Kelsey pops an eyebrow at her employee, her annoyance clearly warring with her amusement at the terms.
Bryn on the other hand simply says, “Even though Jaxon is almost old enough to be a zaddy, no way it’s anything more than talking.”
“How am I only two years older than you and somehow feel like you’re speaking another language?” I ask.
“Because they basically are,” Kelsey replies. “But enough with that nonsense.” She looks me in the eye. “You and Jax have a lot of history, including him leaving you and you refusing to talk about or think about him for the next fifteen years. Are you sure you know what you’re getting into?”
It’s the same question I’ve been asking myself on repeat the more time I spend with Jaxon. We’ve been down this road before, and he showed me just how willing he was to walk away from me. It was devastating then, and that was when we werejust friends. Now we’ve got something like friendship building, but there’s also undeniable chemistry there.
“Yeah,” I say, lying out of my ass. My sisters are the ones most likely to call my bluff on dating Jaxon, so I’ve got to bring my A game. “I know he made a mistake when he was eighteen, but we’ve moved past that. I’m having a lot of fun getting to know the adult version of Jaxon.”
My sisters both look unconvinced, though Lila’s face screams smitten sixteen-year-old, so I add, “Plus, have you seen that guy lately? I can put up with a lot to get to stare at that face all day.”
“So you’re dating, then?” Bryn asks, unconvinced.
“Well, we haven’t—what was it?—DTR yet, but I could see it heading that direction.”
Now Kelsey seems skeptical, too. Shit. Why am I so bad at this?
“You should definitely invite him to B’s wedding, then,” Kelsey says, her laser-beam stare a clear indicator she’s moved on to just openly calling my bluff.
I feel like stroking a bald cat and evil laughing. My acting skills might be crap—as all the best kids’ movie villains are—but they still fell right into my trap.
“Oh, no,” I say, potentially laying it on too thick. “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience anyone. It’d be fun to have Jaxon as my date, especially now that he’s planning to stick around for a while, but it’s really not a big deal.”
“No, it’ll be way more fun if you have a date,” Bryn says. “Plus, Jax and Jameo run in the same circle, so it’s not like they don’t know each other. He should totally come.”
Kelsey is still assessing me as Bryn types quickly into her phone.
“There,” Bryn says. “I texted Cathy. She’ll work it out with the wedding planner. He’s in.”
“Fun!” I say, pulling out my phone as well. “I’ll text Jaxon and see if it works for him.”
Me
You’re officially my date for Bryn and Jameson’s wedding.
His response comes back so quickly I wonder if he was just staring at the messaging app when my text came through.
Jaxon
How’d you manage that?
Me
Bryn and Kelsey talked me into inviting you. They think they’re manipulating me, but I’m really manipulating them.
Jaxon
The Jedi has become the master.
Me
Well, at least one thing went right today.
My phone starts ringing as soon as I hit send, and I’m surprised to see Jaxon’s name on the screen.
I motion to my sisters and Lila that I’ll just be one minute, handing Bryn my credit card to pay for my dress, which she promptly waves away. Normally I’d fight her on this, but she is marrying a professional golfer with millions of dollars in endorsement deals.
