After The One (The One Series Duet) (31 page)

I turned slowly. Pursing my lips, I put a hand on my hip. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for you,” Tate responded, slowing to a stop a few feet away from me.

With tall, broad shoulders and a rich cocoa complexion, Tate Lewis was dressed in a black button-up shirt and a pair of dark burgundy pants. He looked good—really good—but as frustrated as I was with Julian, I wasn’t interested in anything Tate had to offer.

“You definitely weren’t on the guest list. Why are you here?” I repeated firmly.

The booming sound of his laugh sparked a sense of familiarity. “You’ve always had a smart mouth. I miss that.”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. “Tate, I don’t know why you’re here. Honestly, I don’t know how you were even able to get on the property because this is a private event.”

“Zoe, will you listen to me please?”

I looked behind me to see if the shuttle was on its way back. When I didn’t see it, I sighed. “You have five minutes.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for hooking up with that groupie when I went to the NFL draft. I’m sorry for ending things with you for what I thought was something better. I’m sorry for how I treated you. You didn’t deserve that. Please accept my apology.”

I stared at him. His brown eyes and long dark lashes implored me, begging me to accept his apology.

“Apology accepted.”

His shoulders relaxed and he let out a sigh. Tucking his hands in his pockets and dipping his head a bit, he smiled. “I’ve never stopped loving you, Zoe.” He took a step forward and I immediately took a step back. He stopped advancing forward and lifted his hands in surrender. “I wanted to come here to ask for a second chance.”

“What?” I screeched, my voice echoing into the silent night. I shook my head and took another step back. “No. No.”

“I know it seems like this is out of the blue, but it’s not. I got to New York and I had my fun, but it got old quick. I thought I needed to see what else was out there and there’s a lot out there for professional ballers. Sex is sex, but love is love.”

I rolled my eyes and pursed my lips. “I could’ve told you that,” I muttered under my breath.

Tate continued, “I made a mistake. I realized that when—”

“When you got hurt this season?” I interjected.

He paused. “No. I realized I made a mistake two years ago. We didn’t make it to the playoffs that year and I flew back to California at the end of January. I’d been thinking about you and when I came across that book of Pablo Neruda poetry that I never read, I felt like it was a sign. It was at my parents’ house and I was reading it and I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Do you remember what you wrote in the inscription?”

Yes.

“No,” I lied flatly.

“In search of my Neruda.”

I looked behind me when I heard the shuttle turning onto the road. When I turned back to face him, I sighed. I dropped the attitude as I saw the sincerity in his eyes and the hope in his features. I’d forgiven Tate a long time ago, even though he wasn’t sorry and didn’t apologize, so I wasn’t irritated by him in general. My attitude had more to do with his unwelcome attendance at my wedding weekend and his blatant disrespect for my relationship.

“You have one more minute.”

He nodded. “You changed your number, you blocked me on social media, and your dad wouldn’t even help me get in touch.” He smirked and I felt the corners of my lips starting to pull upward.

My dad loved him some Tate,
I thought ruefully.
I wonder if he knows he’s here. Wait did my dad…no, no. Dad wouldn’t have invited him. He wouldn’t do that.

Tate took a small step forward. “I wanted to reach out then, I wanted to apologize and see if you would just…I don’t know, get dinner with me, get coffee with me, anything. I was asking around about you while I was in town and found out you were going on
The One.
I swear to God, I didn’t believe it. I was like ‘no, I’m talking about Zoe Jordan.’”

I swallowed my laugh and masked it as a cough.

“I kept up with the show and I saw that you won. I felt like I owed it to you to let you have your fun just like I had mine. I went to Arizona for training camp and then I went back to New York and I waited for this thing with Winters to end. I was patient and backed off. I didn’t want to disrespect what you two had going on, but then I got hurt and a few weeks later, I heard you were marrying him.” He opened his arms wide and looked around as if he’d had some great epiphany. “It was a sign. I wouldn’t be able to be here if I hadn’t gotten hurt.”

Wait, no… He doesn’t think… He’s not seriously…

I frowned. “A sign of what?”

