Read Online The Kiss (Addison #1) by Erica M. Christensen - Free Book Online
Authors: Erica M. Christensen
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rush to my closet to change my shirt to something a little more presentable.
Stephen picks me up wearing a dark grey t-shirt and a black leather jacket. He looks uneasy, but I don’t question it. We sit in silence during the drive, besides the occasional sound of his truck roaring as we pass by someone. He pulls into the parking lot of the old church on Tree Bridge Road. “What are we doing here, Stephen?” He gets out of the truck and slams the door. We hadn’t talked the whole drive over here.
“I have to show you something.” We walk into the old church, which is decorated from top to bottom in beautiful navy blue silk and white tulle. “ It’s tomorrow, Addison. I need you to see this with me. I need to see if this is what I want, I need to figure out what I want. The wedding is TOMORROW. If I marry her tomorrow you can’t be here. You have to promise me that. You shouldn’t be here, Addison, you can’t be here.”
“But I need to be.” I honestly can’t believe my best friend wouldn’t want me there at his wedding. In all actuality, I’m sick to my stomach knowing that he’s actually going through with the wedding after everything that’s happened between us recently. But I should still be there for my best friend. I still love him, I am in love with him. All the more reason to be there, that way I know it’s real and I can move on.
“Why?” He’s getting irritated.
“Because I have to see with my own two eyes the love of my life make another woman his bride.” Stephen just stands there and looks at me as if a train was going to hit him and then he lowers his head, looks toward the altar, and then back into my eyes.
“You know I’ll always love you, Addison. What we have is—” I cut him off.
“Oh just shut up. Shut up. I know we’d never work out. We’re just best friends , right? I didn’t come here so you could make a fool out of me the day before your wedding. If I would have known that you were taking me here just so you could choose, I would have told you to go fuck yourself. I never wanted to ruin your wedding. I didn’t even know you were getting married until the last minute!”
“Addison, calm down! I never even said I was marrying her. I just don’t know what to do. I came here for me. I came here for my fucking reality check. I just thought maybe it would be beneficial for you, too.”
“You know what, Stephen? You did change. Just like you swore you never would. You turned into a raging douche bag like you never wanted to be. I don’t need you telling me what I already know. I don’t need you telling me that you’ll always love me, because you won’t, you don’t love me like I love you. You love me like a best friend. That’s all I have ever been to you. I thought that maybe it was the other way around for all of those years. That you were the one madly in love with me, but you were just too chicken shit to say it. But, guess what? It was me. So just let me come tomorrow. I just need to see you with her, okay? I need to see you happily married and I’ll let go, I’ll go.”
He looks into my eyes like all of those times before, grabs me by my shoulders firmly, hard enough to make me wince a little. “Why? Why, Addison? Why would you do this to me? Why would you move back here? You knew what would happen. You knew. Don’t act like you didn’t. I know you, Addison! For fuck’s sake, I know you inside and out. And the fact that we can go six years without even seeing each other, let alone speaking to one another, and the moment I lay eyes on you I just—”
“Don’t you dare. Just don’t. You are about to marry the woman of your dreams. Don’t you dare blame this on me if you don’t take her hand in marriage. That is your choice. I’m happy for you. Do I wish it could have been me standing in front of you in a billowing white dress? Yes, of course I do. Why? Because I’m fucking in love with you. I kept all of the memories we made with each other
Stephen picks me up wearing a dark grey t-shirt and a black leather jacket. He looks uneasy, but I don’t question it. We sit in silence during the drive, besides the occasional sound of his truck roaring as we pass by someone. He pulls into the parking lot of the old church on Tree Bridge Road. “What are we doing here, Stephen?” He gets out of the truck and slams the door. We hadn’t talked the whole drive over here.
“I have to show you something.” We walk into the old church, which is decorated from top to bottom in beautiful navy blue silk and white tulle. “ It’s tomorrow, Addison. I need you to see this with me. I need to see if this is what I want, I need to figure out what I want. The wedding is TOMORROW. If I marry her tomorrow you can’t be here. You have to promise me that. You shouldn’t be here, Addison, you can’t be here.”
“But I need to be.” I honestly can’t believe my best friend wouldn’t want me there at his wedding. In all actuality, I’m sick to my stomach knowing that he’s actually going through with the wedding after everything that’s happened between us recently. But I should still be there for my best friend. I still love him, I am in love with him. All the more reason to be there, that way I know it’s real and I can move on.
“Why?” He’s getting irritated.
“Because I have to see with my own two eyes the love of my life make another woman his bride.” Stephen just stands there and looks at me as if a train was going to hit him and then he lowers his head, looks toward the altar, and then back into my eyes.
“You know I’ll always love you, Addison. What we have is—” I cut him off.
“Oh just shut up. Shut up. I know we’d never work out. We’re just best friends , right? I didn’t come here so you could make a fool out of me the day before your wedding. If I would have known that you were taking me here just so you could choose, I would have told you to go fuck yourself. I never wanted to ruin your wedding. I didn’t even know you were getting married until the last minute!”
“Addison, calm down! I never even said I was marrying her. I just don’t know what to do. I came here for me. I came here for my fucking reality check. I just thought maybe it would be beneficial for you, too.”
“You know what, Stephen? You did change. Just like you swore you never would. You turned into a raging douche bag like you never wanted to be. I don’t need you telling me what I already know. I don’t need you telling me that you’ll always love me, because you won’t, you don’t love me like I love you. You love me like a best friend. That’s all I have ever been to you. I thought that maybe it was the other way around for all of those years. That you were the one madly in love with me, but you were just too chicken shit to say it. But, guess what? It was me. So just let me come tomorrow. I just need to see you with her, okay? I need to see you happily married and I’ll let go, I’ll go.”
He looks into my eyes like all of those times before, grabs me by my shoulders firmly, hard enough to make me wince a little. “Why? Why, Addison? Why would you do this to me? Why would you move back here? You knew what would happen. You knew. Don’t act like you didn’t. I know you, Addison! For fuck’s sake, I know you inside and out. And the fact that we can go six years without even seeing each other, let alone speaking to one another, and the moment I lay eyes on you I just—”
“Don’t you dare. Just don’t. You are about to marry the woman of your dreams. Don’t you dare blame this on me if you don’t take her hand in marriage. That is your choice. I’m happy for you. Do I wish it could have been me standing in front of you in a billowing white dress? Yes, of course I do. Why? Because I’m fucking in love with you. I kept all of the memories we made with each other
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