Page 116 of Your Fault

“You have to go, Jenna. At the very least, Lion deserves for you to hear him out. You’ve been split up for more than a month. It’s time to put your cards on the table. I know you keep saying you’re better off without him, but we both know that isn’t true.”

She started chewing one of her nails compulsively, and I grinned.

They were made for each other. I don’t know how they could fail to realize that.

I tried at least twenty dresses. My mother had told me to put everything on my emergency credit card. I had originally planned on borrowing something to wear, but I didn’t want to have to worry about it.

I went to Chanel, Versace, Prada… It was hard for me to stomach those prices. For a moment, I thought of buying a brand-name dress at half price from a consignment shop, then keeping the rest of what it would have cost for myself, to pay for my food and other necessities, but I discarded the idea. Mom would look at her statement and would figure out what I’d done.

We wound up at Dior, which was one of Jenna’s favorites. The prices were complete madness, but I let her drag me along andpretended I wasn’t buying it for me, almost as if I were doing an errand for someone else.

The worst thing that can happen to you in a place like that is that you fall in love with something. And I did. It was there, in the middle of the shop, displayed on a mannequin. My eyes traveled over to it as soon as I walked in.

“Jesus, Noah… That’s the one. That’s your dress,” Jenna said next to me, almost as stupefied as I was.

The fabric was pearl gray. I touched the soft silk with my fingers. It was gorgeous—I couldn’t help but admire it.

“You have to try it on,” Jenna said, and a second later, a salesperson was all over me like I was a Hollywood star. We were taken to a side room where they helped me try it on. The upper part of the dress was a kind of corset studded with tiny diamonds against a silver background. The skirt hung almost to the floor, showing off my curves like water dripping over my skin. There was a slit up one side that rose almost to my hip. It was absolutely perfect.

When I emerged from the dressing room, Jenna was gobsmacked.

“It’s fucking incredible.”

I looked down and grabbed the ticket hanging from one side. When I saw the price, I nearly choked.

“It’s seventeen thousand dollars, Jenna.”

She showed no surprise whatsoever.

“What did you expect? This isn’t the Gap. You need to be able to hang with everyone else there. Trust me, this will be far from the most expensive gown there. Plus, you look like a dream, Noah. I mean it; I feel like I’m about to cry.”

I rolled my eyes and looked at myself in the mirror.

It really was beautiful. That pearl gray was a perfect contrast to my tanned skin and my hair. Plus, it was a special occasion. I’dbe wearing it in front of the cameras… I’d be wearing it, more importantly, in front of Nick.

Yeah, I definitely wanted to see Nick’s face when I showed up looking like that. If this gala was going to be our reunion after two weeks with barely a word…then like Jenna said, it needed to be spectacular.

48

Nick

The gala was a day away, and Noah and I still hadn’t spoken. I was worried. Worried about her, about us. I felt a pressure in my chest that kept me from working. That morning, my father had come by the office, had given me the invitations for the next day, and had reminded me of what he and his wife had asked of Noah and me a month or so before. I hated the thought of seeing her after all those days without touching or holding her, knowing we’d have to pretend there was nothing between us. It was like a terrible joke. My bad mood was palpable, evident to anyone who came close to me; I’d had so many arguments with the staff, I’d have definitely been fired if Leister hadn’t been my last name.

“I’ve reserved three cars for tomorrow. One will take Ella and me, another will be for Noah and her friend, and the last one will be for you and Sophie.”

I looked up immediately from the document I was skimming. “What did you say?”

My father glared at me in a way that revealed to me I wasn’t the only one who’d gotten up on the wrong side of the bed.

“Aiken asked me to, Nicholas, and I’m not in the mood toargue about it. He won’t be coming. Sophia will take his place, and he asked me to let her join our family.”

“Does she even know?” I asked, getting up and slamming the office door shut. “Sophia told me she wasn’t going to the gala. She said she was heading to Aspen tomorrow morning.”

Dad took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“That was then. Riston’s had something important come up in Washington. He’s got to go, so Sophia will have to substitute for him. Riston asked me to handle the details, and naturally I couldn’t say no.”

I shook my head. I could already imagine the problems this would bring. “I’ll ride in the same car with her. But I’m not going to be her date.”