounds identical to Max’s. But it can’t be him. He’s probably entangled in Courtney’s floral bedspread. And she’s probably biting his lip just like she was in my dream.
I bolt upright to find Max wrapped in the sheets beside me, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “What the hell are you doing here?” I demand.
Max cocks his head to the side and frowns at me. “I live here, remember?”
“Not anymore you don’t!” I hiss, trying to figure out what happened last night—how Max ended up in my bed. My head throbs like it would from a hangover, but I couldn’t remember having any alcohol. My mind foggy, the last thing I recall is talking to Max on the phone and melting down after.
I flinch as Max puts his hand on my arm. “Honey? Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m about as fine as anyone would be after what you did!” I jump out of bed and back away from him. “Did you slip in here last night after I was already asleep? I didn’t think I’d need to change the locks. I think you’d better leave—now. I’m sure your girlfriend is wondering where you are. She wouldn’t be too happy to find you back here with me.”
Max rolls off the bed and steps gingerly toward me, as if I’m a wounded animal he wants to help without getting bitten. “It’s me, Max, your fiancé. Last time I checked, you’re my only girlfriend. One I plan to marry in a month.”
The room starts to spin and I grab the edge of the dresser to steady myself. Had it all just been a terrible nightmare?
“That’s not possible. It’s already July 1.”
“Okay, now you’re really scaring me . . .” Max inches closer, his plaid pajama pants hanging loose around his waist, exposing his tight abdomen, and I picture Courtney running her hands over it. Then I imagine cutting her hands off with the ginormous twelve-inch chef’s knife we had registered for at my insistence.
I shudder and yank one of his white T-shirts out of the drawer and throw it at him. “Could you please put this on? I can’t think.”
He pulls the cotton V-neck over his head. “There—now will you listen to me?” He eyes me cautiously. “Look at your finger. You’re still wearing your ring.”
That proves nothing. I still wore it after you left me.
I stare at the diamond for a moment. “This doesn’t prove anything. You need to do better than that to convince me that we’re still engaged,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
Max grabs his phone off the nightstand, drops it on the floor, and kicks it over to me, probably afraid I’ll start foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. “Check the date. It’s June 1.”
I feel his eyes on me as I inspect his phone. The date does say June 1. I quickly check his texts—there are ones that I’d sent him thirty days ago, the last asking if he’d pick up orange chicken from our favorite Chinese place on his way home. “How did you do this?” I ask.
“Do what?”
“Change the date on your phone. Delete all my other texts from the month of June. Was it Rafael? Did you put him up to this?” I ask, referring to his best man, who is an IT expert. “And if so, why? It makes no sense why you would go to these lengths to get back together with me. You made it clear how you felt.”
Max takes a deep breath. “Katie, I swear, I have no idea what you are talking about. Is the stress from the wedding getting to you? Is that what’s going on?”
I race down the stairs without answering him.
Where had all the wedding presents gone? The ones that had just been piled in the corner under the blanket Jules had tossed on top of them.
“Max!” I yell. “What did you do with the wedding gifts? They were right here,” I say as I stand in the empty space where they’d been. “We need to send them back!”