“Right here and now. This opportunity. I want another chance. Zoe, I know I messed things up between us, but you and I both know what we had. We were good together. He’s not the one for you. I am. You and I—”

I’ve heard enough.

“Let me stop you right there,” I interrupted, putting my hands up in front of me. “Seeing as how I’m marrying Julian tomorrow and he quite literally is the one for me, there is no you and me.” I held up my hand, showing off the luminous diamond on my ring finger. “I’m completely happy where I am.”

“Even with that whole Lillian thing going on? Listen, I’ve never had anything close to what we had. We were good together,” Tate argued earnestly.

Just hearing Lillian’s name made me frustrated with Julian and that situation all over again. Hearing Tate lob Lillian at me like a relationship bomb felt like my past and my present colliding. My stomach twisted violently.

I heard the shuttle as it pulled up to the curb. I looked over my shoulder and then back at the man I used to date. I had spent the summer months after college graduation and before law school wishing and hoping Tate would say those words. I hadn’t shed any tears, but I had kept telling myself he would realize he’d made a mistake. I had kept hoping he would at the very least apologize for the way he’d handled things. Looking better than ever and seemingly more mature, Tate Lewis stood in front of me saying words the twenty-two year old version of me had longed to hear.

And I felt nothing.

My disinterest must have been evident because he quickly continued. “When I was invited, I told myself I was just going to come to see if you were happy. I told myself that if you weren’t, it was the last of a series of signs that I needed to win you back. So when I saw Winters with this Lillian chick, I knew that was the sign I was looking for. I know I made a mistake letting you go, but I’m here now, owning up to it, because we were good together and we still could be.”

“Tate.” I lifted my shoulders in confusion. “We may have been good together.” I backed away from him. “But Julian and I are great together. Have a good night.”

I turned on my heel and made my way to the shuttle. As I stepped on the bottom step, I glanced over my shoulder. Tate was staring at me, his hands in his pockets and a look of regret in his eyes.

“You said you were invited…” I called out to him. “Who invited you?”

“Robert. Robert Brady.”

“Happy New Year, Beautiful! I’m sorry I missed you. I wrapped up the conversation with Robert as soon as I could, but I guess it wasn’t soon enough. I’m going to try to call you again, but I just wanted to tell you that I love you and I can’t wait to make you my wife. I love you so much, Zoe,” Julian declared while Omar sang loudly in the background. I smiled as I listened to the voicemail for the third time.

We had a text conversation after that message, but hearing his voice was something different. I melted a bit every time he spoke.

“You should just make him tell you,” Koko pointed out, hugging her knees to her chest as she sat at the foot of my bed. “Don’t wait until the wedding if it’s bothering you.”

“But that’s the thing…” I stared at the ceiling as my voice trailed off. I pulled my covers around me tighter. “He’s hiding something from me; I know that for a fact and that bothers me, but I trust him. It bothers me because I don’t ever want to think of Julian being deceitful. I don’t think he would ever do anything to hurt me—not intentionally. Whatever he’s hiding… I don’t know… I feel like he has his reasons, but he swore to tell me after I walk down the aisle. My main issue is Lillian.”

“Okay, I pretty much set you and Julian up, so you know I love him,” Koko started. “But he knows the rules. You don’t fuck with someone we don’t fuck with. Period.”

I laughed. “Right?! He knows the rules.”

“No, but seriously…I would be bothered, too. This is about principle. Women like Lillian are the worst. Any woman who knowingly tries to fuck a man who is in a relationship is a bitch who deserves the bad karma she gets.” She rocked forward onto her knees and leaned forward so I could see her better. “And Lillian’s karma is watching a good man she used to have marry the love of his life.”

“You’re right.” I eyed my best friend and sighed. “I hate that I even let Lillian get under my skin like this. It’s not like I think he cheated. No, correction, I know he didn’t cheat, but he is hiding something from me that he shared with Lillian. I don’t like that, and besides the fact that other people obviously know something is up with them, it bothers me that Lillian is even here. Anyone who openly tries to fuck my fiancé is not welcome at my wedding.”

“That’s an etiquette rule,” Koko noted.

“That’s right after not wearing a white dress.”

