“Becauseyouknocked into me.”
“Onaccident.”
He lets out a deep breath, raising an arm to run his hands through his dark hair. I watch as he pushes it back, one single strand falling loosely in his face like he’s Clark freaking Kent. How dare he be in the same handsomeness category as Superman?
“Fine,” he says, dropping his hands back to his sides. I tilt my head to the side. “Agree to disagree then.”
“Perfect.”
The same waiter who handed me my first glass of champagne strolls past and Reid lifts the last two full glasses of champagne off of it, extending one to me. I eye it briefly, debating if I really want to accept anything from him, before I finally realize I will need the alcohol to finish out this evening. With him, with Kate, with all the smiling and fake pleasantries I’ll have to continue for hours.
So I reach a hand out and grab the flute from him. He holds his glass toward me in another attempt at a cheers. I narrow my eyes at it, then up at him. His lips hitch slightly at the corner, there and gone in the blink of an eye. He lifts the glass an inch higher. “To surviving this wedding,” he says.
I’ll bite on that one. This wedding will be dramatic. I can already feel it. I may not be the maid of honor, but I already know I’m going to be doing the heavy lifting on planning and helping and paying for things while Lydia gets all the credit. For whatever reason, Kate is the only person I haven’t been able to hold firm boundaries with. And with all the responsibilities of being a bridesmaid, I know in my heart she’s going to press them even further.
I sigh and clink my glass to his. “To surviving.”
Chapter 6
There’s a pounding in my skull when I finally peel my eyes open the next morning. The sun shines in from the window where I must’ve forgotten to shut the curtains last night in my haste to fall into bed and sleep off all the champagne. Without consuming any kind of water first, apparently.
I blink against the brightness and reach for my phone on the nightstand to check the time, only to be met with a collection of messages. And by collection, I mean a handful from Lola asking how the night went and if I survived, and a few in the siblings chat about brunch.
Wait.
Jane: Wait, we’re still doing brunch today?
Kate: Duh. It’s Sunday
Charlie: We just saw each other last night
Kate: And now we get to see each other again.
Lydia: Yay!
Kate: So see you in an hour!
Lydia: ♥???
I delete the three sobbing emojis I had typed out and replace them with a thumbs up, then toss my phone and flop onto bed with a groan. This is so much family time for the week, and I have a feeling it will only increase from here the next four months.
Today when I stroll into the Sunshine Cafe—dry this time, albeit a bit hungover—I freeze halfway to the table when my eyes connect with the blue-gray ones I had spent much of last night glaring at.
Reid draws in a breath like he’s preparing for battle, which he very well could be considering how very little we seem to enjoy each other’s presence, and settles back in his chair. I pretend not to notice his biceps flexing in his navy blue T-shirt as he crosses his arms over his broad chest.
Dammit, why does he look good in every article of clothing he owns? Chef coat. Suit and tie. Basic damn T-shirt.
Nope, not acknowledging that today.
A server brushes past me with a tray of food, snapping me out of my intrusive thoughts, and I start walking to the table with purpose. I stop beside Kate, slapping a hand on the table and propping the other on my hip.She jumps in her seat and swivels her head to look at me, a hand pressed over her chest like I scared her.
“What is he doing here?” I hiss at Kate.
“He can hear, you know.”
I pretend I don’t hear Reid.
“He’s in the wedding party. I figured we could do some planning,” Kate says, an excitement in her voce that gives me momentary pause. I don’t want to fight with her ever, let alone when she obviously wants to plan a milestone as big as her wedding, but Reid at something as sacred as Sinclair Sibling Brunch? I cannot stand for it. Significant others weren’t allowed until after six months of dating. Mom and dad weren’t even allowed to come along. And Kate is just inviting Reid? Commandeering this entire brunch to be about her and her wedding?
