It's a Wonderful Lie

Chapter Eleven

Emery

I absentmindedly let Bennett guide me through the hotel until we step outside and the flush of the chilled air brings me back to reality.

“Where are we going?” I stupidly ask, considering I was right there when Ava gave the directions.

But instead of giving me a real answer, Bennett just points across the expansive property where a lit up bubble sits near the lake.

What the hell did Ava get me into this time?

We follow along the gravel path, which is thankfully clear of any snow, but my heels keep catching in the stones and my arms shivering from the cold air. I was not prepared for this and the my discomfort is clearly showing because Bennett finally takes his suit jacket off and lays it over my shoulders. I usually wouldn’t accept, but the temperature is somewhere close to freezing, so I just pull it around me and continue toward the bubble.

Once we get close enough I realize it’s actually a glass igloo, set up to provide shelter from the weather without disrupting the beautiful lakeside view.

Bennett guides me through a sliding door at the back and I’m immediately met with a happy warmth radiating off a few heated lamps surrounding the luxurious space.

A tiny loveseat is centered in the room with mounds of plush pillows and blankets adorning every other surface except where a low table holds a perfect display of petit fours, chocolate covered strawberries, and champagne.

It’s all very… romantic…

“Uh—” I start to say something, but Bennett interrupts, pressing a hand to my back again and helping me over to the couch, if you can even call it that. There’s barely enough room for one person to relax comfortably on it, let alone two.

“Take a seat and let’s get you warmed up,” he grabs a blanket as I sit, and unfolds it so it’s wrapped around my shoulders over where his jacket still sits, “If I’d known the walk was that long and treacherous I would have made sure you had a real coat.”

He laughs, but it’s awkward. Even so, I’m curling into the blanket, because I am still trying to warm up from the inside.

“Bennett,” I start, point blank, and his imploring eyes find mine, “is it just me or does it kind of feel like our siblings are trying to set us up?”

Now I’m the one laughing awkwardly as I reach for the champagne glass, hoping the bubbly will help warm me up.

“Heh, I mean,” he fluffs the hair at the nape of his neck while his eyes dance over the dessert tray, “would that be so bad?”

And… I’m choking on champagne.

Coughing while attempting to breathe again, I shake my head and finally get out, “What do you mean?”

“You know,” he lets out a breath like he’s been waiting a while to say this and I am suddenly holding mine, terrified of what he’s about to declare, “Micah and Ava have always been attached at the hip. There’s never been a minute where anyone’s ever doubted that they’d end up together. They were always meant to be, right?”

He looks at me, hopefully, so I nod in response to what he’s saying about my sister, “Right…”

“And with the two of them always together, that meant that we were often put together and I don’t think either of us ever really thought of the other as anything more than friends, but what if we were supposed to?”

I don’t have anything to say about that, but apparently he doesn’t need my encouragement because he continues his monologue without it.

“We’re both at places in our lives where we’re ready to start thinking of settling down and starting families. And the fact that both of our relationships ended right before we were reunited for the wedding just feels a little too crazy to ignore.”

I’ve definitely been able to ignore it, so I don’t think it’s as crazy as he feels it is.

“I just can’t help but wonder,” he picks up my hand with both of his own, looking down at it intently, and despite all the progress I’ve made to warm up, I’m suddenly frozen from shock, “what if we’re just as meant to be as Micah and Ava, but we never gave it the chance we were supposed to? Maybe everything leading up to right now is a sign from the universe that we should give us a shot?”

And with that, I can move again.

I gently pull my hand back into my lap and look down at it, shaking my head, “Bennett, I—”

“Please, Emery. Just think about it,” I chance a peek back up and his face looks just as desperate as his voice sounds, it’s almost heartbreaking, “What if we take the week to see what the two of us together might be like?”

I open my mouth to protest about, but he stops me once more, trying so hard to convince me to go along with his plan.

“We don’t have to do anything, just be open to the idea that maybe we’re just as meant to be together as our siblings are. Who knows? We’ve never really tried, have we?”

“No, but—”

“Emery, please don’t write me off just yet.” This poor man is sitting here begging me to want him and I don’t. He’s truly nothing more to me than my mom’s best friend’s son—and as of last night, also the son of the guy I f****d and can’t stop thinking about, which is even more messed up. He might have been my friend a long time ago, but I don’t even remember the last time we spoke outside of a family sanctioned gathering. Why is he so adamant that we could be destined for one another? “Give me the week to show you the kind of man I am.”

His proposal is so simple and based solely on his character. I have no idea how to turn him down without coming off as a complete asshole. And the last thing I need is to make the best man hate me when we still have a week of forced activities together. The uncomfortableness of it all, I can live with. Ava? Not so much.

I truly don’t know how to respond to I just nod softly, which elicits the grandest smile from him. It’s far too big a reaction for the little bit of rope that I gave him and I already know that this is not going to end well, but I don’t know what else I could possibly do.

I thought I left all my shitty feelings back in Indiana, but this lose-lose situation is stirring them all back up and I desperately need something to help me settle them. Or someone.

All I know for certain is that Bennett is not that person, but I’m currently stuck in an igloo with him until an appropriate amount of time has passed.

I start picking at the petit fours, completely avoiding the chocolate covered strawberries because that feels like a can of worms I am not about to open after the conversation we just had. We sit in silence, looking out at the lake, and what I’d usually consider a very relaxing moment feel so incredible heavy.

The energy bouncing around this space is so conflicting and negative. My desire to leave mixed with his clear eagerness to say or do something is extremely overwhelming and I’m starting to get nervous about what’s to come for the rest of the week.

All I know is that I don’t know anything. I’m more confused than ever about my life and what I’m doing with it, wishing I could just exist in a way that makes me happy without hurting other people.

Why is that so hard?