Falling for the Groomsman (Wedding Dare #1)(41)
Author: Diane Alberts

No, it was worse. It was his sister. He lifted his hand and waved.

Kady stomped over to him, her eyes promising a hell he didn’t want to visit right now. “What are you doing here, drinking like you’re hoping to not remember anything at all, when you’re the one who ruined my waltz?”

He flinched. “Yeah. I’m sorry about that,” he slurred. “Wasn’t my intention.”

The words came out in one long drawl. He hadn’t had that much, had he?

“Ugh. You’re drunk,” she said, her eyes narrowing on him. “I’ve never seen you get drunk.”

It was true. She hadn’t. Well, there was a first time for everything. “Some things are enough to drive a man to drink. Christine is one of those things.”

She sat down beside him. “What happened tonight?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Here you are.” The bartender set his drink in front of him and smiled at Kady. “Would you like a drink?”

“Yes, I’ll have a dirty martini,” Kady said, giving her a small smile. As the bartender walked away, Kady said, “And you will be telling me what the hell is going on between you and Christine.”

His grip tightened on his glass. “Absolutely nothing. That’s the problem.”

“Stop speaking drunk, and tell me everything in English.”

“I thought we had something between us. Something real, but we didn’t,” Tyler said, his gaze on the amber liquid. “She wanted payback for something I’d done to her in the past, and she got it.”

She made a weird noise and shook her head. The bartender brought over her drink, and she picked it up, taking a dainty sip. “What could you have possibly done to make her want payback?”

He hesitated. “You don’t want to know.”

“Yes. I do.” She glowered at him. “You’re going to tell me what you did, but first? Know this. Christine doesn’t have a spiteful bone in her body. You’re wrong about her.”

He glowered at his own drink. “No, you’re wrong. She wanted to punish me for taking her virginity and leaving, and she did. I fell for the whole act, hook, line, and sinker.”

Kady was taking a sip when he’d started his sentence and by the end of it, she was gagging. Literally. She choked on the liquid and set the glass down with a clunk. She flailed her arms, gasping for air as if she were drowning in the ocean.

“Oh, stop being a drama queen.” Tyler rolled his eyes and reached over, slapping her on the back hard. It didn’t help with choking, but she wasn’t choking anyway. “You’re not going to die. Just breathe and you’ll live to get married.”

She held a hand over her throat and shot him a look that should have set him afire. “Y-You’re an a-asshole.”

“She lives,” he slurred, flinching when she smacked him hard on the arm. “Ow, that hurt.”

“Good. You deserved it.”

He cocked a brow. “For pointing out the obvious?”

“No, for throwing that out there when you knew I’d react that way.” She picked up her drink and took a long sip. “And, uh, seeing as I didn’t know she, uh, lost her V-card with you in the first place, I kind of needed a second to absorb that.”

“Well, absorb and we’ll discuss.”

Kady took another drink. “But when did this happen? I thought she lost her virginity with some guy named Rick in…” Her eyes lit up and he could see all the pieces forming in her mind. “Oh my God. Mexico. It was you.”

He averted his eyes and tugged on his collar. Why hadn’t he gotten out of his suit before coming down to the bar? “Hi. I’m Rick. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh my God, that explains so much. I mean…I knew she had a crush on you, but I couldn’t understand why she kept asking about you all these years. Why, after one short trip in Mexico years ago, she had to know what you were up to all of the time. What you were doing. If you were seeing anyone.” She shook her head and let out a soft laugh. “I’m such an idiot. That’s why. Because of Mexico.”

“She didn’t care about me. She just needed intel so she could plot her payback, is all. For her list.” He shook his alcohol-hazed head. “Why else would she care about that stuff? She doesn’t even like me.”

Kady shook her head, her eyes still on the bar. She seemed to be trying to understand everything. “How did this happen?”

He snickered. “Do you really need me to explain the logistics of how to—”

“God, no. Ew.” She smacked him on the arm again. “You know what I mean, so answer the question.”

He sighed and rubbed his abused arm. “She was upset about her parents and left the group. I followed her and found her crying in the hallway of the hotel. I tried to comfort her. Next thing I knew…” He waved his hand. “Well, you know.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, images bombarding him from that night. The sight of her leaning against the wall, tears creeping down her cheeks as she tried to straighten her clothes. The way she’d held her hand out to him as he bolted from her side. She’d looked…devastated, confused, and scared.

Well, no shit, Sherlock.

No wonder she wanted a little payback. He deserved it. She had every right to want to punish him in some way for what he’d done to her, and he’d flipped out on her like a lunatic.

“Okay, so now I know what happened back then. What happened tonight?”

“We spent the last few days together…reconnecting.” He cleared his throat. “And I thought we had something going on. But she was only playing with me. Nothing more. She even made a list of ways to do it. It was all a game to her.”

Kady smacked him on the back of the head hard enough to make stars shine in his vision. “Do you hear yourself?”

“Ow. Stop hitting me.” He rubbed the sore spot. “Why did I get hit that time?”

“Tell me this.” She leaned in, her eyes spitting fire. “Would a girl who only wanted payback want updates on where you were and what you were doing?”

Shit if he knew. Women didn’t make much sense to him. “I…I don’t know. Like I said, maybe she was making her list.”

“She wouldn’t do that. She’s not cold enough, or duplicitous enough, either. I guarantee if you told her how you felt, she’d give you another shot if you wanted it.”