Chapter Thirty-Two
We walked the rest of the way to the reception in silence. I didn’t know what to say to him, I was still in shock. I felt a little betrayed that he didn’t tell me sooner. Mates are supposed to feel empty without each other after finding each other; obviously he didn’t feel that way otherwise he wouldn’t have avoided me for so long. The quiet between us was beginning to irritate me, but luckily we reached the reception hall. We went in together and were seated at different tables.
I sat staring at my place card for a while before some food was served to me. I wasn’t hungry at all, so I just continued to sit and picked at the plate. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to see a groomsman standing behind me.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked. I stood up and took his hand instead of giving him a verbal response.
When we reached the dance floor, he placed his hands low on my hip and began to sway to the music. I found his touch annoying, but I ignored it and danced with him.
“So, how do you know the happy couple?” he asked trying to make conversation.
“I used to live with the groom.” I replied.
“Oh, were you guys dating or were you just roommates?”
“We started out as roommates and then we started dating.” I stated uninterested.
“Oh, is that why you seem so sad?” He asked. His voice was beginning to annoy me. Before I had a chance to reply, a familiar voice interrupted us.
“May I cut in?” I heard Will ask from behind me.
“I heard the groomsman reply before Will made his way in front of me and we began to dance.
“So, what was up with Max earlier?” He asked with a bright smile.
I couldn’t help but smile in return. “He didn’t know you were marrying Sam.” I replied looking away.
“Now who could he have thought I was marrying that would upset him?” He asked laughing. I could tell he knew that Max thought it was me.
“He was under the impression that we were getting married.” I said honestly still not making eye contact.
“Now why would he be so upset about that?” He asked in the same voice as before.
“Apparently we are mates. I, of course, did not know, but he has known this whole time.” I replied sadly.
“I cannot pretend I didn’t know that. I suspected that he was in love with you.” He replied pulling me into a tight hug. “So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I am pretty mad right now.” I said as the song ended.
“Well you can talk to me about it any time.” He said pulling back a little to look into my eyes.
“I know.” I said giving him a soft smile. “Go dance with your wife.” I laughed. He nodded before making his way back to her.
I wanted to stay for the rest of the reception, but I just couldn’t stay there. I was happy to see Will happy, but I couldn’t help feeling sad that I could have been that happy this whole time if Max had just told me we were mates; we could have been together. Of course, with that thought, I couldn’t help thinking that he didn’t tell me until now because he didn’t want to be with me. I gave Will and Sam a quick goodbye hug and then I left.
It hadn’t been more than two minutes of me walking down the sidewalk, towards home, that Max flashed in front of me causing me to stop.
“What?” I asked in a whiney tone.
“I know you must me angry with me, I never wanted to hurt you, but I thought you were marrying the wrong person. I thought I had to stop the wedding. I’m not asking for anything from you, I just want us to continue with the friendship thing.” He rambled quickly. I watched as his eyes nervously scan over my face before connecting with my eyes.
“I just…” I started. I was unsure of what I could say that would explain how I was feeling. I wanted to be with him, I had for a while. Now with him within reach, a relationship with him seemed so far away. “I don’t know.” I finally finished.
“I understand.” He replied with sadness in his eyes.
“No, you don’t!” I exclaimed. “You have no idea what I’m feeling! If you did, you wouldn’t have been so horrible to me this whole time. You wouldn’t have been constantly hurting me and running away. We could have been together and happy this whole time.”
“Annabelle, I have always been in love with you, not just because of the mate bond.” He said sweetly as he closed the distance between us and placed his hand softly on my face. “I was conflicted though. I had changed you for Jay, I felt like I had no choice but to let you be with him. Then you ran away, and I searched everywhere for you. When I found you, you had moved in across the hall from Jay and my sister, I thought we had a chance, but you were kissing Will. Then there was Nick, then there was that other guy, and then I thought you were back together with Will.” He explained. “I thought I had missed my chance with you.”
“You kind of did.” I replied moving away from him. “The night that I left, if you hadn’t rejected me once again, I wouldn’t have snapped. I would have stayed. Maybe that would have changed things, but then again, I wouldn’t want to change the things that have happened in my life. Will is a great friend, and Martha wouldn’t have found her mate when she did if I hadn’t been dating Nick.” I explained.
“So we can’t even be friends?” He asked looking depressed.
I couldn’t answer right away so we stood in silence for a good minute. “I guess we can try and be friends.” I replied softly. He flashed me a smile before pulling me into a tight hug. I relaxed in his arms and hugged him bag.