Edge of Glory (Friendship, Texas Book 1) (18 page)

The wedding was over within about twenty minutes. The entire ceremony the girl next to me, whose name I still couldn't remember, took selfies and hashtagged.

#Theyrewalkingin Duck face selfie.

#OMGBeautifulvows Duck face selfie

#ThatKissdoe Duck face selfie

I was ready to find Jay at the reception, but of course he had a million pictures to take so I wandered over to the cocktail hour. By myself.

Apparently I was cool enough to take a selfie with at the wedding, but once the girl found someone more interesting and famous, I was old news.

At my brother's wedding, I didn't get carded for drinks. Even though I didn't drink much, I figured I had nothing to lose at this party, so I approached the guy at the bar right off of the wooden dance floor.

"Can I get a glass of white wine, please?" I asked, trying to sound adult, but I had no idea what I was doing.

He raised an eyebrow. "Moscato? Riesling? House white?"

"Uhhhh...." I stared at him then looked up to the dozens of twinkling string lights overhead then back to him.

He smiled. "How about I get you a soda? I'll even put it in a rocks glass with a straw so everyone will think it's something stronger."

I sighed. "Yeah. A soda will do."

I sipped on my drink, watching everyone mill about to different cliques. There were a lot of people I recognized. Some I should have probably introduced myself to, but I was awkward.

Beyond awkward.

I didn't know what the hell I would say or how I would introduce myself. So I just stood there, like my usual wallflower self, until the DJ made an announcement for us to take our seats for the entrance of the wedding party.

I took my seat at the back table with the other misfits: dates of groomsmen and bridesmaids that they couldn't figure out where to put, and second cousins once removed.

The guy in the seat next to me looked at me over his shoulder. "What did you do to Ashley to get stuck at the reject table?"

I blinked hard, putting my napkin on my lap and trying too hard to figure out who the guy next to me was. "Um, dated her brother?"

"Whoa, Layna, you've really gone downhill. Too much time in the tanning bed?" Another guy across the table laughed.

"Uh, I'm not Layna. I'm Lia. The current girlfriend."

"Oh." The guy looked at his fingernails like they were the most interesting thing in the world.

Everyone else small talked amongst themselves, which left me to either talk to myself or people watch.

People watching it was.

There was a mix of reality TV stars, athletes, and musicians. All glamorous. All poignant as they did mini interviews with Billy.

This was the world I thought I wanted to be in. The music industry. To discover new talent. Go to shows and meet people.

Maybe that wasn't what I was supposed to be doing with my life.

Maybe I wasn't up to these standards.

"Ladies and Fellas, can I have your attention, please?" The DJ's voice boomed over the microphone and knocked me out of my inner pity party.

The guy behind the DJ booth was a new talent that Ry discovered when he was on spring break in New Orleans, filming a show with Ashley and the rest of the cast. He looked like some kind of white rapper wannabe with his sideways visor and giant ECHO shirt, but the guy had a voice that I couldn't help but be drawn to.

"Y'all came for the wedding, but we all know that you stayed for the party of the yeaaarrrr!"

Everyone whooped, hollered, and clapped.

"Now, it's time to introduce the people who made this party possible, by giving birth to Ashley Morningstar-Stone, Meg and Phillllll!"

Everyone clapped as Meg and Phil weaved through the tables and chairs, holding hands and raising their fists in the air once they got to the wooden dance floor in the middle of all the tables.

The DJ went through the list of the other names in the bridal party, which had to be a few dozen people, then it came to Jay and Layna.

"Now we have a special treat for y'all. The Golden Boy himself took a break from swimming to escort the lovely reality princess. Give it up for Jay Morningstar and Layna Downs!"

I clapped, searching the crowd until I saw Jay. My mouth dropped open when I could only see the top of his head and him, crawling on all fours with Layna on top of him, smiling, and giggling like she was riding some prized stallion.

Yes, everyone else did some goofy dancing moves as they walked to the middle of the dance floor, but did she need to ride him?

I stopped clapping and kept my eyes glued to them. Once they got to the middle of the floor, she got off Jay and helped him up, giving him a kiss on the mouth that was definitely not chaste. He didn't push her off or say anything. He just smiled and put his arm around her.

"Uh oh, the mister and misses better watch out for these two! We may have another romance kindling here," the DJ said.

The heat of everyone's eyes at the table fell on me. I couldn't look at them. I couldn't look at anyone but Jay. Jay who wasn't looking through the crowd for me, but just smiling and waving for the camera.

Was it an act with Layna?

Was it an act with me?

I couldn't concentrate on anything else. The announcement of the bride and groom. Their first dance.

I just stared at Jay and Layna as she kept whispering in his ear and he laughed at whatever she said.

I waited.

I waited through the over the top seven course dinner.

I waited through the bridesmaid and groomsmen dances where Layna grabbed Jay's ass and Billy definitely got it on camera.

After cake was served and people got out on the dance floor, I finally stood up.

I'd had enough.

I walked toward the table where Jay was, thinking what the hell I was going to say or do.

By the time I was within a few feet, Layna had gotten to him first, whispering in his ear.

He smiled and nodded, then she took his hand and they ran off somewhere on the beach with the other bridesmaids and groomsmen.

I stood in the middle of the dance floor like an idiot. Some people whispered. Some just tried to elbow me out of the way.

