"Then, take me"

I Usually fought back until I was the one who drew blood first.

Because that

was what we did. We didn’t spare each other’s feelings.This wasn’t new.

“Then, take me."

I will be your date to the wedding, Catalina."My gaze drew up very slowly, a strange mix of wariness and

embarrassment washing over me.Him witnessing all this was bad enough,

but him somehow trying to use it to his advantage?To get the better of me?

Unless he wasn’t.Unless perhaps there was an explanation, a reason, as

to why he was doing this.Offering himself to be my date.

Studying his face,I pondered all these options and possible motivations,not coming to any kind of reasonable conclusion.Not finding any possible

answer that would help me understand why or what he was trying to

accomplish.Only the truth.The reality.We weren’t friends.We barely tolerated each

other,Aaron Blackford and I.We were spiteful to each other, pointed out

each other’s mistakes,criticized how differently we worked,thought,and

lived.

We condemned our differences.At some point in the past,I would

have thrown darts at a poster of his face.And I was pretty sure he would have

done the same because I wasn’t the only one driving along Hate Boulevard. It

was a two-way road.Not only that, but it had actually been him,the one

causing our fallout.I hadn’t started this feud between us.So, why? Why was

he pretending to offer me help,and why would I humor him by even

considering it?

“I might be desperate to find a date, but I’m not that desperate,” I

repeated."Just like I said.”His sigh was tired. Impatient. Infuriating. “I’ll let you think about it.You

know you have no other options.”Nothing to think about.”I cut my hand through the air between us.Then,

I smiled my version of Rosie’s fake,toothy grin.“I’d take a chimpanzee

dressed in a tuxedo before taking you.”His eyebrows rose, amusement barely entering his eyes.

“Now, come on;we both know you wouldn’t. While there are chimpanzees that would rise up

to the occasion, it will be your ex standing there.Your family.You said you

need to make an impression, and I will accomplish exactly that.” He tilted his

head.“I’m your best option.”

I snorted, clapping my hands once. Smug blue-eyed pain in my ***.“You

are my best nothing, Blackford.And I have plenty of other options,” I countered, shrugging a shoulder. “I’ll find someone on Tinder.

Maybe put outan ad in the New York Times. I can find someone.”

“In only a few weeks? Highly unlikely.”

“Rosie has friends. I’ll take one of them.”

That had been my plan all along. It was the reason why I had grabbed

Rosie so early in the day. Rookie mistake on my part, I realized. I should

have waited to get off work and gotten Rosie to a safe, Aaron-free place to

talk. But after yesterday’s call with Mamá … yeah. Things had changed.

My

situation had definitely changed.I needed someone, and I couldn’t stress

enough that anyone would do.Anyone who wasn’t Aaron, of course.Rosie

had been born and raised in the city.There had to be someone she knew.

“Right, Rosie? One of your friends must be available.”

My friend’s head popped in again.“Maybe Marty? He loves weddings.”

I shot a quick glance at her.“Wasn’t Marty the one who got drunk at your

cousin’s wedding, stole the mic from the band, and sang ‘My Heart Will Go

On’ until your brother had to drag him off the stage?”

“That would be him.” She winced.

“Yeah, no.”I couldn’t have that at my sister’s wedding. She’d rip his

heart out of his chest and serve it as dessert.“What about Ryan?”

“Happily engaged.”

A sigh left my lips.“Not surprised. Ryan is a total catch.

“I know. That’s why I tried so many times to get you two together, but

you—”

I cleared my throat loudly, interrupting her. “We aren’t discussing why I

am single.” I quickly glanced back at Aaron. His eyes were on me, narrowed.

“How about … Terry?”

“Moved to Chicago.”

“Dammit.” I shook my head, closing my eyes for an instant. This was

useless. “Then, I’ll hire an actor. Pay him to act as my date.”

“That’s probably expensive,” Aaron said flatly. “And actors aren’t

exactly lying around, waiting for single people to hire and parade them as their plus-ones.I pinned him with an exasperated look.

“I’ll get a professional escort.”

His lips pressed in that tight, almost-hermetic way they did when he was

extremely irritated. “You’d take a male ********** to your sister’s wedding

before taking me?”

“I said, an escort, Blackford. Por Dios,” I muttered, watching his

eyebrows bunch and turn into the scowl.

“I’m not looking for that kind of service. I just need a companion. That’s all they do. They escort you to

events.”

