Page 54

Tobie

The Westlake-Carlton Hotel is as intimidating as I thought it would be.

“Ma’am?”

I wrench my gaze from the glass and white marble exterior to smile at the cab driver. “Thanks.”

I hand him money and climb outside, carefully gathering the hem of my dress so I won’t ruin it.

It’s a mild evening that didn’t require a coat. The sky is medium blue with the occasional twinkle of an early star in the sky. I’m earlier than I wanted to be, but I was too afraid I’d be late so I started on my hair and makeup way sooner than I needed to.

I did my makeup slowly , taking my time to get my winged eyeliner perfect, blusher exactly the way the makeup artist at the nice mall had shown me, and a green-gold eyeshadow to match my dress and make my eyes pop.

I have never gotten my makeup this perfect in all the times I’ve tried, and I tried hard, not wanting to look nice for this fancy dinner. I wanted to look perfect for Reid, Caleb, and Javier, who may or may not be getting ready to dump me tonight.

My hair was another big job. I’ve lost a lot of hair over the years because of Hashimoto’s. A lot of it has grown back, but my shoulder-length brown hair is thinner than it used to be. I put curls in around my face and tied the rest up. It’s not over-the-top amazing, but I think it looks elegant.

At six, I was dressed and ready to go.

As I sat around, all I could think about was the talk we’re going to have tonight.

Originally, I was going to meet the guys at their dorm, or they would pick me up at mine, but at the last minute, Caleb had something to do with his brother, and then Javier and Reid were going to have a drink with a couple of guys from the team before the party.

At least, I thought it was going to be a couple.

Then I learned it was going to be the whole team. And I… chickened out of going.

The restaurant meal ended up being great. Eventually. But with the stress of the talk we’re going to have after this party, a big crowd would only trigger my social anxiety which is not what I needed.

We agreed that I would meet them at the hotel. It’s a decision I regret as I make my way to the hotel’s entrance, smiling nervously at the doorman who opens the door for me.

“Ma’am.” He nods.

I don’t think I’ve ever been ma’amed so much in my life. It must be the fancy dress.

The lobby is white marble and gold, without a doubt the most incredible place I’ve ever been in my life.

The front desk, which looks like a piece of floating white marble, is on my far-right side, with gray chairs facing it for people who are checking into the hotel. Beyond that is a wall of elevators on my left that lead up to the hotel rooms.

A gold plaque points to the ballroom, where the party is happening tonight.

Only when Reid, Javier, and Caleb arrive will I go inside.

Caleb texted to say I was on the list, so if I wanted to go inside, all I’d need to do was say my name.

But there are sponsors and other important people there that I’d rather not embarrass myself in front of.

I slowly pace the lobby, nodding at the suited hockey players and their elegantly dressed girlfriends when they enter the hotel and pass me to get to the ballroom.

And I never stop glancing at the delicate gold clock above the check-in desk.

They said they would be here before seven, and we’d all go in together.

“Are they not here yet?” a female voice calls out.

I twist around to face Hallie, beautiful in a pale pink, off the shoulder silk dress that pairs perfectly with her blonde hair and glowing tan.

“No.” I smile. “Wow, you look amazing.”

“Not half as beautiful as you. I’m dressing to impress,” she announces.

“Good luck with that, Princess.” A dark-haired guy with startling green eyes, pats her head patronizingly as he passes her, and she grits her teeth.

“You realize no girl would ever want anything to do with you, right, Theo?”

He smirks at her. “I’m definitely having better luck with the girls than you’ve had with Coach Conner.”

She rolls her eyes and focuses on me. “Come on in. They can’t be far behind us.”

I shake my head. “I said I’d wait for them here. Thanks.”

I need to look Javier, Caleb, and Reid in the face out here, so I know whatever talk we’re going to have after this party is not going to be bad news.

If they’re tense or distant, I’ll come up with an excuse to slip away and avoid a three-person dumping. These shoes are not designed to stand on for hours, so after the first thirty minutes of pacing the lobby, I sit in one of the boucle chairs near the check-in desk.

At seven thirty, I pull my cell phone from my purse and call Caleb.

It rings out.

I try Javier. Same thing.

And Reid?

This can’t be a good thing when none of them are answering their phones, right?

At eight, I’ve called them three more times each, and I’m debating whether to call them again and hoping it won’t make me look desperate when I spot a cab outside.

That has to be them. Maybe they were in a rush and forgot their phones?

I stuff my phone in my purse and gather the hem of my dress as I get to my feet.

I’m smiling until I see who steps out of the cab.

Not Reid, Caleb, or even Javier.

Marc.

He jogs up the stairs, and the doorman opens the door for him. And he comes to a sudden halt when he spots me.

