Collide (Collide #1)(173)

Without waiting for a response from either, Joan turned on her heels, her voice echoing throughout the room as she repeated her announcement to the rest of the guests.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "I swear if that woman dyed her hair anymore blonde than it is, she could beat out the sun in its blinding effects."

Emily pulled in a deep breath, shaking her head.

Cupping Emily's cheeks between her hands, Lisa leaned into her ear. "I love you, little sis. I wish I could help you through this. The only advice I can offer is to go with what your heart's telling you." Emily stared into her eyes, reflections of their mother swirling around her head. "It doesn't matter that tomorrow's the big day. You could postpone it until you figure all of this out with Gavin. The important thing here is that tomorrow represents the rest of your life. You need to know that you're spending it with the correct man. Don't feel stuck in a box. You know Michael and I will help you in whatever way is needed, right?"

Grabbing for her sister's hand, Emily nodded and started making her way through the crowd. With every step she took, the sound of a clock's pendulum swaying in her head reverberated through her ears.

Time was running out.

Tick...

Dillon's words to her a few hours before she took him back:

"Do you remember what your mother told us before she died, Emily? She told us to take care of one another. She told us to stick through whatever uphill battles life throws at us and to never give up on our relationship."

Tock....

Gavin's searing pleas to her in the rain.

"You don't hate me. You love me. And, Jesus Christ, Emily, I love you with everything inside of me, with everything I am, with everything I'll ever be."

Palms sweaty and body shaking, Emily took another few steps across the room.

Tick-tock...

Trying to fight back tears, Dillon's voice kept pounding inside her thoughts:

"Let me fix it. I can fix it and make us better again. I can bring us back to where we used to be."

Tick-tock...tick-tock...

"Leave with me right now. Don't do this. Don't marry him. We'll tell him together. I told you I wouldn't let you do it alone. Gina means nothing to me anymore. I shouldn't have let her in, but for f*ck's sake, I didn't do anything with her."

Tick-tock...tick-tock...tick-tock...

Feeling completely torn, it was all Emily could do to make it to her chair without passing out. Letting go of Lisa's hand, she sank into her seat at the head of the table, her eyes following Gavin as he moved across the room. He positioned himself just diagonally from her, their view of one another as unobstructed as a full moon on a clear night. Draping an arm across Trevor's chair next to him, Gavin tipped his bottle of beer in Emily's direction with a lazy smile on his lips.

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Emily tore her attention from him when Dillon sat down next to her. As he leaned over to kiss her, her eyes flew back to Gavin's, and if she wasn't mistaken, she could see his jaw tense. Swallowing hard, she quickly pulled away from him.

"What the hell is wrong with you tonight?" Dillon asked, his tone showing annoyance.

She cleared her throat. "Nothing. I told you I wasn't feeling well. That's all."

"I hope that by tomorrow you'll snap out of whatever's going on with you," he said, pulling his seat up to the table. "And something tells me you're f*cking lying about not feeling well."

Emily's body rippled with an involuntary shudder at the thought that he could see right through her. Not saying a word, she reached across the table for her glass of water. Nervously sipping it, she tried to coax her racing thoughts down. One of the waiters circling the room approached to take their orders, offering temporary reprieve from the conversation. She needed a strong drink desperately, but considering Dillon told her he hadn't drank since he'd returned from Florida, she decided to forgo it. Trying to keep her eyes from roaming to Gavin's, she kept her head downcast, staring at her twisting hands in her lap.