Smile Like It Doesn't Hurt

POV: Sloane

I adjusted the bodice of my breathtaking red satin gown, smoothing down the smooth, expensive fabric where it clung tightly to my waist before cascading down to a dramatic, thigh-high slit. The soft, meticulously styled curls of my hair fell perfectly over one shoulder, framing a face that was currently locked in a fierce battle to maintain composure. I had arrived at the grand wedding venue of the man I had loved my entire life, fully prepared to forcefully plaster a polite, unbreakable smile across my face. I was going to walk in there, sit in the pews, and clap like an absolute champion, pretending that watching Rowan marry someone else wasn't actively tearing me apart from the inside out.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, I stepped into the long, ornate corridor that led toward the main chapel. My heels clicked rhythmically against the polished marble floor, the sound echoing in the quiet space. That was when I unexpectedly ran into him.

Kaelen.

He was casually leaning against the wall, looking entirely too comfortable in a perfectly tailored black suit. The top buttons of his crisp dark shirt were left unbuttoned, exposing a sliver of his chest and giving him a dangerous, effortlessly rugged edge. As I got closer, hoping to just breeze right past him, a knowing smirk played on his lips. I kept my face entirely neutral, desperately trying to act as if our intensely passionate encounter in the dark backyard never occurred. I refused to acknowledge the heavy, suffocating tension that instantly flared between us the second we occupied the same space.

"Red looks incredibly good on you," he murmured as I walked past him, his voice low, gravelly, and dripping with relentless teasing.

I didn't even bother to look over my shoulder, keeping my chin held high and my pace brisk. But just as I took another determined step forward, I heard the subtle shift of his weight pushing off the wall. He stepped menacingly closer, invading my personal space until I could feel the heat radiating from his body.

Dropping his voice to a dark, intimate whisper right behind me, he confidently asserted, "I still vividly remember the exact taste of your lips from a few weeks ago."

My breath hitched in my throat, a traitorous shiver racing down my spine. I forced myself to stop, turning my head to look coldly over my shoulder. "I don't remember a thing," I replied bluntly, keeping my eyes devoid of any emotion.

Kaelen simply circled around me, stepping directly into my line of sight so I had nowhere else to look but up at his sharp, handsome features. He tilted his head, his dark eyes locking onto mine as he murmured, "Liar."

He wasn't buying my indifferent act for a single second, and frankly, I didn't have the energy to keep fighting him on it. Thankfully, a sudden influx of chattering guests made their way into the corridor, effectively breaking the private, suffocating moment. I used the distraction to immediately escape his overwhelming presence, fleeing toward the quiet sanctuary of the church.

Finding my designated seat in the middle row, I sat down and mechanically nodded at a few former classmates who kept looking over, complimenting my gown and hair. I smiled politely, my jaw aching from the effort, when my phone suddenly buzzed in my small clutch. I pulled it out, my heart instantly leaping into my throat. It was a call from Tessa, my estranged older sister. We hadn't spoken in years, and seeing her name flashing on the screen sent a shockwave of disbelief through my system. The call ended before I could answer, but a desperate, pathetic sliver of hope ignited in my chest. I desperately needed to call her back, to hear a familiar, comforting voice on the absolute worst day of my life.

Seeking a shred of privacy, I slipped out of the pews and ducked into a secluded hallway near the bridal suites. I was just about to dial her number when I froze. Angry, vicious voices were emanating from a nearby room.

I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but the sheer volume made it impossible to ignore. It was Rowan and his bride, Vanessa.

"I don't want her here, and I strictly forbid you from coming to her defense!" Vanessa was shrieking, her voice dripping with pure, unadulterated venom. "Because I swear to God, Rowan, if Sloane doesn’t leave this venue immediately, the entire wedding is permanently cancelled!"

My blood ran completely cold. I stood frozen in the hallway, listening in absolute horror as Vanessa ruthlessly demanded my removal. I waited, holding my breath, desperate to hear Rowan fight for me.

"Vanessa, be reasonable," Rowan's voice filtered through the door, sounding stressed and defensive. "She is my guest and my best friend."

*Best friend.*

Hearing him refer to me merely as his best friend in the face of such aggressive vitriol only twisted the knife deeper into my open wound. He was reducing a lifetime of my blind devotion, all my unconditional love and sacrifice, down to a safe, platonic label just to appease the woman he was actually choosing to marry. The pathetic realization hit me like a physical blow.

Silently, heavily retreating from the painful eavesdropping, I moved further down the hallway until I was completely alone. With shaking fingers, I pressed call on Tessa's contact. It rang twice before she coldly declined the call. I stared at the screen, my chest tightening. Then, a text message popped up.