He still has a black eye from his short-sighted attempt to punch Caleb in the back of the head. It’s not as dark as I thought it would be so he must have applied concealer to hide the worst of it.

Javier said he would find something that made Marc lose the ability to use his words. I hadn’t believed him.

Mission accomplished. Such a dress does exist.

He’s in a tux, but I can’t imagine anyone would have invited him to this event. Not after the way Caleb practically threatened to kill him when he turned up at my dorm to talk to me and wouldn’t leave.

He looks as handsome as he always has, yet I don’t see him the way I used to. Before, a suit would make me weak at the knees. Now, his appearance does nothing for me.

“That dress is…” He shakes his head and approaches. “Beautiful.”

I remember Javier’s words from before. He said if Marc only sees me when I’m in makeup and a dress, he doesn’t deserve to see me at all.

Javier said it’s about the woman, not the dress. That’s what Marc is seeing. He’s not seeing me. He stopped seeing me years ago.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

He seems tense but determined. “I came to talk to you.”

I peek over his shoulder. “We can’t talk now. I’m waiting for?—”

“The three players who have been using you?”

A flare of anger sparks up in me, surprising me.

I don’t like confrontation, but everyone has their limit, and Marc has pushed and pushed at mine. “I think you should leave.”

A blonde woman at the check-in desk is eyeing us with interest when Marc grips my arm and leads me to the side of the lobby. “This is important, Tobie.”

I try to pull my arm free. “I see, so you weren’t interested in me anymore, but now that Reid, Caleb, and Javier are paying me attention, you want me back?”

He flattens his lips. “It isn’t like that.”

“It feels an awful lot like that to me. Like I’m the last loaf of bread in the store that you didn’t want until someone else put it in their cart and suddenly you want toast.” I cringe.

Maybe one day, I’ll get better at this confrontation business because what just came out of my mouth doesn’t make much sense.

“I love you, Tobie.”

I pull on my arm. “No, because if you loved me, you wouldn’t have slept with another girl behind my back. Would you?”

“It was a mistake.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You must love me too. If you didn’t, you would have told your dad we’d broken up, but you didn’t. Because you knew we’d get back together again.”

I stare at him. “You spoke to my dad?”

“He called me asking about spring break.”

“Look, the only reason I didn’t tell him was because he would punch you in the face. Which you probably deserve, but I didn’t want him to get arrested for assaulting a student if he did it on campus.”

More hockey players distract me when they walk into the lobby. They linger for a bit, their gazes lingering for a second too long at Marc’s hand on my arm before they walk into the ballroom.

I slip my arm free in case they get the wrong idea about what’s happening here. “Please leave, Marc. I have to go.”

I hadn’t wanted to enter the party alone, but dealing with my social anxiety alone has to be better than this.

“I’ll prove it,” Marc suddenly says.

“Prove what?”

He fishes his cell phone from his pocket, taps a few buttons, and thrusts it at me.

It’s a picture taken at night. Outside a familiar dorm building, Reynolds Hall. Javier is in boxers, nothing else. And there’s a beautiful woman standing inches away from him. Close. As if they were about to kiss or just had.

“I saw him showing her out of his room at night. Look at them, Tobie. Tell me again they give a damn about you?”

I shake my head as I retreat from a picture that hurts my heart. “That could have been anyone, and it doesn’t mean they slept together.”

“Stop being so na?ve. He was fucking some other girl behind your back, and if he was doing it, they all were.”

We hadn’t talked about being exclusive. I thought we were.

The back of my eyelids burn. “I have to go.”

“They don’t care about you, Tobie.” He closes the distance between us as I back away. “If they did, they wouldn’t have left you outside this party. Are they even coming? Have you considered this might be some joke?”

No, I hadn’t considered that. Now all the doubt I’d silenced before floods my mind.

Caleb told me that his coach said they all had to show up for this party, but none of them are here.

"Something might be wrong," I say softly, desperately hoping they have a flat tire and forgot their phones. Something minor that would explain the reason none of them are here. Anything that doesn’t involve them breaking my heart.

“They don’t care about you the way I do, Tobie,” Marc replies, stepping closer to me. “The only thing wrong is that they ditched you after they got what they wanted, just like I warned you they would.”

I shake my head as my eyes continue to burn. “You don’t care about me.”

“Let me prove it.”

My smile is bitter. “And how would you do that?”

My stomach drops as he pulls a small black velvet box from his pocket and does something I never, ever expected he would do.

He goes to his knees in front of me, flipping open the velvet lid to reveal a large diamond ring in a bed of dark blue silk.

“Marry me, Tobie. Be my wife, and I will spend the rest of our lives proving no one can love you the way I can.”