Page 96 of The Wedding Situation Romance

“I know,” I sniff. “I just…I really believed he was different. At first, at all those weddings, he was horrible. But over time…” I trail off in memory for a moment. “He was just so different under all that hard outer shell. He’s been hurt.”

“Haven’t we all?” he asks.

“And I thought…” my voice cracks. “I thought that we were moving around that. That there was something there. But I guess I was wrong.”

“Listen to me,” my dad says, shifting on the couch to move closer to me. “If he automatically assumed the worst in you, after everything you most likely did for him, then you were unfortunately wrong about him. Trust me, Quinn. I have known August…Reid…for years. And he is not better than any of it. What you see with him is what you get. And you deserve more than that.”

I think about that. And as much as I don’t want to believe it, I think my dad is right. Reid’s…August’sbehavior today solidified that. And as much as it hurts to admit it, I was wrong. Not everyone can be redeemed.

I almost laugh at that.

Here I am trying to be a beacon of hope and wisdom for all the people in the world wanting a reason to believe in love, and I’ve fallen for the biggest cliché of them all.

Ican’tfix him.

Chapter 39

Reid

“I thought you died,”Drew’s words echo through my office, and I grit my teeth. Security has gone downhill these days; that’s for sure.

“Who let you in?” I ask without looking up from my desk. I have a new case that I’m taking on next week, and I’ve been trying to focus on it. Emphasis on the word trying. Obviously, my mind has been elsewhere. But that’s all right. Nothing a heated divorce won’t handle.

“I don’t have to be let in,” he states. “People know who I am.”

“And people also know who I am. And I am busy,” I say because I am very much not in the mood to talk right now.

“Not for me, you’re not,” Drew says, taking a seat in front of me at my desk, bumping everything in the process. If I had to guess, it was deliberate. It’s the second thing Drew has done since walking in here that only he could get away with. The first being the fact that he was able to walk in here without security on his ass to begin with. Although I’m about to call them and have him kicked out.

“You haven’t been answering my calls,” he tells me. “Or even my text, for that matter.”

“And yet here you are not getting the hint that I really don’t wanna talk about the thing I know you’re gonna talk about,” I state, keeping my eyes on the paperwork for the case.

This time I’m representing the wife. It should be an easy steamroll considering the guy has a baby mama from a previous situation that the wife never knew about. Not only that, but he’s been pumping money into his side family. All dragging my client into financial ruin. In short, it’ll be an easy case to win. And taking my current anger out on somebody like this ass hat is a nice outlet.

“I’m here because we need to talk about it. And I’m pretty sure you know that.” Despite my cold temperament, Drew is adamant. And knowing him, he isn’t going to stop until I address what he wants to talk about. So I slammed my laptop shut and shove everything on my desk aside to give him my full attention. Annoyed attention, but attention nonetheless.

“Alright, what do you wanna talk about?” I ask. “The fact that Quinn isn’t who I thought she was? The fact that she was lying to me the entire time? The fact that she actually thought she could pull one over on an attorney like me simply because she believes in happily ever after and her daddy is a big shot lawyer? Not bigger than me, mind you.”

Drew nods his head while dragging his bottom lip through his teeth. “You’re right. You are bigger than him. A bigger hypocrite, a bigger, hot head, and right now a bigger idiot. Because you are letting the best thing that’s ever happened to you walk out the door and you’re doing nothing to stop it.”

I chuckle at that. “Here’s where you’re wrong. I didn’t let her walk out the door.”

“No?” he asks with raised eyebrows.

“No,” I answer. “I walked out the door before she could.”

This time he is the one to chuckle. By the way, neither of our laughs are very humorous. “That sounds about right,” he says. “You would be the one to give up first. Especially if things were getting complex.”

“The only thing complex about it was the fact that I thought she was one thing and she was the exact opposite,” I growl. “I thought she was honest; I thought she was being real with me. Things would’ve never… Progressed the way that they had… If I had known what she truly was.”

“I see…” Drew nods while scratching his chin. “And tell me, what exactly is Quinn? Because even though I’ve only been in a room with her a couple of times, the person she is inside and out is transparent. She’s sweet and compassionate and real, and intelligent. I mean, aside from the fact that she seems to want to put up with your ass.”

“I can have you thrown out of here,” I snap.

“Right, because that’ll solve everything. Whether you walk away or kick me out, you’re still running from the problem.”

“Right now my problem is you,” I say. “And how did you find out about it, anyway?” I ask.