“Lena and I are fighting.”
I waited.
“About money?”
“About everything.”
He rubbed his face.
“She thinks you are trying to break us up.”
“Are you here to tell me that?”
“No.”
He looked up.
“I’m here because I lied to you.”
My chest tightened.
“About the wedding?”
He nodded.
“Lena wanted her family there. She said if we invited you, then we would have to invite more of my side, and it would get bigger. I told her you would understand.”
“Did you believe that?”
His eyes filled.
“I wanted to.”
“And the twenty people?”
“Her parents kept adding people. Her brothers brought dates. Friends came. I knew the night before it was not small anymore.”
I gripped the edge of the table.
“You had my number.”
“I know.”
“You could have called me.”
“I know.”
“You chose not to.”
He nodded.
The truth hurt more cleanly than Lena’s insult.
“Why?”
Max stared at the table.
“Because I knew if I called you, Lena would be angry. And I knew if I didn’t call you, you would be hurt. I chose the person whose anger I had to live with that night.”
