“Your energy? And your appetite?”
“Fine.” She picks up her bag and walks to the door, and I follow her like a puppy.
“Claire!” Grace stops her before she leaves the room, and I take a step back, allowing her space.
“Hey, Grace!” She greets her with ten times the enthusiasm she had for me. “Guess what?”
Grace shakes her head with a grin.
Claire’s eyes light up, but I can’t tell if she’s genuinely excited or putting on a show. “We set a date for the wedding!”
“No way!” Grace hugs Claire, and I have to take a moment to process her words.
They set a date.
Claire is getting married. Officially.
The news is so shocking, I literally stumble backwards. “What?” I say out loud. “You set a date?”
The women look over at me.
“Um, yes.” Claire steps back and smooths her hair behind her ear. “We’re getting married on June 4.”
June. That’s barely two months from now. I’m completely at a loss for words.
“That’s so soon!” Grace says.
“Yeah, I guess when I got sick last week it hit Zach really hard.”
Seriously? The guy wasn’t even there until I had been there for a whole day and night, and he barely noticed she needed to get back in bed. It’s a miracle Claire recovered at all under his care.
I snort in derision, and both women look over at me in alarm. I glance around, as if searching for the person who made that sound.Smooth, Ryan.
“Do you have everything ready?” Grace asks Claire.
“Not yet, but that’s what we’ll be doing this weekend. Dress, flowers, cake, venue. All of it needs to get officially booked ASAP.”
I force myself to breathe and tell myself it’s still just planning. They’re not getting married this weekend. It’s just the preparation. It can all be canceled.
Two months. I can still win her over in two months.
Besides, we’ve got the tutoring center. Even if she’s being weird and avoiding me, she can’t avoid me during those planning sessions. I’ll draw them out as long as possible, just so we can spend time together. It’ll be fine.
Claire and Grace keep chatting about wedding plans, and I have to get out of here. I wave at Grace and say, “See you at the meeting,” to Claire, then rush over to the other classroom for our math meeting. When I get there, I take the first empty seat I can find.
“Not looking so good, Matthews,” Liam says, alerting me to his presence at the desk to my right.
You’ve got to be kidding me. How did I choose the seat right next to this guy? “Thanks, Liam.”
“Having trouble with the ladies?”
“Shove it.” I bury my head in my hands, my vision spinning as I come to terms with this new reality. It’s almost worse than when Claire got engaged, because at least there was no end in sight. But this time… This time it’s for real. There’s a date. If I don’t convince her to be with me in the next few weeks, it’s all over.
Everyone files into the room, and I force myself to snap out of it. Once again, Claire takes a seat across the room from me. This time she’s with Andy, who gives me a big grin like he’s trying to be my wingman. Great.
Christopher starts the meeting with a slideshow of our schedules for the fall, set to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.”
Fall. Either Claire will be with me, or she’ll be MARRIED by then.
