Chapter 7
Ace
I listen to Joseph say his vows, and I'm almost embarrassed for him. Had I known that he didn't write them, I would have tried to get him to write them last night instead of him finishing off a whole bottle of whiskey. Or even this morning when he woke up and looked like he was confused as to where he was. I thought it was wedding jitters, but I just ignored it. After all, the only one who could tell me if it was, was Shelby and there was no way in fuck I was going to put that doubt in her head. I look over at Travis, who just sits in the middle of his mother and his wife, the three of them just glaring at him. I close my eyes as more words come out of his mouth, and all I want him to do is just shut the fuck up.
We got dressed and got here right on time, but he started with the shots the second we walked in. At one point, I had to ask to cut him off. The last thing I wanted was for him to tumble down the aisle. Walking down the aisle, I thought he was going to fall, and I stood beside him to make sure if he did, I would be able to pick him up.
I look over at Shelby as she looks at Clarabella for her paper. I watch her hands shake as she unfolds it, and I have to smile. She's usually so strong and kick-ass, so seeing this makes me want to hug her and tell her it will be okay. "Unlike Joseph, I didn't have to look my vows up online," she says. All I can do is look down and try to hide my laughter. "I had them written two weeks ago, but I did tweak them a little last night. My dearest love." I stare at her since she's never in her life called him this. "I don't know where to start, so I will start at the beginning. From the first day I met you, my heart skipped a beat." What the fuck is she talking about? I was there when they first met, and she called him a douche. "From the first touch of shaking your hand, it felt like an electric shock went through my body, and I was alive for the first time ever." I almost burst out laughing, thinking it's a joke, but then I look at her and see that she is one hundred percent not joking. I stand straighter, trying to tell myself it's not funny. "No matter what I did, nothing could have stopped me from feeling the way that I feel when I'm with you. We both fought it for as long as we could, but the minute I kissed you, I knew you were meant for me and only me. I never wanted to fall in love with you." She laughs, and I don't know why, but something in my chest gets tight. "But I did. I love you with everything that I have. I love you with my whole soul." It's the next sentence that has me on alert. It's as if I hear the words, but I don’t understand them. "I'm getting married tomorrow, and everything in me wishes it was you." I look at Shelby and then side-eye Joseph, my hands going into fists knowing he cheated on her. "Everything is telling me that it should be you, Sheila." I hear the words and then hear the gasp, and I have to shake my head, not sure I actually heard what I heard, but it is exactly what I heard. I listen to the words and feel as if the room is spinning around me. "Run away with me. I love you, Sheila, and I'm yours forever."
"What the actual fuck?” The words roar out of me, and I hear someone clear their throat and look over at the priest who just stands there glaring at me. "Sorry, Father," I say to him.
"Oh.” Shelby laughs. "I think fuck is about right." She turns to face her guests. "In case anyone isn't following"—she looks back at Joseph, who just stands there not saying anything—"the wedding is officially off." She looks at her sister, who just nods at her as she picks up her dress a touch and walks down the aisle toward the brown doors. Her sisters follow her, and I see Travis putting his arm around his mother, who just glares at Joseph.
I hear my heart beating in echo, and I wonder if I'm going to fall on my ass when the room starts spinning. My head is trying to piece together what just happened. I look at Sheila, who stands there by herself crying. She looks at Joseph, who looks at her and then quickly turns and yells, "Shelby!" He walks down toward her.
"Schmuck," Shelby's mom says as Joseph takes a couple of steps forward, and Harlow just glares at him. Her father holds her around the waist to make sure she doesn't spring out and do something she shouldn't. My eyes go to the rest of the guests, who are all waiting to see what more is to come. A couple have their phones out and are filming what started as a beautiful day but has slowly crumbled into a clusterfuck. Joseph stops and looks down and then up to Shelby's family before turning and rushing out of the room.
I shake my head and walk down the steps. My feet move as I try to think clearly and make sense of what just happened. My best friend was fucking my girlfriend I was going to ask to marry me. I don't think anything in that sentence makes sense to anyone, least of all me. My eyes roam the room as I take in the guests whispering to each other, a couple of them looking at me with pity in their eyes. The shame turns to anger, and my blood starts to boil.
