She has taken it upon herself to make sure the lie is bulletproof, so she grabs a notepad and starts scribbling several things—wedding rings, backstory, and whether River owns a suit. She's got this
River serves the roasted garlic soup he's been making, along with some freshly baked bread. Reason number five why River is perfect. With him, I'll never go hungry.
"I have a suit."
"A good suit?"
"Define good."
"Does it fit you or are you talking about the one you bought at college graduation?"
"It fits. Mostly."
"Mostly."
Rachel and River may be twins, but they argue about pretty much anything and everything. Two sides of a coin and all that.
But on the other hand, something warm unfurls in my chest. These two are my ride or die. The kind of people who won't ask questions if I call them and tell them to bring a shovel and garbage bags.
And River? I'm half in love with him, whether I admit it to myself or not, so a weekend pretending he's my husband isn't just a disaster waiting to happen.
I know, down to my core, I won't walk away from this unscathed.
===
2
RIVER
Rachel texted me nonstop while we were in the air.
I know because my phone kept buzzing against my leg, and I kept not looking at it because Nadine was asleep against the window with her hair in her face.
I was working very hard on minding my own business. I am very good at minding my own business. I have been minding my own business, and I am extremely skilled at it, except for the forty minutes somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico when Nadine shifted in her sleep, and her head landed on my shoulder. Outside the window, clouds drift past like they've got nowhere to be. I imagine they are Rachel and, like her, keeping tabs on us.
With the blood rushing down south, I had to decide very quickly whether to wake her up or sit very still for the remaining flight time. I decided to sit still. The decision was stupid, but I made it anyway. Story of my fucking life.
The armrest between us exists. It's doing its best but still failing spectacularly. The wheels hit the tarmac, and Nadine's headjerks up. She blinks twice, looks at my shoulder, then at me, then away, wiping frantically at her mouth.
First of all, she didn't drool because she only drools after a very long day.
"You didn't drool, by the way."
Nadine pinches my arm. "That's very ungentlemanly of you. I was trying to be subtle."
"If subtle is snoring lightly, then okay."
She grabs my arm, eyes wide with horror. "I-I snored?"
She didn't, but I like teasing her. "I mean, you can ask the guy from across the aisle. He's been glaring at you."
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"The last time I woke you up from a deep sleep, I got a black eye. You don't wake up slowly, Nad. You jerk awake, and I have zero plans of getting a black eye this weekend."
"But—"
"I was kidding. You didn't drool."
