Seven Times I Drew Blank, Seven Times They Drew Each Other Chapter 01

Seven Times I Drew Blank, Seven Times They Drew Each Other Chapter 01

After I got engaged, the six of us planned one last trip together before the wedding.

That evening, my best friend, Vanessa Pierce, suggested we play a “Couples for a Day” challenge. Anyone who drew matching symbols had to act like a couple for the next twenty-four hours, while whoever drew a blank card became the group’s designated photographer and bag carrier.

In the first round, I drew a blank card. My fiancé, Julian Mercer, and Vanessa drew matching moons.

They held hands as they watched the sunrise, while I followed behind carrying three people’s bags.

In the second round, I drew another blank. This time, they drew matching roses, and the penalty was a one-minute hug.

Everyone crowded around, egging them on, while I stood off to the side and timed the minute.

The third round was the same. So was the fourth.

Seven rounds in a row, I was always the odd one out.

Vanessa leaned against Julian’s chest and smiled at me. “It’s just a game, Nora. You’re not actually jealous, are you?”

Julian ruffled her hair. “Don’t mind her. She’s always been a sore loser.”

On the last night, Julian and Vanessa drew matching wedding-dress cards. The rule was that they had to stage a mock wedding.

Vanessa put on the wedding gown I had brought with me.

Julian slid my engagement ring off my finger and onto Vanessa’s ring finger.

Our friends gathered around them, chanting, “Kiss! Kiss!”

A second later, Julian actually kissed her.

While everyone was celebrating, I opened the mystery boxes that held the game cards.

Mine was filled with nothing but blanks. Julian’s and Vanessa’s were packed with matching moons, roses, and wedding-dress cards.

It wasn’t bad luck.

The entire game had been rigged for the two of them from the start.

I gave a faint smile and deleted every digital wedding invitation I had prepared.

If there had never been room for me in a group of six, then there didn’t need to be room for any of them in the rest of my life.

***

The moment I deleted the invitations, a burst of cheering erupted behind me.

Julian pulled away from Vanessa and let go of her waist. Her cheeks were flushed, but her fingers were still resting on his shoulder.

Someone shouted, still wanting more, “Again!”

Julian laughed. “Get outta here.”

But he didn’t immediately put any distance between them.

Only when Vanessa noticed me did she seem to suddenly remember the ring on her finger. She looked down and touched it.

“Nora, it’s stuck. I can’t get it off.”

She held up her hand, sounding completely innocent. “Can I just keep it on tonight?”

Julian had given me that engagement ring on my birthday. He’d told me he had it custom-sized for my finger.

Yet it fit Vanessa perfectly.

I didn’t call her out. I just nodded.

“Okay.”

Julian looked at me as if he hadn’t expected me to agree so easily. His brows drew together.

“Nora Ellis, don’t stand there acting like you’re the victim.”

“Everyone made the effort to come on this trip with us. Don’t ruin everyone’s fun over a game.”

I looked at him. “I’m not ruining anything.”

“Then smile.”

Derek Nolan already had his phone raised.

“All right, bride and groom, look this way.”

Everyone else quickly crowded in around Julian and Vanessa. The five of them fit perfectly in one row.

Derek handed me the phone. “Nora, you’re the best at taking pictures. Get a few good ones.”

I took it.

They stood close together, with Julian in the middle. Vanessa was wearing my wedding gown, her arm looped through his.

The other three gathered around them, and they looked like they were posing for a real wedding photo.

“Nora,” Julian called impatiently. “Why are you zoning out?”

I snapped back to the moment and started taking pictures.

I took one, then two, then more than a dozen.

I wasn’t in a single one.

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was two in the morning.

I had originally booked three suites, two people to a room. The other four were split between two suites, while Julian and I were supposed to share the third.

But as we picked up our key cards, Miles Dalton suddenly grinned and announced, “The Couples for a Day challenge still has twelve hours to go.”

“By the rules, Julian and Vanessa are supposed to room together tonight.”

I froze with the key card in my hand.

“Sharing a room is part of the rules too?”

Vanessa answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “We’re just sleeping in the same suite. There are two beds.”

“It’s not like anything’s going to happen.”

Julian’s face hardened too. “With everyone here, what exactly do you think we’re going to do?”

I looked at him. “Then where am I supposed to sleep?”

They exchanged glances.

Derek pointed toward the end of the hall. “Julian and Vanessa have the family suite.”

“There’s a pullout couch in the living area. You can sleep there.”

So I was supposed to sleep on a pullout couch outside the bedroom where my fiancé and my best friend would be staying, listening to them close the door while I waited for the twenty-four-hour game to end.

The whole thing suddenly felt absurd.

“I’ll get my own room.”

Miles immediately stopped me.

“Come on.”

“Rooms here cost several hundred dollars a night. Why waste the money?”

“We all grew up together. We know each other inside and out.”