Gwen
Sunday morning, I awoke completely relaxed with high spirits. I listened to music while I showered, dressed, and did my makeup. When Kelsey texted that she was out front of my building, I was already slipping into my most comfortable pair of Vans.
After Alaric left Friday night, I had the deepest sleep of my life, sedated by all the orgasms. When I woke on Saturday morning, I felt renewed and spent the entire day writing.
Of course, by writing, I’d worked myself into a horrible state of arousal and had ended up practically begging Alaric to come back.
But he had, and we had sex twice before he left.
Whistling cheerfully, I locked my apartment and practically danced down the steps. I climbed into the front seat, flashing a dazzling smile at Kelsey. “Good morning, sister face.”
“I take it your chat with Alaric went well.”
“It did. We’ve agreed to try casual.” I shrugged. “But I don’t want a word of this uttered today. Mom doesn’t need to know. We’re just having fun, and she always makes a huge deal of this kind of thing.”
“You used to, too,” Kelsey noted with some concern.
“Yeah, but I’ve learned my lesson,” I argued, lifting my chin and ignoring the whispers of my heart. It was hard not to be affected by Alaric; he was the ultimate package, but he was also completely emotionally unavailable, and I needed to remember that.
“Oh, I get it.” Kelsey nodded, understanding dawning on her expression. She pulled onto the road and started to drive toward our parents’ house to pick up Mom.
“Get what?”
“You’re still trying to play it cool. Gwen, I saw how he looked at you. It’s pretty obvious how he feels about you.”
“He wants me. That’s all.” I shrugged, trying to dismiss her words, feeling uncertain and worse…hopeful. This was precisely why I needed to shut down this topic; I couldn’t afford to have those kinds of seeds planted in my mind. “Like I said, we’re just having fun. So, could you let me have that without making me overanalyze things? Because I have a hard enough time not doing that on my own. I don’t need you adding to it.”
“Sorry,” she said, sending a concerned glance my way. “Just be careful.”
I sighed. “Fine, but can we drop it now? Today is about you and finding you the perfect dress for your perfect day,” I said, steering us back to safer waters as our parents’ driveway came into sight.
“That’s true. Todayisabout me,” Kelsey said gleefully as she turned down the gravel driveway. As we pulled up to my parents four-bedroom, three-bathroom brick house, Mom walked out the front door, closing it behind her.
I surrendered the front seat to her and climbed in the back, thankful that we still had another two hours before I’d have to deal with Janice. Speaking of which, I was going to need a coffee—stat. “Hey, could we maybe stop for coffee?”
“Sure,” Kelsey said, waiting until we were both buckled to put it in reverse and back up. She turned around, driving down the gravel driveway slowly. “We’ll hit up the travel centre.”
Satisfied, I sat back against my seat and pulled my phone from my purse. I had no new texts. Before the disappointment could set in, I pulled up Renly’s name and sent him a message.
Me:I’m about to spend the day dress shopping with Kelsey, her future monster-in-law, and my mom. Please send wine.
I didn’t have to wait long for a response, as Ren’s phone was never far from his hand.
Ren:I think they serve champagne at bridal boutiques.
“Oh my God, do they actually serve champagne at bridal stores?” I demanded, looking up from my phone. Mom turned around to frown at me, flabbergast by my interruption. “Sorry, I just, I didn’t know they did that.”
“As I was saying, Kelsey,” Mom said, turning back to look at my sister. “The Dominican is a beautiful place for a honeymoon.”
“I like the idea of going to Iceland.” My sister shrugged. “Or Europe.”
“Paris would be romantic.” Mom nodded with agreement. “Although it would be cold in February.”
“I don’t mind, and neither does Elliott. I’m sure Paris is just as beautiful in February as it is in the summer.”
“Oh, it so would be, Kels!” I said eagerly, leaning forward a little bit. “And you could take the train to Amsterdam. Actually, I think you can take the train pretty much anywhere.”
“That’s the plan,” Kelsey admitted, grinning ruefully. “We kind of want to see as much of it as we can.”
