I Still Do (bwwm) ᑕᗝᗰᑭᒪᗴ丅ᗴ

when she found out

I was in a pissy mood all during my Uber ride back to the hotel, and once I was inside, my disposition darkened even more.

"Oh, Mr. Cruz!"

The bright-eyed kid at the concierge desk happily called me over, and I groaned, wanting nothing more than to go up to my room and empty the minibar.

I stomped over, resting my hands on the desk and leaning over to stare him down, but his mood was so sickenly jovial that he didn't seem to notice mine.

"What is it?"

"Ms. Cavanaugh wanted the staff to inform you that she is checked-in to suite 2602..."

He grinned before leaning over the counter, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as he slid me a key card.

"...ya know... just in case."

I rolled my eyes before grabbing the key card and storming off to the elevators.

Once inside the steel box, I leaned against the back wall and let out a deep breath.

After thinking about it for a second, I pressed the button for the 24th floor, ignoring Lori's request.

It was the night before the wedding and I knew exactly what she wanted, but something was keeping me from going anywhere near her room.

Lori could be demanding and sometimes even a bit shrill and this entire engagement has been proof of that.

I couldn't wait for all of this to finally be over.

After getting off on the 24th floor, I walked down the hall to my suite and entered slowly, peeking my head in to see my brother and Elijah already passed out.

I crept past them, entering the adjoining room where my bed was.

I kicked off my shoes and pulled my shirt off and it was at that I left my leather jacket at Taylor's.

"Shit."

I whispered to myself before walking over to the opened balcony door.

I held the door handles and sighed looking out to the beachside cliff where the ceremony would be taking the next day.

The hotel was just one in the chain of luxury resorts Lori's parents owned and even though every detail down to the ribbon for the flower girl's hair had been finalized, there was nothing but uncertainty swirling in my stomach.

As I closed the doors, Elijah's words from earlier rang over and over in my head.

"Honestly, if it wasn't Tay..."
✖️

Lori and I had casually been seeing each other for a few weeks, and despite her being kind of high maintenance, things were going okay.

She was hot; nowhere near as beautiful as Taylor was, but nobody ever would... not in my eyes.

I was hanging back in the kitchen of some dude's apartment, at a house party where I only knew one person... her.

One of Lori's friend's boyfriends was having a party for his roommate's birthday and she decided to drag me along, which basically meant I was standing around making small talk with random people while I held her purse.

I was sipping on a beer when Lori came over, drunkenly swaying her hips as she crashed into me, planting her lips on mine.

Our tongues danced around and I could taste the salty-sweet flavor of a margarita as we pulled apart.

She bit her lip and scratched down my chest, purring in an attempt to be sexy in her tipsy state.

"I missed you, Jay."

I chuckled a little and was about to respond when a bunch of people began cheering.

I turned my attention to the front door where a few more people were arriving and my blood felt like lava when I saw Taylor walk in with that surfer prick right behind her.

His chin was resting on her shoulder and his arms were around my waist as they walked in; it didn't matter if she was covered, I still hated his hands being on her in any way.

I was so wrapped up in my own head I didn't notice Lori latched lips to my neck, and I didn't see the almost gutted look on Taylor's face.

♦️