*I didn't mean to dial your number. That was a mistake, so stop calling me.*

I let out a breathless, broken laugh, staring at the screen in pure disbelief. Forced to swallow the bitter, suffocating rejection from both my sister and the man I loved, I felt incredibly stupid for ever hoping things could change. I was a mistake to my own sister, and an inconvenience to the man I wanted. Numbing myself to the overwhelming pain, I smoothed down my red dress, locked away my shattered feelings, and returned to my seat in the pews to watch my last shred of hope completely die.

I half-expected a groomsman to come tap me on the shoulder and ask me to leave, but no one came. Whatever explosive ultimatum Vanessa had issued in that room, Rowan had clearly smoothed it over. The ceremony officially began.

I sat completely frozen as the grand music swelled and Vanessa walked down the aisle in a gorgeous, elaborate wedding dress that made the entire room gasp in admiration. Rowan looked at her as if she were the only woman on earth, his face radiating pure, undeniable adoration. Every time he smiled at her, my heart physically ached. I watched them stand at the altar, exchanging their sacred vows with unwavering eye contact.

Then came the agonizing finale. The officiant pronounced them husband and wife, and Rowan pulled Vanessa in for a deep, highly dramatic kiss that seemed to last an eternity. The crowd erupted into cheers and applause. I forced my hands to clap, though I couldn't feel my fingers. The final, crushing blow came as they turned to face the congregation, and I watched Rowan proudly raise Vanessa's hand high in the air, officially presenting her to the world as his wife.

The sight broke me completely.

Unable to hold back the floodgates any longer, I couldn't even wait for the full recessional. I abruptly stood up, turned on my heel, and fled the venue. I blindly navigated my way through the massive oak doors and out into the sprawling parking lot, tears thoroughly blinding my vision. By the time I reached my car, hot, heavy tears were streaming rapidly down my cheeks, ruining my carefully applied makeup. I threw myself into the driver's seat, wiping frantically at my eyes just to get a clear enough vision to start the engine.

I peeled out of the parking lot, desperate to put as much distance between myself and that church as humanly possible. But the tears just kept coming, thick and blinding, until I could no longer see the road ahead. Defeated, I pulled over to the side of a random city street, threw the car in park, and violently sobbed. I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white, letting out loud, pathetic gasps of air. I cried for Rowan. I cried for Tessa. I cried for my own pathetic, unrequited life.

When my violent tears finally dried up, leaving behind an unbearable, hollow ache in my chest, I knew I couldn't just go home. I needed to forget. I needed absolute numbness. I drove a few more blocks until I spotted the neon sign of a dimly lit, crowded bar. It was the perfect anonymous refuge.

I didn't even bother checking my reflection in the rearview mirror before walking inside. The heavy bass of the music and the overwhelming smell of stale liquor and sweat instantly assaulted my senses. I pushed my way through the packed crowd straight to the bartender and immediately ordered the strongest drink they had.

When the amber liquid was placed in front of me, my fingers slightly shook as I reached for the glass. Before the alcohol could even begin to dull my agonizing pain, a tall, conventionally charming stranger slid smoothly into the empty stool next to me.

"Rough day?" he asked, leaning in close to flash me an easy, confident smile.

I let out a cynical breath, gripping my glass. "Is it that obvious?"

He looked me up and down, clearly appreciating the red satin gown despite my ruined face. "The messy hair and tear-smudged makeup kind of gave it away. But you know what? I still really like what I see." He smoothly shifted closer, dropping his voice into a suggestive purr. "How about I buy you another round, and then take you back to my place? We can mutually pretend this rough day never happened and do whatever we want all night."

He was attractive, entirely uncomplicated, and he didn't know a single thing about my miserable past or my shattered heart. It was exactly the reckless, self-destructive distraction I was desperately craving. I looked at his lips, seriously considering just saying yes and letting a random stranger erase Rowan from my memory for a few hours.

Just as I opened my mouth to accept his offer, a dark, incredibly threatening voice violently sliced through the ambient noise of the bar.

"Don't you dare."

The tone was so low, so purely lethal, that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I slowly turned my head, and there he was. Kaelen. His jaw was locked so tight a muscle ticked rapidly in his cheek. He stood there glaring daggers at the stranger, his tall frame radiating a terrifying amount of hostile energy.

The stranger frowned, leaning back slightly but puffing out his chest. "Is there a problem here, man?"

Kaelen didn't even spare the guy a glance. His dark, furious eyes remained entirely fixed on me. "There's definitely a problem."

