She didn’t take me seriously. And really, why should she? I’ve never been romantic or sentimental around her. I’ve only ever been a cocky smartass, always joking and teasing.
I wipe the sweat from my brow. I should have explained myself. I should have just been honest and told her the truth.
But I held back. Because I was scared of how she’d react if she knew that I wanted to try to be different for my best man speech. That I want to try and be better than the smug jokester everyone sees me as. I was afraid that she’d laugh in my face.
I shouldn’t have assumed that she would react that way. Especially after the night we had.
We actually got along with each other. We laughed and chatted while sharing our favorite takeout. It felt like old times, when we were friends in college.
Warmth pools in my chest at how good it was to feel like I was friends with Kendall again. I think about how she told me about what it was like to be a caretaker for her aunt and how her ex broke up with her over it.
Tightness squeezes through my chest just thinking about what he did…and the pain in her eyes when she talked about it. I could tell it hurt her. It felt awful seeing her like that…but it also meant a lot. Because it meant that she trusted me enough to talk about something so personal.
That warmth in my chest overtakes the tightness. I finish my cooldown and hit the mats to stretch. Regret gnaws at me. She was open and honest with me. I should have been the same with her.
As I head to the locker room to get cleaned up, I check the time. I’ve got a few hours until Kendall comes over for our next meeting about the wedding. And when she does, I’m going to be honest with her.
When I answer my front door, there’s Kendall standing there with a massive paper bag in her arms.
“Hey. Ready to write some speeches? I brought plenty of food to power us through.”
I chuckle. “Hell yeah.” She walks in and heads to the kitchen island.
“You didn’t have to bring takeout,” I tell her. “I was going to order delivery for us again. Training ran a bit long today so I didn’t have time to order before you came over.”
“You paid for brunch and takeout last time. It’s my turn to bring food,” she says as she unpacks boxes of Chinese takeout.
I clear my throat. “Hey, listen. I wanna apologize for last week.”
She looks up, a confused frown on her pretty face. “For what?”
“For the way I ended the night. I think was a little short with you.”
Her expression softens. “Yeah, I noticed,” she says softly.
“I’m really sorry about that,” I say. “It’s just that, I was serious when I said I wanted to do something sentimental and romantic for the best man speech. And when you laughed, it kind of threw me off. I know you didn’t mean it…”
Her eyebrows crash together in concern. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me to laugh at you.”
“It’s okay.”
She steps around the kitchen island and walks over to me. “It’s not okay. I really am so sorry.”
I nod. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I just wasn’t expecting you to say that. You’re always joking around, and I just assumed that’s what you were doing,” she says. She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “That sounds like I’m making excuses.”
I touch her arm. She opens her eyes and aims that gorgeous deep brown stare at me. “It’s okay. I get what you’re saying. I’m not known for being the most sentimental guy. Or romantic. But I want to try and be for this speech.”
Her lush mouth curves up in a sweet smile.
I pull my hand from her and run it through my hair, working up the nerve to say this next part.
“I, um, thought it would be cool to incorporate some romantic literature in the speech, since Aidan is a professor andhe and Micah write romance books together.” I pause. “Unless you think that’s a stupid idea…”
The most radiant smile spreads across Kendall’s face. “Liam, that’s so thoughtful and sweet. And crazy romantic.”
I grin. “Yeah?”
