“It doesn’t matter because I don’t trust you to introduce me to anyone. And besides, what you see is what you get. Lost my luggage, remember? I don’t have anything. No underwear, no toothbrush, nothing.”
He chuckles. “Come on. I’ll take you into town to Dollar General after dinner.”
Great.
I follow him toward a group in a shaded courtyard under twinkling lights.
He pivots, walking backward, and gestures. “What’d you spill on your shorts?”
My fingers twitch to pick at the now-dry but still-sticky blue stains. “I didn’t spill anything. Some psycho decided to dump an entire blue ICEE on me.”
Hudson spins back around and steps aside, and the beautiful brown eyes of that very psycho—uh, girl—blink at me.
My mouth drops open before I slam it closed. Can I please hit rewind on this day?
Scowling, she crosses her arms. “Ava, did he just say some ‘psycho decided’ to dump ICEE on him?”
“Hey, Ava.” I give the bride a little wave.
Ava gestures with her drink. Is thattheICEE? “Oh, please tell me this isn’t the ‘rudest boy in the world’ from the gas station?”
Rudest boy in the world? I raise an eyebrow.
Neither of us speaks. The parents and grandparents gawk.
“Great. You’ve met.” Ava slurps her drink, her sarcasm as caustic as those blue chemicals. “And in case you were wondering, you both have names. Morgan, Will. Will, Morgan. Ready to eat? Come on, Grandma.” She hooks her arm through an older woman’s, leads her toward the table, and abandons the frozen drink. Gotta be pure liquid by now.
The wordgrandmaseems to draw the two of us out of our trance.
Hudson slaps our shoulders and laughs. But it falls flat when neither of us cracks a smile. “Let’s let bygones be bygones, huh? It’s our wedding weekend.”
He’s right, of course.
The girl—Morgan, is it?—gives a tight-lipped nod.
I finally offer Hudson a grin. “No problem. And no one says bygones, man. I know you’re older than me, but exactly how old are you?” I loop an arm around his neck and haul him across the stone patio, treating him like he used to treat me when I was shorter and scrawnier. We’ve spent many a summer and Christmas vacation here. I can let it go. It will be like old times. I’ll stick with him for the next two days. Have a good time. Be a good cousin and then head straight out of town the second the wedding is over on Saturday.
Hudson shakes me off. “Hey, kid, remember I’m older and wiser. Doesn’t matter that you’re taller than me now.”
I check over my shoulder. Morgan frowns at me until Ava motions her over. Her face breaks into a smile. Man, she is easy on the eyes. Lean athletic build, long golden-brown hair, warm brown eyes, a heart-shaped smile.
If I hadn’t stopped at that wretched convenience store for a wretched cup of coffee, I’d be meeting her right now, and that radiant smile would be directed at me.
Well, a raspberry ICEE and my own frustration stole that opportunity. I yelled at her, aided in ruining her shoes, and called her a psycho. Not a great first impression.
I’m an idiot.
I turn back to Hudson—time to focus.
Wedding. Groomsman. Bygones.
We meander to the table, and I find my place card. Wouldn’t you know, Morgan’s sitting right across from me. She’s already scowling in my direction.
This should be fun.
CHAPTER FOUR
MORGAN
