Lovewrecked - Karina Halle Page 0,21

says, eyeing me for a moment before looking away.

“Don’t call me that. And I’m not defensive.”

His lips twitch. “I just know you’ve been having a go lately, with your ex-boyfriend and all. Thought maybe you weren’t handling the wedding very well. The celebration of love, everyone coupled up, etcetera, etcetera.”

Don’t act defensive, don’t act defensive.

I have to repeat this in my head because the first thing I want to do is lash out.

I paste a smile on my face and look at him calmly. “Who said I don’t love being single? After all, I’m the one who broke up with him. And you’re single too, aren’t you? How come weddings are only supposed to be hell for single girls and not for single guys?”

Something dark comes over his gaze, and for a moment there I’m afraid that he actually isn’t single. I mean, he could totally have a girlfriend…one that’s away and couldn’t be here.

“You have a fair point,” he says after a moment.

Then he walks off toward Richard and Lacey.

Meanwhile, I try to brush off what he said, but I can’t.

I need a drink.

For the second time in a handful of days, I’ve woken up massively hungover.

Thankfully, it’s not as bad as the other time.

Least I don’t think.

Let’s see.

I slowly sit up in bed—Tai’s bed—and try to assess the damage.

My head aches.

My mouth tastes sour.

There’s a mysterious bruise on my arm.

I’m wearing my nightshirt backwards.

The light coming in through the windows tells me I’ve slept in, which I must have needed.

I close my eyes, and try to remember the last thing that happened. I don’t even think I remember going to bed.

Oh.

Oh wait.

There’s a fragment of a memory, grainy, like an old photograph.

Someone carried me up the stairs.

And gently placed me in bed.

I remember the gentle part the most, just the feeling of it, because it reminded me of my father when he’d pick me up from when I fell asleep in the car and take me to my bedroom. I was always in a half-awake, half-asleep state. Comforted and cradled.

Ugh. Did my dad have to do that last night because I was so drunk?

I can feel my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Shit. So much for trying to make my dad proud of me. Hi, I’m Daisy, I’m twenty-eight years old and my dad has to put me to bed.

I exhale slowly and pick up my phone from the bedside table. It’s noon and there’s a text from Laura, one of my friends back home, wondering how the wedding was. But other than that, no one has asked if I’m okay or has tried to wake me up, which makes me feel even more uneasy.

How much of a wreck was I?

I open my phone and go straight to the photos because I’m the type of girl who brings her phone out when she’s drunk and tries to take selfies with everyone.

And there I am, in drunken Daisy mode, just as I thought.

I’m in a selfie with Lacey, whose one eye is half-closed, a sign that she’s drunk too. We look happy though, which is nice. Like real sisters should.

Then I’m posing with Richard, who has somehow slicked his hair off his forehead and is wrinkling his brow like a wannabe De Niro. It’s creepy.

I’m also in a photo with my parents, with Eaton, with Jana, with Eaton and Jana together, all of us drinking wine at once, then I’m with Tai’s parents, then I’m with some of Tai’s friends, then I’m with someone’s grandmother doing a funky dance, then I’m back with Richard and Lacey yelling happily about something. I’m getting progressively drunker and sloppier in each photo, but then again, so is everyone else.

Then I come across a photo I hoped I wouldn’t see.

A photo of Tai.

I’ve taken a picture of him from the side. He’s got a drink in hand, the bow tie on his tux has been loosened and the collar unbuttoned, showing a nice slice of dark skin. He’s laughing at something someone has said off-camera and his expression takes my breath away. There’s something so loose and freeing and…happy about him here. For a moment I wonder what it would be like to be the one that makes him laugh like that.

I pause on that picture for a long time, studying it.

Then I flip to the next one.

In this picture Tai is looking at me and, naturally, his expression has totally changed. He’s frowning, lips pressed together as if he must not ever smile.