I had absolutely nowhere to go.

So I went back to my seat and pulled out my phone.

There were a few missed texts from Dana and a few from Sofie.

I opened the messages from Sofie.

Having fun?

I bit my bottom lip, thinking of the right words to say to my best friend. The one who was so excited for me to get with Jay, but at the same time pretty much predicted this would happen. That this would be a fling.

If watching your boyfriend go off somewhere with his ex-girlfriend counts as fun.

Sofie replied back quickly.

WTF?

I couldn't even believe I was typing the words myself. I needed to talk to her. To talk to someone so I wasn't lonely girl.

Can you talk?

Yeah.

I looked around the wedding then grabbed my purse before heading toward the beach.

I dreamed about watching the sunset on the beach and looking at the dark clouds with the even darker water as it lapped the sand.

But this wasn't the beautiful experience I had hoped for.

Slumping down into the sand, I didn't care how dirty my dress got, I just needed to talk to my best friend.

"What’s up, Lia?"

Sofie answered on the first ring and just hearing her voice was all I needed for tears to prick my eyes, but I blinked them back. I wasn't going to cry. Not here. Not ever.

"Just wondering if I was stupid to come. Stupid to ever think about California, USC, and a career in music, or that I'd have a future with Jay Morningstar."

Sofie sighed. "Are you sure you aren't overreacting?"

I snorted. "I'm not much of the dramatic type."

That made her laugh. "Okay, whatever you want to believe, Rosalia."

"I just…I've barely seen him all day and then when I finally go to see him, he runs off with his ex-girlfriend."

"Are you sure that's what he was doing? I mean, maybe it was just a bridal party thing. When you brought me as your date to your brother's wedding, I didn't see you all night. Luckily I made friends with your cousins from Sicily or I'd have been calling someone and crying too."

"It wasn't that bad."

Sofie laughed. "Yeah, because you weren't the one stuck with a table full of people who barely spoke English."

I huffed.

Sofie sighed. "Listen, babe, you've been with Jay for over a month now. The longest I've ever seen you with a guy. At first I thought you were just something to keep him occupied while he was here training. Then I started to see your relationship grow. He loves you, Lia. He really does. He looks at you the way he looks at a swimming pool. Like he's excited to dive right in."

I wrinkled my nose. "Not the best analogy."

"Lia. Stop."

"Stop what?"

Sofie huffed. "This is what you do. You put up this humorous defense mechanism like you don't give a shit. That the world's a joke and you can make everything funny and pretend it doesn't matter. But you can't fool me, Lia. I've known you all of my life and I know you're just as crazy about Jay Morningstar as he is for you. If you love him then you have to trust him."

I wanted to say something snarky back about her taking those psych classes too seriously. But I couldn't.

She was right.

And that's what hurt more.

Some people gathered by the shore, one tall one stood out in the middle, holding up a phone for a group selfie.

Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe he really did love me.

And maybe I had to do exactly what I did last night and take charge.

"You're right, Sofie. I'll call you when I get back in town, okay?"

"Okay, babe. You'd better give me all the deets. I don't want to read them online, I want the good stuff from the golden boy's girlfriend."

I laughed. "Will do. Bye, Sofie."

"Bye, Lia."

I hung up the phone and stood, turning around and brushing the sand off my butt. I was pretty sure some sand was stuck in random crevices in the beading of the dress and I didn't want to think about how I was going to get all of that out.

A cold hand crept on my shoulder. I gasped and turned toward a very wobbly Layna who was smiling like she had a secret.

"Um, can I help you?" I looked to Layna then past her at Jay, still talking to the group of people at the shore, then back to Layna.

"What do you think you're doing?" Layna narrowed her eyes.

"Uh, I was talking to a friend and now I'm going to go talk to Jay. You know, my boyfriend, Jay." I added extra emphasis on the word
boyfriend
for good measure.

Layna smacked her lips together. "Really? You think he's just going to stop talking to everyone to come hang out with you?"

I raised my eyebrows. "He did last night, didn't he?"

She smirked. "Look, honey, you seem like a nice girl and all...but..."

She put her arm around me and I felt my skin crawl as she stood next to me and nodded toward the shore. "That man is an Olympic champion. He breathes and lives the sport. He’s grown up in the limelight. He loves it. He may be making you all of these promises and talk about your future. He did the same with me. But we both know that he's going to forever be married to the pool and the darling of Speedo and all of his other sponsors. While you..."

She turned toward me, taking her arms off me and narrowing her eyes. "You're some small town waitress that he's having a good time with. I know he has a thing for glasses and charity. You may clean-up for the cameras with your contacts and some cheap knock off dress, but we both know it's only a matter of time before he gets tired of having to take care of his girlfriend. Has to worry about her not blending in at these parties."

Tears pricked my eyes for the second time tonight, but I tried to stand my ground, balling my hands into fists.

Layna took a step closer, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "When we went out for a smoke he told me how uncomfortable you looked out there. He told me how worried he was about his girlfriend not getting along with everyone. How long is he going to keep worrying about you Lia before he decides that you're not worth it? That you're a nobody and always will be?"

I wanted to scream. To say something snarky and make a joke.

Sofie was right. That was my defense mechanism.

But instead of turning to that, my fists reacted first and connected with Layna's jaw, making a cracking sound as her face spun to the side and she fell to the ground.