Before I could even formulate a sentence to tell him to mind his own business, Kaelen physically inserted himself between the stool and the stranger. Without a moment's hesitation, he firmly clamped his large, warm hand around my wrist. His grip was entirely unyielding. He aggressively pulled me off the stool and began dragging me straight toward the exit.

"Wait! Let me go!" I snapped, stumbling in my heels as I tried to yank my arm back.

He completely ignored my protests, easily towing me through the crowded bar and bursting out the front doors into the cool night air. Once we were outside, I finally planted my feet and forcefully twisted out of his grip.

"What the hell is your problem?" I furiously shouted, glaring up at him.

Kaelen aggressively closed the distance between us, his chest heaving with barely contained rage. "Are you seriously prepared to sleep with a random, nameless guy just to pathetically prove you aren't still in love with the idiot who married another girl today?" he harshly demanded, his words striking me like a physical slap to the face. "If I hadn't shown up—"

"What?" I interrupted, my voice cracking with angry emotion. "You think I would have made a mistake by going with him? Maybe a mistake is exactly what I need right now!"

He didn't bother arguing. Instead, he grabbed my arm again, marching me toward his pristine 2025 black Rolls-Royce Phantom parked illegally at the curb. He yanked the passenger door open and forcefully motioned for me to get inside.

"I'm taking you home right now," he ordered, his tone leaving absolutely zero room for negotiation.

I glared at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Just so you can lecture me the entire ride?"

Kaelen ran a frustrated hand through his meticulously styled hair, utterly ruining it. He looked like he was trying not to explode. "No," he snapped. "Because I'm not leaving you drunk and in a self-destructive spiral so you can wake up regretting your desperate actions tomorrow morning. Get in the damn car. Your car will be taken care of."

Knowing I couldn't out-stubborn him tonight, I let out a defeated breath and slid into the luxurious leather passenger seat. He slammed the door shut so hard the heavy frame rattled, making me flinch.

The drive home was suffocatingly tense. The silence inside the cabin was so thick it felt hard to breathe. I kept my eyes fixed on him, my mind racing. This angry, deeply protective man gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white was completely unrecognizable. The silent ride stripped away his usual arrogant, untouchable playboy facade, revealing a surprisingly concerned side of him that I had never witnessed before.

When he finally pulled up to the curb outside my house, he immediately killed the engine, stepped out of the car, and rounded the hood to open my door.

"Get out," he sternly ordered. His voice was harsh, but beneath the anger, there was a raw edge of undeniable concern.

I stepped out onto the sidewalk, shivering slightly in the cool breeze, and let him escort me directly up the walkway to my front doorstep. I stopped at the door, turning around to face him.

"How did you even know where to find me?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Kaelen looked down at me, his chest rising and falling heavily under his dark suit jacket. He admitted, entirely unprompted, "I was watching you the entire time at the reception. I saw you run out. I followed you because I was utterly terrified you were going to do something stupid to destroy yourself. And you proved me right when you almost left with that stranger."

He told me to get inside, turning his broad back to me, fully intending to walk away and leave me alone on the porch.

But as I watched him take a step away, the crushing, unbearable weight of the entire day completely consumed me. The isolation, the heartbreak, the stinging reality that Rowan was gone forever. I suddenly realized, with absolute clarity, that I could not bear to shed another tear over Rowan Hayes ever again. I was done being the pathetic, loyal girl who got left behind.

Acting on pure, unfiltered impulse, I lunged forward. I reached out and tightly grabbed Kaelen's muscular arm. My grip was unyielding as I forcefully pulled him back, spinning him around and drawing him in so incredibly close that I could feel the hot rush of his breath fanning across my skin.

He froze, his dark eyes widening slightly in confusion before locking fiercely onto mine, searching my face for an explanation.

A reckless, desperate fire ignited deep within my core. I didn't want to be alone, and I certainly didn't want to be good tonight. "You only stopped me at the bar because that man was a stranger," I murmured, my voice trembling with a potent mix of adrenaline and raw desire. "But you're not a stranger, Kaelen. Tonight, I want to forget about Rowan."

His lustful eyes instantly darkened to a shade of pitch black, the intense hunger in his gaze completely undisguised. He subtly bit his bottom lip, the muscles in his jaw ticking as he stared down at my mouth. He clearly understood my exact implication, but he remained perfectly still, silently demanding that I cross the line myself, demanding that I say it out loud without any polite filters or shameful hesitation.

Sliding my hand boldly up the solid, hard muscle of his arm, my fingers digging slightly into the fabric of his suit jacket, I looked him dead in the eye, fully surrendering to the reckless aggression taking over my body.

"Wanna come in for some hot sex?"