Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 433

Dominic Ford stood near the entrance with a woman on his arm, and it took me half a second to place her. Celeste. The Celeste, the one whose face had been all over the internet, whose divorce and remarriage had fueled a thousand headlines. She was even more beautiful in person, which I had not thought possible. Her pictures had been doing her a great injustice.

Seeing them together, out in the open like this, I understood. They were not hiding anymore. Whatever game they had been playing, it was over, and they had chosen each other so publicly that there was no going back.

I did not go closer. I was not part of their world. But Sparrow walked over to them, and I watched the three of them exchange a few words, Dominic clapping Sparrow on the shoulder, Celeste smiling, Sparrow nodding. Then they parted, Dominic and Celeste heading out, Sparrow returning to us.

The ballroom was a sea of gold and white. Chandeliers, a band on a raised stage, tables piled with food, towers of champagne, a dance floor gleaming under colored lights. The guests filled the room, laughing and drinking, the noise rising until the walls seemed to vibrate.

Sparrow's grandmother claimed a seat near the front and pulled Tasha and Sparrow down beside her, keeping the bride and groom close, and I took a seat further back with Jasmine and Maya, where I could watch everything without being watched.

The emcee took the stage, a slick man in a shiny suit, and the band struck up a fanfare.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment we have all been waiting for! Put your hands together for the bride and groom's first dance!"

The crowd cheered. Tasha stood, smiling, and walked out onto the dance floor, her dress pooling around her like a cloud. She looked back at Sparrow, her hand extended, waiting.

I stood before I had decided to, and Jasmine and Maya stood with me, and the three of us walked out onto the floor. Tasha's face lit up when she saw us, and she grabbed my hands, and we danced, all four of us, messy and laughing, and the crowd cheered, and the moment passed.

I wanted to be angry at Sparrow. I wanted to march over and demand to know why he had left her standing there. But I looked at him, and he was watching Tasha with something soft in his face, almost tender, and I told myself he just did not like dancing. Some men did not. It did not mean he did not care. It did not mean he was not grateful to have her.

I let it go.

The party went on. The music played, the guests drank, and the emcee, having learned his lesson, did not call for the groom again. He called for the best man instead, and one of Sparrow's trusted men climbed onto the stage, a big, scarred man in a suit that could not hide the bulk of him, and raised his glass.