My Fiancé Played a Couple-Swap Game, I’m Done Being The Outsider Chapter 01

My Fiancé Played a Couple-Swap Game, I’m Done Being The Outsider Chapter 01

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

On the first night, my best friend Lilith suggested a game:

“24-Hour Couple Swap.”

If you drew the same pattern, you’d have to act like a couple for the whole day.

If you drew the blank card, you were stuck carrying bags and taking photos for everyone else.

First round: I drew the blank card.

My fiancé Dorian and Lilith drew the moon.

They held hands watching the sunrise.

I carried all three backpacks behind them.

Second round: blank again.

They drew the rose.

The punishment: a one-minute hug.

Everyone gathered around, cheering them on.

I stood at the edge, timing them.

Third round. Fourth.

Seven times in a row.

Every time, I was the one left out.

Lilith leaned against Dorian’s chest and gave me a sympathetic smile.

“Come on, Lyra. It’s just a game. You’re not jealous, are you?”

Dorian ruffled her hair. “Don’t mind her.”

“She’s never been good at playing along.”

On the last night, they drew the Wedding Card.

The rule: the pair had to hold a temporary wedding.

Lilith put on the wedding dress I’d brought.

Dorian slid my engagement ring off my finger and onto hers.

All our friends crowded around, shouting,

“Kiss her!”

And he did. He kissed her.

While everyone celebrated, I opened the blind box.

My deck was full of blanks.

Dorian and Lilith’s decks were packed with moons, roses, and wedding cards.

It wasn’t bad luck.

The game was rigged for them from the start.

I smiled and deleted our wedding e-vites.

If this trip had no room for me—

then my future didn’t need to make room for them.

—

I was still deleting them when cheers erupted behind me.

Dorian pulled back from Lilith.

She was flushed, but her hand still rested on his shoulder.

Someone shouted, “One more!”

Dorian laughed, but he didn’t push her away.

Then Lilith noticed me. She touched the ring on her finger.

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

She held up her hand, all innocence.

“Can I keep it on for the night?”

He’d had it custom-made for me.

But it fit her perfectly.

I nodded. “Okay.”

Dorian glanced at me—like he hadn’t expected me to agree so easily.

Then he frowned.

“Lyra, don’t make that face. We all came here to have a good time.”

“Don’t kill the mood over a little game.”

“I’m not ruining anything.”

“Then smile.”

Ronan raised his phone. “Wedding couple—look over here.”

Everyone piled in around Dorian and Lilith.

Five of them. Perfectly spaced. Perfectly happy.

He handed me the phone. “You’ve got the best eye for photos. Get a few shots.”

I took it.

They stood close—Dorian in the center, Lilith in my dress on his arm.

“Lyra,” he called impatiently. “You spacing out?”

I shook myself and started snapping.

One. Two. A dozen.

I wasn’t in any of them.

—

It was after two in the morning when we got back to the hotel.

I’d booked three double suites. One for Dorian and me, two for the others.

But Leander announced, “Couple Swap still has twelve hours left.”

“According to the rules, Dorian and Lilith need to share a room tonight.”

I froze. “That’s part of the game?”

Lilith shrugged. “Same suite—two beds. It’s not like we’re sharing a mattress.”

Dorian’s voice went flat.

“Everyone’s watching. You really think we’d do anything?”

I looked at him. “Then where do I stay?”

Ronan pointed down the hall. “Their suite has a pullout couch in the living room.”

“You can sleep there.”

So I’d sleep outside my fiancé’s room. While they closed the door.

“I’ll book another room.”

Leander stopped me. “It’s expensive here. Don’t waste the money.”

“We’ve all known each other forever—what’s the big deal?”