"Weston, wait." I hear Sheila call my name, and the guests are moving their head from me to Sheila and then back to me like it's an intense tennis match. I think about stopping for one second, and then as soon as I think about it, I hear Shelby's words play in my head again and again.
I shake my head and push open the two brown doors that lead to the hallway that separates the ceremony space from the event space. I'm not expecting to find Shelby right there by the door with her sisters beside her, ready to step in front of her. "Shelby." I say her name, and she looks at me with tears in her eyes, but then I see her blink them away, and I know that whatever little piece of understanding that she had in her body is gone, and in its place is anger.
Joseph stands in front of them. "Give me a chance to explain," Joseph says, and I wonder how stupid he really is. I knew he was dumb to some things, but this, it's almost comical how he thinks he can talk himself out of this.
"Oh, please explain." Shelby laughs at him bitterly. "I'd love for you to explain." She rolls her eyes now. "Because the email wasn't explanation enough. I might need for you to draw me a fucking diagram."
I can’t help but stop the laugh that comes out of me, and all eyes turn to me. "Oh, yes," I say. Pulling the bow tie away from my neck, I’m feeling suddenly suffocated, so I undo the button on the top. "Please explain how you have been fucking Sheila and wanted her to run away with you on your fucking wedding day." My voice goes higher at the end.
All eyes are on Joseph as he looks at me and then back at Shelby. "Please, it was a mi—"
"Don't you fucking dare," Shelby says between clenched teeth and holding up her hand. "Say it was a mistake." Shelby glares at him and roars out, "Don't you fucking dare give me that fucking excuse."
"It's," he starts to say. "It's not what it seems." My feet move two steps toward him as the anger rips through me.
"I'm pretty sure the email that you sent out the day before our fucking wedding was everything that it seemed to be." Her hands form into fists at her sides. "I'm done," she says, turning to walk away and stopping when the doors open. Sheila steps out, and the whole room feels like it's going to explode. I look toward Shelby, making sure she is okay. She puts her hand down, holding her sister's hand to make sure she holds her sister back.
She stands there looking at all of us with tears running all the way down her face. "Weston," she says. "Please." Her lower lip trembles. "I didn't mean—"
I clap my hands together, laughing at the craziness that this day has turned out to be. The anger runs through me as I look at this woman, the woman I was going to get down on one knee and ask to spend the rest of her life with me. The woman who I thought was mine but instead was lying to my face. "What didn't you mean to do to me? Lie?" I look at her, not really waiting for an answer as she puts her hand in front of her, her shoulders shaking as she closes her eyes and wipes the tears off her face with the back of her hand.
"Weston, please let me explain," she begs, and all I can do is shake my head.
"The only thing I want to hear from you is where you want me to send your shit that I have at my house," I say between clenched teeth.
"Please give me a chance." She brings her hand to her mouth to silence the sobs.
"Did you or did you not sleep with my best friend?" I look at her and wait for her to answer. I wait for someone to jump out of hiding and tell me that this is just a prank. I wait for someone to tell me that this isn't happening. I wait for someone to wake me up so I can be done with this nightmare. But she says nothing. She doesn't have to. The look on her face says it all.
Standing in front of her is making me utterly sick. I'm sick to my stomach that she lied to me. I'm sick to my stomach that I didn't fucking know what was apparently happening right in front of my face. Sick to my stomach that my best friend, who I thought would have taken a bullet for me, literally just shot me in the heart. I walk away, seeing Joseph looking at me, the guy who was supposed to be like a brother to me. "Ace," he says, and everything happens in slow motion, or maybe it was just like that in my head. My shoulder pulls back, and the next thing I know, my hand is balling into a fist, and I punch Joseph straight in the mouth. My hand explodes with pain as his head flies back, and he falls to the floor. The girls hiss out, and I look at my best friend on the floor on his side. His hand comes up to his mouth and then he pulls it back to see that there is blood on the side of his mouth. He leers at me, and all I can do is walk past him and straight to the bar, even though I know that there isn't enough booze in the world to make me forget that my life just fell apart.