“The rules are clearly stated. Don’t wear white, don’t try to fuck the groom, don’t RSVP no and then show up anyway.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Common knowledge.”

“Common sense.”

Koko’s rasping giggles triggered my laughter and we spent the next few minutes unable to catch our breath.

“I know we already talked about it, but let me just say that the fact that Robert invited Lillian is typical reality show bullshit, but the fact that he invited Tate is fucked up.”

“Right?!” I shook my head. “Even though I can’t stand her, Lillian I get, but why dig through my past? Why contact Tate? That’s so…underhanded.”

“At least you got the apology you were looking for a million years ago.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I guess…way too late for it to make a difference, but sure.”

Koko was quiet for a minute. “I’m so happy for you. Tate did you a favor. You are exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

“And I’m happy you and Bryce made up. I know you two were playing it pretty cool except for that kiss in VIP, but I’m surprised he isn’t here.”

She put her hands to her face. “He is. But I told him to make himself comfortable because I needed to check on you.”

“Oh no…I’m sorry! I didn’t know. You two just made up and had to keep it under wraps at the party. Go consummate the make-up with Bryce! I’m fine.”

“Well there’s another reason I came up here, besides checking on you…”

I rolled onto my side. “What’s that?”

“So while you left us at the party, we talked about getting everyone together for a pre-wedding surprise for you. We have the morning and early afternoon free and you can’t see Julian anyway, so would you like to venture off the property for some pre-wedding fun?”

I gave her a look. “Doing what?” My tone was as suspicious as my mind. “The last time you surprised me, I was entered as a contestant on
The One.
”

“And look how that turned out!”

Our laughter was interrupted by my phone vibrating against the mattress beside me. Grabbing it, I looked at Koko. “It’s Julian.”

“Okay, you answer it. Talk to him, then set your alarm for eight o’clock.”

“Okay, thanks for the talk. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Zoe. Talk to him. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.”

I had an idea.

“Wait!” I called out to Koko just as I answered the phone, “Hello?”

“My almost wife,” Julian breathed into the phone.

My face split into a smile instantly. “Hello, almost husband.” I glanced at Koko who rolled her eyes dramatically. “I need you to tell Koko what is going on with you and Lillian. Knowing she knows will put me at ease. She’s right here.”

Julian was quiet for a moment. “Put her on the phone.”

I handed Koko the phone and watched her facial expression. She stared at me blankly while Julian told her whatever it was he was telling her.

“Okay. Here’s Zoe,” Koko said simply. She handed me the phone. “You should still marry him.”

With that, she turned and walked out the room with no indication as to what was going on.

Dammit Koko!

“Hello?” I spoke into the phone softly.

“Zoe.”

The longing sound of my name on his drunken lips did something to me. My body was firmly on the bed as my heart soared. “Hi.” I bit my lip. “What are you doing?”

“I’m lying in bed, wishing you were next to me.”

“That sounds nice.” I longed for the same thing. “Everything okay over there? I told Omar to not let you get too drunk.”

“Yeah, I just needed to hear your voice before bed. I wanted to know you’re okay. How’s our poem?”

“Hmmm,” I hummed softly as my heart fluttered. I put my hand on my belly. “I’m okay, my love, and our poem is great. I was just…” My sentence trailed off.

“You were just what?”

“Worrying for no reason,” I said, reminding myself that I knew him and I trusted him. “I’m okay.”

“You’re not getting cold feet are you?”

“About you? No. Not at all.” I hesitated for a second. “Are you?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” He was quiet. “This is about Lillian?”

Now that he’d told Koko, I felt better about it. But I didn’t want to keep my feelings from him and I didn’t want to carry any negativity into our wedding day. “I understand there will be times when you have a secret project you can’t tell me about for legal reasons just like I can’t discuss specifics about cases I work on for legal reasons. But not only is Lillian your ex, she wants you back. It’s not that I don’t trust you. That’s not it at all. I just…her presence makes me feel disrespected.”

“I understand and I don’t ever want you to feel disrespected. This situation is unique and you don’t have to worry about this happening again.” He paused. “Did telling Koko ease any of your doubts at all? Because if not…if I have to tell you, I will.” His voice sounded resigned.