She thought he was Jace. She had, for all intents and purposes, just kissed his twin brother, not him.
He stared at her while a mixture of emotions churned through him. Mostly rejection and anger. He couldn’t very well tell her the truth now. None of her softness was for him. Her kisshadn’t been for him. He’d been realizing he still loved her, and she’d been having a non-committal make-out session with his twin brother.
“Don’t be angry.” She sank further into the couch away from him. “I wish we had a chance, but Lucas was more than just a boyfriend to me.” Her voice shrunk until it was only a whisper. “I thought he was the one. I thought when everyone got together at a church, it would be for our wedding, and I…” She lifted her eyes, and a sheen of tears filled them. “When I look at you, I can only see him. I would always see him. That isn’t fair to you.”
And just like that, some of the sting of rejection faded. Riley had thought Lucas was the one. She’d wanted to marry him. And though she’d never admit it to him, she still loved him.
Tears spilled over Riley’s eyes, two wet tracks running down her cheeks. He reached over and wiped each tear away. “Are you going to remember this tomorrow?” Because he was moments away from telling her who he was and kissing her again.
Her eyebrows drew down. “I feel like that’s a trick question.”
He supposed so.
And if he told her who he was, she would get angry that he’d lied about his identity. Especially if she remembered all of this tomorrow. “We should talk about this later,” he said.
She put her hand over his and nodded. “Sorry I made you cheat on Jennifer, but really, she’s about as popular as snow in May, so you’re better off with literally any other woman on the planet.”
There were probably a lot of reasons why it was a good thing Jace wasn’t here. “We’ll talk tomorrow,” Lucas said. “Drink your tea and have some crackers.”
She obediently took a sip. It must have cooled off enough because she drank the whole cup and picked up a cracker. Before she finished eating it, she winced. “I think I’m gonna throw up.”
She dropped the blanket and dashed out of the living room towards the bathroom.
Running while you were drunk was never a good idea, but she was only half dressed, so it was probably best if he stayed out here instead of following her to make sure she was all right.
He stood up and looked down the hallway she’d disappeared. Riley had wanted to marry him. The whole time they dated, he’d worried that she wasn’t serious about him. That like Winter, she would date him for a long time and then decide they weren’t right for each other. But that hadn’t been the case at all. He’d been so upset that she wasn’t willing to trust him, but for the first time, he realized he hadn’t trusted her fully either.
Just because Winter was using the secrets she knew as leverage, didn’t mean Riley would ever do the same.
He heard someone put a key in the lock at the front door. He’d just put on the glasses and picked up his tie when the door swung open, and Delancey strolled inside.
Lucas didn’t know her that well. She’d moved into the apartment after Riley and he had broken up. Delancey took a look at him and then gaped at Riley’s clothes on the floor.
“Where’s Riley?” she asked in alarm.
“In the bathroom throwing up.”
Delancey’s mouth dropped open. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She accidentally drank some juice that Mr. Travers spiked with vodka. I brought her home because she…” He somehow couldn’t bring himself to say she was making a spectacle of herself at the reception. “She wasn’t feeling well.”
He moved to the door, pulling out his phone to call an Uber. “Now that you’re here and can keep an eye on her, I’ll go back to the reception.”
He left as Delancey headed to the bathroom. She never asked him his name.
That was probably for the best.
CHAPTER 19
Riley woke up with a pounding headache. Even the light streaming from the window hurt her head. She grimaced and turned over in bed. That only made it worse. Why in the world did her head hurt this badly?
The memories started coming back: feeling lightheaded and silly at the reception. She’d actually demanded that one of Carson’s friends dance with her and then she’d draped herself over him on the dance floor.
Thank goodness he would check out of the inn before her shift on Monday. She wouldn’t have to face him.
Jace had told her that she’d drunk Mr. Traver’s spiked juice.
Jace.