Wedding Night: A Novel

34

LOTTIE

What’s the point in lying anymore?

“No!” I say, almost defiantly. “We haven’t done it! We’re complete frauds. We’re not a happy couple; in fact, we’re not even a couple! Here.” I turn to Melissa, who has been watching avidly with all the others. “Have my crown. Have the sash.” I rip it off and grab the trophy from Ben. “Have everything! We were telling lies the whole time.” I press them all onto her, and she gazes back at me, her eyes narrowed.

“So the first date in the mortuary?”

“Lie.” I nod.

“Sex on the district attorney’s desk?”

“Total lie.”

“I knew it!” She turns to her husband triumphantly. “Didn’t I tell you?” She puts the silver crown on her head and holds the trophy aloft. “This belongs to us, I think. We’re the Happy Couple of the Week; thank you, everybody—”

“For Christ’s sake, Melissa,” snaps Matt. “No, we’re bloody not.”

Richard, meanwhile, is gazing at me tensely. “So you really haven’t …?”

“Not once.”

“Yesss!” Richard’s air punch is the most ecstatic I’ve ever seen. “In your face. Re-sult! Yesssss!” He looks more aggressive than I’ve ever seen him. God, I love him.

“You flew halfway across the world for me.” I nestle into his shoulder again.

“Of course.”

“And then you flew to Greece.”

“Of course.”

I don’t know why I ever thought Richard wasn’t romantic. I don’t know why we ever split up. My ear is pressed against his chest, and I can hear the familiar, soothing thump of his heartbeat. This is where I want to be forever. I’ve tuned out the rest of the world, although I’m dimly aware of the others’ voices.

“You can get an annulment,” Fliss keeps saying. “Do you see, Lottie? This is brilliant! You can get an annulment.”

“It’s put the sausage in the cupcake,” Lorcan keeps saying. “Cupcake.”