Read Online Better Than Chocolate (Sweet Somethings Book 1) by J. Lynn Rowan - Free Book Online

nutshell.” He shakes his head. “No, you’re right. You should go.”
    I press my palm against his shoulder for a second. “She didn’t have to ask me. She could have asked her sister—and I’m not sure why she didn’t.”
    “Because she wants you there. Haven’t you two been planning your weddings since, like, the minute you met each other? She’s always wanted you to stand up with her. Even when―” He breaks off, an odd sound catching in his throat. The rest of his sentence hangs in the air, unspoken but heard.
    Even when Sadie planned to marry him.
    If anything is going to be said, it needs to happen now. He’s cracking.
    “Ryan,” I venture. “I know you said it was a long-time coming, and it was mutual. But what happened?”
    His stillness, the way his eyes glitter in the moonlight, unnerves me. “I wish her the best, I really do. I tried to make Sadie happy, but it was never going to work. Our relationship got to be a habit.”
    I could ask why, could prompt him for more, but I summon all my patience and wait for him to continue.
    “We wanted different things, had different expectations in the end. I wanted to renovate our house. She wanted to move back into downtown Atlanta. She doesn’t want to have kids. Well, that’s not quite it. She’d consider adopting, but not babies. I’m not against adoption, but I’d like kids of my own, too. She came right out and said she never wants to get pregnant.”
    He pauses, his throat working. My palm itches to touch him again, but I busy my fingers in the hair hanging over my shoulder instead. I didn’t know all this, and I should have.
    “I couldn’t give Sadie the life she wants. I make good money. But she doesn’t want to work if she doesn’t have to. Her marketing degree is for show. She’d quit her job in a heartbeat if I made enough money.”
    “Hold on.” I have to stop him here. “Sadie’s not that shallow. She wouldn’t leave you for something that superficial.”
    “She wants the lifestyle her parents had before they got divorced. Exotic vacations, expensive furniture, a certain social standing.”
    “Just because her parents have money―”
    He holds up one hand, cutting me off. “Sadie’s mother has money. The Berkley side of the family is rooted in old Georgia wealth. Sadie wants cotillions and country clubs, not backyard barbecues and trivia night at the local pub.” He shoves his hands into his pockets again, his voice tinged with hurt and a little resentment. “You know what her grandma Berkley called me? An upstart Yankee interloper.”
    Grandma Berkley’s the one whose house I once cleaned. “She always seemed to like me.”
    “Well, you weren’t engaged to Sadie.” He digs his heel into the sand, building a sort of redoubt between us. “It was worse after her parents got divorced. That’s part of why she and her sister aren’t really on speaking terms right now, by the way. Kate sided with their dad, and she’s pissed at Sadie. Called her a few names at the Berkley family reunion.”
    At least now I know why Kate Miller wasn’t invited to the wedding. “But you and Sadie have known each other for almost a decade. I know she’s not the worldliest person, but she’s not that elitist. She wouldn’t leave you just because you didn’t measure up to her family’s old money expectations.”
    “I told you it wasn’t simple.” He turns slightly away from me, away from the moon, his face falling into shadow again. “We were fighting a lot. Not shouting matches, not that kind of fighting. Just nagging at each other, stupid things getting blown out of proportion.”
    I let go of my hair at last, not caring if the wind whips it into snarls. “But when I visited in April, everything seemed so normal.”
    “That’s because it’s what we wanted you to see.” He takes a few steps toward the ocean. “I didn’t have a project at work that week. I stayed away on purpose when I could. I didn’t want you to