ELENA This pretense was getting more than boring. I danced with Rylan, a fake sweet smile etched on my face while I imagined things like how good it was going to feel once I would get home after this was over and change into my pjs. My thoughts were interrupted when the "blonde best man" came up. "Can I steal your wife for a dance?" Rylan exhaled before nodding and walking away. "May I?" I smiled and put my hand in his and another on his shoulder. We danced to the soft flow of music, our steps in perfect sync with the beats. With the kind of grace Jayce moved, he was a much better dancer than Rylan. "We haven't officially met. I am Jayce Andrews, Rylan's best friend." Though that explained why he was the best man but it raised questions on his absence at the engagement. And why hadn’t I heard about him all these days? Then again Rylan wasn’t civil enough to sit down and have a talk about his personal life unless it favored him. Since I had moved in, we had neve
ELENA I freed my hair from the numerous hair pins and watched as the curls cascaded down my shoulders. I took one long glance at myself in the full length mirror which immediately had me thinking back to the day I had. Everything was literally perfect. Perfect venue, magnificent decor and the most beautiful wedding dress that had the most perfect fit. Every girl’s dream wedding. Except it was far from a dream. I sighed before my hands reached the zip at the back of the dress. I pulled it down only a few inches before I couldn’t. It. Was. Stuck. Damn it! No matter how much I struggled with it, it was all in vain. I closed my eyes in pure distress. Stacey wasn’t here to help me. Even Ava was at her grandfather’s place. That left me with…God! I couldn’t imagine asking Rylan to help me with this. And the stunt he had pulled earlier made the situation all the more worse. Fuck, what option did I have!? I wasted another five minutes trying before giving
RYLAN "Where are we going first?" Elena plopped down on the bed, scrolling through her phone. She had been glaringly quiet since morning. She hadn’t uttered a single word. So I figured she wasn’t going to any time soon. "We aren't going anywhere?" I spoke, imitating her tone. "So are we just gonna sit here like that?" I stopped working and looked up at her. She seemed…surprised. What exactly was she expecting? "Well that's the plan." I shrugged. She breathed out in disappointment. "You actually didn't think that this was going to be a proper honeymoon, right?" Hardly did the words leave my mouth when she snapped. “Of course not!’ I raised a mocking brow at her glare. "That doesn’t sound defensive, at all!" "I.. It's just that I can't spend a week staring at your face." She snarled at me. "Too bad. You're stuck here with me for a week." I went back to typing on my laptop. "Poor me!" I could guess her words were followed by an eye r
ELENA "She can't come." Rylan's deep voice spoke from right behind me. He glanced at me once before his eyes landed on Andrew. "You are?" Andrew shook hands with him, his confused gaze flickering between my face and Rylan's. "Rylan Parker, Elena’s husband. As I was saying, she won't come. We have plans for tomorrow.” He brought his hand to wrap it around my waist. "We have?" I raised a brow at him bringing his attention back to me. "Of course, baby." He smiled lovingly at me which combined with the nickname did something strange to my tummy. I tucked my hair behind my ear and looked at Andrew. "I'm guessing you two are on honeymoon?" His eyes went down to look at the ring on my finger as he said it. "That's right." Rylan's lines were pressed together while he was throwing him a cold glare. "Well, enjoy your stay and congratulations." Andrew smiled lightly at me. "Sure." I returned his smile. As he walked farther away, Rylan's hand l
RYLAN "Daddy." Leaving Dad's hand, Ava came running and tightly hugged my right leg. I bent down and picked her up. "My little girl missed me?" She quickly wrapped her arms around my neck and put her face on my shouldeR. "Sweetheart?" She just stuffed her face in the crook of my neck. I sighed realizing that she wasn't going to respond. Whenever I would be back after a business trip, she would always act like this, speak less and cling to me for at least a day. This was her way of expressing how much she missed me. "Aww, she missed you!" Elena smiled at her. "She did, a lot." Dad agreed before chuckling. "So did you two have a good time?" Dad stared right at me. "Yeah." My answer was stiff but I'm sure he wouldn't have expected me to gush over it even if it was my actual honeymoon. "It was beautiful. We had a great time." Elena covered up with a bright beautiful smile. She was stupid if she thought she could fool Dad into believing anything.
RYLANI felt a gentle smack on my cheek which woke me up. Just my daughter probably on some adventure in her dreams. I chuckled at how adorable she looked with furrowed brows while sleeping. As it seemed, I had fallen asleep in her room last night and my back could do with some stretching from being in that awkward angle. I was on the last stair when I heard some sounds. I quietly moved towards the kitchen which seemed to be the apparent source of sound. There was someone in the kitchen. But the movements stilled, and there was complete silence for a few long seconds. The intruder probably had sensed that he wasn’t the only one here. "Who's there!?" I heard a voice laced with panic. Elena. I released a breath in part relief before something came flying towards me and hit me on the chest. “Fuck!” I hissed. “Rylan?” Her alarmed voice rang out. I switched the lights on before she could hit me in the face this time. There she was, standing in the middle of the ki
ELENA"I missed you guys." I hugged both of them before letting them in. It was a Sunday. Dean and Liv had decided to pay me a surprise visit and I wasn’t complaining. I had hardly had time with them in the past two months. With Rylan being out for some work at the office I finally got that time. "Yeah, therefore you don't even call every day." Liv said with a mock smile. I gave her the best puppy eyes I could manage. "I am sorry?" "I can forgive you. But that’s on one condition." I cautiously stared at her face. "We are going out to see a movie next week." She declared it and who was I to turn down a movie night! "Done." I said, leading them upstairs. “Come on in.” “This place is beautiful.” Liv definitely looked impressed. “I know.” “This is your bedroom?” Dean asked. “Yeah.” He turned around to look at me. “Then who sleeps on the couch?” Took me one whole second before the words even registered. My eyes immediately darted to t
RYLANWalking through the door, I saw Elena sitting on the sofa with folded legs and watching a movie. At the sight of her, memories of today clouded my mind which didn't help with my headache. "Stacey, get me a cup of coffee." I yelled. "Stacey left. She had some important work. I can make you your coffee. How do you want it?” "No please! Don't tire yourself on my account. Let me not hear complaints that I am mistreating you." She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Fucking pretend! That’s all she was. "What do you mean?" I scoffed at the innocent face she had pulled off. "Of course you don't know what I mean!" "You know you're so difficult. I simply offered you a cup of coffee. Why are you being rude?" She folded her arms and glared at me. I chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, now go, run to your boyfriend and let him know how I am being rude to you." She scrunched up her nose and creased her forehead like she couldn't comprehend a single word coming o