“He seems nice,” Nate says. “Friendly. He’s the one who suddenly got married, right?”
“Yep. And I go to his wife’s book club.”
“You’ve had this job for, what, years now? I’ve not heard a complaint.”
“It pays the bills.”
“Youlikeit.” He smirks in my direction.
“Yeah, yeah. I do. You’ll never let me live it down that you found the job listing.”
“And got you to apply. You were so sure you wouldn’t get it.”
I sigh and cross my arms. “Fine. You were right about this one.Don’tget used to it.”
“Face it, I’m right about most things.”
“Except when you mean to go left.”
His smile drops. “You’re never gonna let that go, are you? I got us caught in front of the arenaonetime?—”
“It took hours to get outta there.”
“But we had fun! We listened to theMulansoundtrack and belted out every lyric!”
“And then not to mention the time when you got Dr. Pepper and Coke, and gave me the wrong one because the employee told you it was on the left. IhateDr. Pepper, Nate. You tried to poison me.”
He rolls his eyes. “And then I got you cheese fries to make up for it. Without you asking.”
“Don’t gloat about your apology skills. You’ve already tested the limits today.”
He leans in, and the smile is back. “And you know I’ll keep testing them. It’s kinda my thing.”
chapter two
I haven’t even takenmy sweater vest off when there’s a knock at the door. I frown and check the time, wondering if it’s later than it should be.
It’s not.
Quinn is on the other side, but I know for a fact that she isn’t supposed to be here until five. Her bleach-blonde hair is curled today and she’s wearing a bright pink sweat suit.
“Hey,” she says and holds up a bag of unpopped popcorn. “I hope it’s okay that I’m early.”
I blink and try to adjust my plans in my head. “I can make it work. I don’t have everything ready, though.”
She sighs as she walks into the house. “I’m sorry, I had to come early. I have a few birthday plans that I have to make it to, so I can’t stay that late. Mom’s insisting, or else I would cancel.”
Andrea is not the kind of woman who takes no for an answer, and both of us know it. She’s been a part of every single moment of wedding planning, including picking the date. She said that if the entire family was coming into town for something, she also wanted it to be near another big event. Quinn is turning thirty in a little over a week, and her party is going to be as big as the wedding.
I’m not upset that Quinn’s birthday is going to be a massive event. This is just how things are in this family. What I am upset about is the fact that her party is the day after I get back from my honeymoon. Technically, it’ll all work out. But there’s a feeling of discomfort that’s grown as I get closer to my big day. I don’t know what it is, but it’s persistent.
It’s not like I can call it off. I have to get this over with.
“It’s fine. We’ll have time for a movie.”
“Good,” she says with a sigh of relief. “I can’t wait for girl time.”
I close the door and make popcorn before walking back over to the couch. The original plan was to change and be in comfortable clothes when we did this, but I don’t want to delay us since she has to leave early.
