He was distracted by his thoughts of her as his gaze turned to the creek, memories of the night before playing back in his mind, when he felt her presence.
The strings were climbing to higher pitches, and the singer was crooning about telling someone he loved them.
And just as Jack felt the words in the middle of his chest, there she was.
Hallie was walking down the aisle, dressed in red and carrying a bouquet of white roses, and she was smiling at him. At him.
Shit.
He felt like he couldn’t breathe as he looked at her, which wasn’t that different from how he’d felt the night before as they’d shared a bed. As they’d gradually moved closer to each other over the course of the night, under the warmth of the heavy down comforter.
When he’d woken up at three a.m. and her backside had been snuggled against him, her breathing soft and sweet, he hadn’t moved. He was pretty sure his job, as the man in an only-one-bed trope, was to suffer.
Well, suffer he had.
He’d lain there like a chump, wide awake for what felt like hours. The weirdest part was that her body’s closeness had tormented him less than the overall closeness of her, the feeling of Hallie sleeping beside him. Eventually he’d just thrown his arm over her and held her there, like it was normal for them to be sharing a bed.
Which, coincidentally, was when he’d finally fallen back to sleep.
“They’re so beautiful,” Jamie said, crying beside him as she smiled at Chuck. Something about the way those two oddballs loved each other made him feel . . . fuck, something he didn’t like. Pathetically envious.
Because as great as it was to play the game of pretend with Hallie, kissing her and holding her hand like she was his, he couldn’t forget her words, words she’d said with total certainty.
I am absolutely positive I will never catch feels for you.
The ceremony was sweet and made him a little softer than weddings usually did, if he was being honest. Hallie got the hiccups during her sister’s vows, and between her tiny squeaks, her whispered sorries, and the resultant laughter from both Hal and the wedding guests, he was pretty sure everyone in attendance fell for her just as hard as he had.
Chapter
TWENTY-FIVE
Hallie
“My mind is blown,” Chuck said, tossing back one of the shots Hallie had poured for the two of them and set on the table in front of them. “You guys are incredibly convincing.”
Hallie took her shot, feeling the whiskey burn down her throat. “It’s easy, because we’re best friends and we have sexual chemistry.”
“So. Um.” Chuck grabbed his water bottle and took a long drink before wiping his mouth and saying, “Tell me again—why aren’t you really dating if you have chemistry and you’re best friends . . . ?”
Hallie tilted her head. “It sounds simple, doesn’t it?”
“Incredibly.” Chuck looked toward the door of the multipurpose changing/gathering room, through which most of the bridal party had just exited. Pictures were over, and they were ready to party.
“It’s complicated. Jack thinks we have too much chemistry and we won’t stop bonking if we start being friends with benefits.” Hallie slid her feet back into the red pumps and pulled her compact out of her bag. “He thinks that we would have sex until we were dead and ruin our friendship. I, on the other hand, think he’s one of those guys who needs to be in a relationship, so I don’t want to be his low-hanging fruit, the person he gets into a relationship with because it’s easy and we had a good bonk.”
“He’s not your douchey ex.” Chuck leaned over and checked his hair in the compact she was looking into. “And I feel like he actually does like you.”
She opened her lipstick and raised it to her mouth. “I think we both like each other, but not enough or in the right way to risk the friendship.”
“Listen to me right now.” Chuck stood as she finished applying her lipstick. “Risk the fucking friendship.”
She stood as well and showed him her teeth. “Lipstick-free?”
“You’re good,” he said, then bared his teeth, to which she responded, “You are, too.”
“Seriously, though, if you two are perfect for each other, fuck everything else.”
Hallie picked up her bag and said the words that hurt her soul. “I can’t bear the thought of losing him, though, Chuck. I can’t.”
The breakup with Ben had been awful. Out of nowhere. She’d assumed they were close to getting engaged, and she’d been absolutely in love with him, and then he’d told her that he didn’t love her and she wasn’t enough.
She’d been devastated and destroyed, but she felt like losing Jack as a friend would be a thousand times worse.
“Hal.” Chuck grabbed her bag from her fingers and tucked it under his arm; he knew she hated clutches, which was what made him an above-and-beyond friend. “You won’t lose him. You won’t. And don’t you think the possibilities of love are worth the risk?”
“Shit. Yes.” She took a deep breath and nodded. “I need another shot if I’m going to make him fall in love with me tonight. Care to join me?”
“I’d be delighted.”
* * *
? ? ?
Because of bridal party obligations, it took forever before Hallie was finally able to meet up with Jack. After the pictures, she and Chuck had to sit at the head table while everyone made toasts, and then she had to sit there while everyone else got their food first.
Thank God for phones.
Jack: You look bored.
Hallie: That’s because I am bored.
Jack: Wanna play a game?
Hallie: Absolutely I do.
She glanced in the direction of his table, but it was hard to see him because people were milling about the ballroom.
Jack: Let’s call it yell, beat, or kill.
Hallie: wtf you animal.
Jack: Choose one person here to publicly yell at, one whose ass you’d like to kick, and one you’d like to murder.
Hallie: Wow.
Jack: I’ll start. I would like to publicly yell at your cousin Emily, who is seated beside me and will not stop telling me about her food allergies.
That made Hallie grin; Emily was a lot. She texted: I get that. So what about the ass-kicking?
Jack: That’s easy. I would like to kick your new brother-in-law’s ass, because his fraternity friends are a bunch of blowhards who’ve wasted far too much of our time with their stupid toasts. He should have better friends.
Hallie: I back you on this. May I assist?
Jack: Of course. Choose your weapon.
Hallie: Cake knife.
Jack: Excellent choice.
Hallie: And now, for the murder . . .
Jack: This obviously has nothing to do with you, but I would really love to wring the neck of Ben Marks.
Hallie looked up from her phone and craned her neck to find Jack. She couldn’t, but she was a little taken aback that he even knew Ben’s last name.
Hallie: It was the scarf, wasn’t it?
Jack: Certainly didn’t help. But every time I look at him, I want to hurt him for making you feel like you weren’t enough.