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“Yeah, why the hell is everyone asking me that lately?”
“Because you look weird.”
“You woke me up, asshole.”
Matt raised his hands. “Cranky. Must be hard having the day off.”
“I still work. I’m teaching the damn CPR class.” Just because the season was a bit slow didn’t mean he wasn’t doing anything. He still had training, equipment checks, and now the damn class.
“Fine, fine. Don’t get snippy because you didn’t get your
beauty sleep.” Matt headed toward the front door. Thank God. “One more thing. Bridget wanted me to kindly remind you that the wedding and reception are classy events.”
“Oh, and I’m not classy enough for her?”
Matt raised an eyebrow. Okay, fine, he wasn’t classy—certainly not classy enough to be at the St. Clair level. But hell, he was house-broken for Christ’s sake.
“We meant more like the best man speech could be classy, too.”
“Oh, so you don’t want me to bring up that one time we went to Mexico and found those women—”
“No.” Matt shot him a stern, no-nonsense look.
“I’m kidding,” East said. “I’ve got it covered.” Of course, he was lying. He had no clue what the hell he was supposed to say at a wedding, much less how to give a speech about love or committing to one person for the rest of your life. He was probably the least qualified person on the planet to talk about any of that. But he couldn’t let his buddy down. “Already working on something great,” he assured Matt.
He made a mental note to try to figure out what the hell he’d say for a speech and added it to his growing list of things to do.
“Oh, and thanks again for looking after Natalie. I saw you dancing with her. It was sweet.”
“It wasn’t a pity thing,” East said, a touch defensive. He didn’t like the way Matt sounded like he was doing her some kind of favor. If anything, Natalie was too good for him, and her even entertaining the thought of him was more than he’d ever hoped possible.
Didn’t change the fact that he couldn’t be the guy she needed, or would even want long term.
“I know,” Matt said. “I just think it’s nice she can count on you. I wish I was around more, but you’re doing a good job keeping an eye on her, especially with all this dating stuff.”
“Yep,” East said, feeling like a special kind of loser himself.
“Thanks, man. You know she’s really special.” Matt slapped his arm and walked out. East shut the door and locked it behind him. He waited until Matt’s truck pulled out of the driveway before he headed back to his room and opened the closet.
Natalie was standing there in her wrinkly dress and messy hair, her big eyes staring at him.
“Well, that was…” She glanced around. She stepped from the closet and went straight toward her glasses and picked them up.
“I’m so sorry. I would never hide you in a closet on purpose,” East said. And it was dumbest thing he could think of. But what else was he supposed to say?
“Sure, it was all an accident,” Natalie said. There was a bite to her words. East felt like he’d done something wrong, but it wasn’t like he’d shoved her in there. She’d been hustling in there before he’d even thought to hide her. But any trace of the dynamic they’d had last night was gone. All that remained was the confrontation of what was real. And what was real was that Natalie had just been stashed in his closet like a secret…because she was. For both their sakes.
Which was something they both knew and understood. So why did he feel this shitty?
“I’m going to get going,” she said.
“Well, let me give you a ride,” he said.
“I’m good. The shop is only a few blocks away.”
“Natalie, I’m not going to let you walk out there looking like—”
Her eyes snapped to his, and that made his voice cut off real quick.
