I woke up with cotton mouth.

My head felt fine and so did my stomach, I just needed to drink tons of water.

Florencio wasn't in bed with me. I remembered everything I did, and said, last night. I was beyond embarrassed.

I took a quick shower and change of clothes. I dressed in sweatpants and a regular shirt.

Time to face the music.

When I finally left the room, Florencio sat on the couch drinking, I assumed, coffee. I sat next to him and he handed me a mug. Black coffee. I took generous gulps.

Florencio also gave me a bottle of water, which I chugged.

"Thank you," I breathed. I was already feeling much better.

Instead of accepting my gratitude he said, "I'm sorry." He wasn't looking at me.

"For what?" I asked, confused. I couldn't think why he'd be sorry for anything.

"For... for last night. I know you don't like drinking. I should've told Esmerelda something." He was biting his fist.

I didn't think that's what he actually wanted to say. I let it slide.

"It's okay. I could've said no." I took a deep breath. "I wanted to impress her."

He looked at me, bewildered. "Why?"

Because she's your friend and I want her to like me. "I don't know."

He downed the rest of his coffee. "The wedding starts at five. It's only twelve now. We have time to get some food."

-

I finished applying the nude lipstick. I smiled, satisfied with my makeup. I wore a light orange sun dress that was short in the front, long in the back. I paired it with white sandals, since the wedding was on the beach.

Florencio was wearing black slacks and a white button down with a black blazer over. He looked handsome.

When I reached him, he took my hand in his.

Out of the hotel, we got in the rental car and Florencio drove away from the main beach area.

"They wanted to get married on a more secluded spot," Florencio explained.

"Makes sense." The wind blowing around me was relaxing.

When we got to the beach, Florencio wrapped an arm around my waist when I almost fell walking through the sand.

He laughed at me.

"Stop." I blushed. I wasn't even wearing heels and my feet were still sinking.

"I got you," he murmured.

After some more struggling, Florencio just decided to carry me bridal style to our seats. I ignored all the people staring at us as red blotches appeared on my face. There was only about forty people here. I liked it. They only invited the most important people to them.

The sun setting put a romantic feeling in the air.

"Do you want to get married?" I said dreamily. I couldn't help it. It was beautiful here and it made me emotional that Esmerelda and Ronaldo would forever have this special moment. I was honored to witness it.

Florencio shifted and draped his arm over my chair. "I did once."

I was snapped out of my mood. I looked at him. He stared at me, his green eyes wide.

I gathered some courage and asked quietly, "what happened?"

"I just wasn't it."

I took a deep breath. I wasn't sure how to handle his somewhat openness and felt like I needed to share something too.

He looked away from me. "Do you want to get married one day?"

I nodded. I wasn't the girl who had been planning their wedding since they were five, but the idea of getting married fantasied me.

Talking about marriage put a warm feeling in my chest.

Florencio turned to me to say something, but I held the back of his head and kissed him.

I didn't know what I was doing, why I felt like crying, but I kept kissing him until I felt better.

The warm feeling spread to my whole body.

-

The ceremony was beautiful, Esmerelda was stunning and Ronaldo was handsome. It was perfect for them. We all laughed when Esmerelda grabbed Ronaldo and dipped him, pressing their lips together.

The reception was at a hall, only a five minute drive away, and it was beach themed inside.

We sat at a table with a few other people I didn't know, Florencio introduced us.

"Esta es mi novia, Parker," he said. The four people at the table grinned. What did he say?

One of the older women got up and kissed my cheek. "Very beautiful," she complimented, making notions between me and Florencio. She took my hands in hers. "When marry?"

Florencio choked on his water and I accidentally bit my tongue.

"Oh, no," I stammered. I tasted blood in my mouth.

Before I could continue my onslaught of nonsense, Florencio cut me off. He said something to the woman and she nodded.

She bumped her hip against my side and winked. "Soon." Then she returned to her seat.

I looked at Florencio and his face was red.

"What'd you say?" I asked, frowning.

"I told them you're my girlfriend." His words were muffled as he chugged the rest of his water.

A part of me longed for that. I don't know what was wrong with me, but my eyes started to burn. Maybe in another lifetime we'd be great together. Right now, Florencio was living a whole other life and I was along for the ride, enjoying the thrill of danger.

I blinked hard a couple times. "And that means we're getting married soon?"

He shrugged. When he noticed my mood, he leaned forward. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not," I forced through my teeth. If I blinked, the waterfall from my eyes would be nonstop.

He excused us and got up from the table, pulling us out of the hall. The doors closed and I heard the DJ announce the married couple.

"Stop," I weakly protested. "Can we go back inside?" I wiped my eyes carefully to not mess up my makeup.

He stopped walking and let go of my hand. I could almost hear the wheels turning in his head. After a minute of our staring contest, which just left me with a puddle of tears on the floor, he walked to me.

"Christ, Parker." He pulled the handkerchief out of his breast pocket and gently dabbed my tears. I averted my gaze, embarrassed. "What's wrong?" His voice was so soft, I didn't really hear him.

I was absolute crap at talking about myself. Why was it so hard?

"I don't know," I whimpered pathetically. "W-we've been doing this for like four months now," I sucked in a sharp breath as more tears spilled. I tired to step back, humiliated I was slobbering all over him, but he held me in place. "I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm convinced you don't even like me." I sounded like a middle schooler with a bad crush. "And you never say anything..." I wasn't even thinking about his choice of work, I was thinking of our, my, feelings.

His handsome face looked exhausted. "The night I met you," his voice was rough. "God— Parker, stop fucking crying."

I sniffled, trying to.

"Shit—fuck, sorry." He pulled me to him so I was forced to put my face on his shoulder.

"I'm getting makeup all over your suit..."

"I don't care," he snapped. A deep shaky breath. "I didn't mean to come back into your life. Who the hell cares about a dent on their car? Running into you the second time, that wasn't supposed to happen." His voice was strained, like sharing himself was hard. "Everything after that, I don't know."

His voice dropped. "And you think I'd be fucking taken by you just because I like you?"

I had a deep want for him, and if he didn't match it, I would shatter. I think I knew now.

My tears stopped now.

"Let's go back inside." He grabbed my hand and pulled us inside the hall.

When we got back to our table, the older woman from earlier winked at me. Florencio took off his blazer that had an imprint of my face on it.

Esmerelda and Ronaldo said a few words. At some point, they invited Florencio to come up and talk.

After that was over, dinner was served. Tilapia or steak. I had the steak and it was good for wedding food.

The DJ announced the dance floor was open and despite my objections, Florencio's managed to get me on the floor. When a slow song came on, I tried to leave, but Florencio held me there. His hands were warm against my back and I curled into him, comfortable.

Something was just not right today because I started tearing up again. I didn't cry much, I really didn't.

"Are you—" he pulled back from me. "Damn it, Parker."

I rubbed my eyes, not caring about the eyeliner that took me twenty minutes to perfect. "I'm sorry. You—" I hiccuped. My brain forgot to turn the switch that made sure I didn't cry.

He wiped my tears away with his thumb. "Once you start you don't stop, huh?"

His words fueled my emotions. We were surrounded by people and my tears loved making a scene apparently.

"I-I meant what I said last night," I stuttered. I wasn't going to repeat myself. He needed to know my liking for him had jumped off a cliff and she was going to hit the floor hard if he wasn't there to catch her.

Instead of saying anything, he kissed me. It was desperate and hard.

-