End of Story(77)

Deborah and Henning looked between me and Aaron in horror. Talk about trashing their party.

“It’s true,” I said to Lars, keeping my voice down and pressing my fists against my stomach. My spirits sank through the floor. “He said I was only with you to make him jealous. Then he tried to kiss me. So I fed him his balls with my knee. The end.”

Lars’s forehead filled with furrows. All the furrows in all the land. He was confused.

“Whatever shit she’s saying to you, man, she’s lying.” Aaron pushed his way through the crowd, heading toward us. And Lars’s parents followed. The way Aaron walked was...awkward. He was most definitely in pain. As much as he deserved it, I so did not want to be responsible for an ugly scene. Though I doubted there was any way to prevent it now.

Fuck. “I’m sorry—”

“She just fucking attacked me out of nowhere,” continued Aaron. He was the picture of disarray with his suit creased, face red, and hair a mess. I’d never seen him so unkempt. Or in such a rage.

The daggers Vivian were glaring at me were razor-sharp. Ouch.

Lars started rolling up his sleeves. In another time and place, I would have enjoyed the sight. The revelation of his muscular forearms and the way the white cotton of his button-down framed the bulge of his biceps. Due to my life imploding, however, I didn’t have time to gawk.

“I attacked you, out of nowhere?” I asked with much scorn. “Me? Outside the women’s bathroom just now? Are you sure about those facts?”

“What on earth happened?” asked Deborah. “What did you do?”

Though her gaze took in the both of us, Aaron froze. To be fair, he never had been great in high-stress situations. And after he’d had a couple of drinks, he was worse. It was how we broke up in the first place. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut about what a duplicitous shit he was, and how he planned to cheat on me when he got to London. But back to the here and now. With much jabbing of his finger in my direction, Aaron said, “Susie came onto me and of course I turned her down. Told her I’d be telling Lars what she was about. That’s when she lost it and attacked me.”

Someone gasped. Another person snickered. I don’t know who. Each and every one of the seventy-odd guests was watching. This debacle had their full attention. Even the band was hanging on our every word. What a disaster this was turning out to be. Here I was meeting Lars’s extended family for the first time, and providing them with a floor show.

Cleo snorted. “What complete and utter bullshit.”

I gave her a small grateful smile.

Henning slipped a supportive arm around his wife’s waist.

“Oh, really? This doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s just more of the same. She’s always behaved this way,” said Vivian with an evil glint in her eye. “I told you. I said you could do better than some grasping sl—”

“That’s enough,” said Tore. And the man was not happy.

Wish I knew what I’d done to the woman to earn such enmity. Just dared to date her precious son, I guess. But she didn’t matter. Neither did her asshole of a child. The only person who mattered was Lars.

“You were saying something?” Lars took a step closer, his gaze questioning. “You said you were sorry. What are you sorry for, Susie?”

Oh, no. That didn’t sound good. Not at all.

Accusing gazes locked on to me from all around, and fear grabbed hold. The intense expression on his face. This was it, the moment of truth. Lars didn’t believe me and he certainly wouldn’t love me anymore. Not after this. He was going to take the word of his oldest friend. My luck with men always had been shit. Why should this be any different?

I would not cry or yell or any of that nonsense. No. I’d carry out the messy public breakup of my relationship with the utmost dignity—even if the break was going to be so much worse than any that came before. I knew it without a doubt. Because the man standing in front of me...he was my heart. No idea when it had happened. But there could be no denying it. His beloved face and strong hands and the way that, even now, he listened. He gave me his full attention. A small but important thing.

I swallowed hard. “I...um.”

“Hey,” he said, slipping his hand around the back of my neck. Giving me a comforting squeeze before letting go again. “Take a breath and tell me, Susie. What are you sorry for?”

“For wrecking your parents’ party.”

He nodded.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen. I’m so sorry.”

“You said he grabbed you and tried to kiss you,” said Lars, voice loud enough to be clear to all. “Is that right?”

“Yes.”

Aaron spluttered while his mom made indignant noises.

“Excuse me,” said Deborah, raising her voice. “You had your chance. It’s Susie’s turn to talk now.”

Henning gave them a stern nod of warning.

“I wanted him off me and he wouldn’t let go so I kneed him in the balls,” I said.

Lars nodded. “That’s everything?”

“Yes. Basically. He spouted all sorts of bullshit about me leading you on to make him jealous, but those were the main points,” I said. “If I’d known I was going to disrupt the party and embarrass you this way...well, I don’t actually know that I would have done anything differently. Given the situation and all. But I am sorry it happened, Lars.”