The room was full of noise and celebration, completely unaware of my arrival. Directly across from the door, James was grinning wide, sharing a candy with the bride.
A sharp pain crawled through my chest. The scene in front of me was so blindingly painful, it felt like I couldn’t breathe.
Before I could even call his name, James suddenly looked up, his eyes locking onto mine.
In that instant, shock and panic washed over his face.
He looked as though he’d forgotten where he was, his mouth snapping shut out of reflex.
The bride yelped, “James, what are you doing? You bit my lip!”
Everyone turned to look at me, and the bride angrily wiped the blood from her lips.
Across the room, through the layers of people, James and I stared at each other.
He quickly snapped out of it and rushed over. “Oh, Natalie! When did you get back? Why didn’t you tell me ahead of time?”
James looked at me with a warning in his eyes, gripping my arm tightly, almost painfully.
The bride, clearly annoyed by my interruption, gave me a hostile once-over before asking, “Who is she?”