“That’s not what they do, Catalina.” His voice was deep and icy.

Covering me in his frosty judgment.

“Haven’t you watched any romantic comedies ever?” I watched the scowl

deepen. “Not even The Wedding Date?”

No answer, just more of that arctic staring.

“Do you even watch movies? Or do you just … work?”

There was a possibility that he didn’t even own a television. His

expression didn’t change.

God, I don’t have time for this. For him.

“You know what? Not important. I don’t care.” I threw my hands up and

then clasped them together. “Thank you for … this. Whatever it was. Great

input. But I don’t need you.

“I think you do.”

I blinked at him. “I think you are annoying.”

“Catalina,” he started, making my irritation grow with the way he uttered

my name. “You are delusional if you think you can find someone in such a

short amount of time.”

Once more, Aaron Blackford wasn’t wrong.

I probably was a little delusional. And he didn’t even know about the lie.

My lie. Not that he’d ever do. But that didn’t change the facts. I needed

someone, anyone, but not him, not Aaron, to fly to Spain with me for Isabel’s

wedding. Because (A) I was the bride’s sister and maid of honor. (B) My ex,

Daniel, was the groom’s brother and best man. And as of yesterday, I had

learned that he was happily engaged. Something that my family had been

hiding from me. (C) If you didn’t count the few and pretty unsuccessful dates

I had gone on, I had been technically single for roughly six years. Ever since

I had left Spain and moved to the States, which had happened shortly after

my one and only relationship exploded in my face. Something that every

single attendee—because there were no secrets in families like mine and

much less in small towns like the one I had come from—knew about and

pitied me for. And (D) there was my lie.

The lie.

The one I had sort of fed my mother and consequently the whole Martín

clan because privacy and boundaries did not exist when it came to us. Hell,

by now, my lie was probably on the Announcements page of the localnewspaper.

Catalina Martín, finally, not single. Her family is happy to announce that

she will bring her American boyfriend to the wedding. Everyone is invited to

come and witness the most magical event of the decade.

Because that was what I had done. Right after the news of Daniel’s

engagement had slipped past my mother’s lips and reached my ears through

the speaker of my phone, I had said that I’d be bringing someone too. No, not

just someone. I’d said—lied, deceived, falsely announced—that I’d be

bringing my boyfriend.

Who technically did not exist.

Yet.

Okay, fine, or ever. Because Aaron was right. Finding a date in such a

short amount of time was perhaps a little optimistic. Believing I’d find

someone to pretend to be my made-up boyfriend was probably delusional.

But accepting that Aaron was my only choice and taking him up on his offer?

That was straight-up insanity.

“I see it’s finally seeping in.” Aaron’s words brought me back to the

present, and I found his blue eyes aimed at me. “I’ll let you come to terms

with it on your own. Just let me know when you do.”

My lips pursed. And when I felt my cheeks burn again—because how

lame was I for him, Aaron Blackford, who had never even liked me a tiny

little bit, to pity me enough to offer himself to be my date?—I crossed my

arms over my chest and averted my eyes from those two icy and ruthless

spots.

“Oh, and, Catalina?”

“Yeah?” The word left my lips weakly. Ugh, pathetic.

“Try not to be late to our ten o’clock meeting. It’s not cute anymore.”

My gaze shot to him, a huff stuck in my throat.

Jerk.

I swore right then and there that one day, I’d find a ladder high enough,

climb it, and chuck something really hard at his infuriating face.

One year and eight months. That was how long I had endured him. I had

been counting, biding my time.

Then, with nothing more than a nod, he turned around, and I watched him

walk away. Dismissed until further notice.

“Okay, that was …” Rosie’s voice trailed off, not ending the statement.

“Maddening? Insulting? Bizarre?” I offered, bringing my hands to my face"

“Unexpected,” she countered. “And interesting.”

Looking at her between my fingers, I watched the corners of her lips tug

up.

“Your friendship has been revoked, Rosalyn Graham.”

She chuckled. “You know you don’t mean that.”

I didn’t; she’d never get rid of me.

“So …” Rosie linked her arm with mine and ushered me down the

hallway. “What are you going to do?”

A shaky exhale left my mouth, taking all my energy with it. “I … I don’t

have the slightest idea.”

But I knew something for sure: I was not taking Aaron Blackford up on

his offer. He wasn’t my only option, and he surely wasn’t my best one either.

Hell, he wasn’t my anything. Especially not my date to my sister’s wedding.

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