“No,” I said coldly.
“So…” Matthew said. He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. “I hear you’re Charlie’s date to the wedding.”
I rolled my eyes and turned back to the smoothies. I could feel Violet’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look at her. I didn’t want to have to explain what had happened. I poured the smoothie into two glasses and handed one to her, while still looking at the counter.
“I hope saying yes wasn’t some ploy to get Charlie to like you,” he said. I felt like my heart leapt into my throat at his words, even though I could hear the mild teasing behind it. It was like he didn’t think I actually liked Charlie, but just in case, he wanted to remind me that I wasn’t allowed to date him even if I wanted to.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Well, I’m just saying you could see how it looks,” he said. “You’re a serial dater who’s single while all your friends are in a relationship, and then this cute guy comes by, and you think?—”
“I think that my coworker asked me to go to a wedding with him because he didn’t know anyone else who would be interested,” I interrupted. I was glad that my voice didn’t shake at all as I said it because that felt like a real risk at that moment. How did Matthew somehow perfectly understand what I was thinking? Was I really that easy to read? Was everyone thinking this about me?
“Sure, you did,” he said, dragging out each word. “Next you’re going to tell me that you’ve never thought of Charlie that way at all.”
“I haven’t!” I exclaimed desperately. My reasons for not wanting Matthew to know were numerous, from hating the idea of my sibling knowing who I had a crush on to the fact that I knew he would kill me if he ever figured it out.
“Good,” Matthew said. His face suddenly changed from one of teasing to serious. “Because you can’t go out with him, Madison. You understand that, right?”
“What is up with you today?” I asked. I backed away a couple of steps. I felt a weirdly intense vibe coming off of him and it was freaking me out a little. I knew he didn’t want me anywhere close to Charlie, but I didn’t realize he cared quite this much.
Matthew sighed and shook his head. “Sorry. It’s just that Ella and Jack broke up last week, and things have been really weird between Jack and Pat ever since.”
Jack and Pat were some of Matthew’s best friends. Ella was Pat’s little sister, who met Jack through her brother a couple of years ago and they started dating pretty soon after. Although Matthew had always been possessive of his friends and not wanting me near them, his intensity about it had definitely increased once that happened. Right from the beginning, he had predicted that something was going to go wrong and it would tear their friend group apart, but Jack and Ella hadn’t listened. He probably felt pretty vindicated in his opinion now.
“I’m sure everything will work itself out pretty soon,” I said slowly. “I’m sure they won’t let go of their friendship over a relationship.”
“I don’t know,” Matthew said. He crossed the kitchen and started filling up a glass with ice from the dispenser. “It doesn’t look like that will happen right now. I told him not to throw away his oldest friendship for some girl, but he didn’t listen.”
“Maybe he really loved her.” I felt like I was grasping at straws here, but I couldn’t help it. I wasn’t planning on pursuing Charlie beyond a fling, but I would be lying if I said I hadn’t imagined it a few times, and in every single one of those daydreams, I imagined Matthew changing his mind about how he felt regarding me dating one of his friends once it actually happened. But clearly, he wouldn’t.
“He didn’t love her,” Matthew said. His voice was strangely monotone. “He just liked the idea of her. Forbidden fruit, you know?”
I did know. Sadly, I knew all too well. Sometimes, I worried it was the only reason Charlie was attracted to me at all.
seventeen
“It was a gorgeous ceremony,wasn’t it?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah, it was,” I said. I squeezed his hand gently and looked out over the long creek that ran around the edge of the country club. I’d never been there before, but it was a perfect place for a wedding. “And this place is gorgeous.”
“Almost as beautiful as you,” he whispered in my ear.
“You’re a shameless flirt.”
“And you like it.”
I sighed and turned to face him so I could wrap my arms around his neck. “I hate that you’re right.”
Charlie smiled and kissed me. It was brief—nothing like the many make-out sessions we’d had in his car—but I had no complaints.
“I need a drink,” I said. I stepped away, feeling like the warmth was sucked away from me now that I wasn’t pressed against him.
“Do you want to go back to the reception?” Charlie asked.
“No, I’m just going to get a drink from the table over there,” I said, tilting my head toward the back exit of the reception hall. There were a couple of tables outside with glasses of water. “Be right back.”
I dropped his hand and quickly crossed the courtyard to grab a glass. I could have only been gone for a minute, but Charlie wasn’t alone when I turned back around.
