I’d normally laugh at that.
They would too. Instead, both of them sigh again.
“You going out anywhere for real?” Decker asks me.
“Nope.” I am definitely hitting a bar somewhere tonight. But I’m not taking them along.
Might make Chandler sad to get jilted by his groomsmen.
Can’t have that.
I give Em a tiny salute ofI’ll get out of your hair, then nod to Delaney. “Thanks for the save. Owe you one next time you catch on fire.”
Her nostrils twitch. “Happy to help.”
Total teacher’s pet answer.
As expected.
She starts to say something else, but I head around the pool like I didn’t notice.
If Chandler’s sphincter’s too tight this week, Delaney Kingston’s has been too tight since before she was born.
Not her fault. Probably. But it will be my fault if I hang out here and annoy her more after taking her for a fully-clothed dunk in the pool. Nothing like getting on the groom’sandthe bridesmaid’s bad sides.
So the best I can do is make myself scarce.
Claire, Em’s blonde sorority friend and another bridesmaid, lifts her brows and smiles at me as I pass her. “Nothing’s boring when you’re around, is it?”
I wink. “Boring’s for other people.”
She smiles wider and opens her mouth like she’s about to ask if we can benot boringtogether.
I remember Emma’sdisappointedin me, and I continue on my way.
This week’s weird. Not that I don’t put Emma first on a regular basis, but this week isextra. And apparently I haven’t toned myself down enough yet to make the couple of the hour happy.
“Okay, son?” my dad asks as I hit the edge of the pool area.
“Barely singed,” I report with a grin.
Uncle Owen cracks up. Dad sighs and shakes his head while I keep going.
He wasn’t meant to be a single dad. Definitely not to two middle schoolers and then high schoolers. But he does his best, and that’s all we can ask.
And I know he adores Emma as much as I do.
She’s such a genuinely good person that you can’t help but be happy for her when she’s happy, even if you don’t understand things like how Chandler Sullivan makes her happy.
You still want to stand in her glow. You want to be the reason she’s glowing, because the brighter she glows, the more the world is a better place.
Not my time to be in her glow though. This is my time to give her space.
Sucks, honestly.
She’s one of my favorite people in the entire world.
And this week, I amnothers.
