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“And I still think you’re marrying the wrong man. Let me prove it.”
She scoffs. “Even if we checked in and fucked our brains out all night, there’s still the issue of my dad. You told me once that I wasn’t worth losing a friend over.”
Those words I tossed at her four years ago in my desperation to push her away make me wince now. “I’m sorry I said that. I was wrong. No, I was lying so you’d back down. But neither Dan nor our business is the issue between us. The twelve-year gap in our ages doesn’t mean a damn thing anymore, either. The only thing stopping us now is you.”
“I can’t take you seriously. The notion of marrying me never occurred to you until today.”
“That’s not true.”
“Okay. Not before this week.”
I can’t refute her.
“That’s what I thought. You’ve always tried to ‘save’ me in some way or another—from being lonely as a kid, from starving if I forgot my lunch money, from sucking at video games. If you sacrificed yourself simply to rescue me from marrying Derek, we’d both be miserable. Just drop it.”
She has it all wrong. But when she crosses her arms over her chest and looks out the passenger window at the passing scenery—tuning me out—I realize nothing I say now will convince her she’s wrong.
The rest of the trip is silent.
When we arrive back at Dan’s place, Derek is gone. Perrie disappears into her room.
My best friend frowns as he watches her go. “She’s upset. What happened?”
“We should talk.”
Dan frowns, then shrugs. “Sure. It’s beer o’clock. We can sit out on the back patio.”
I’m not eager to see all the wedding prep progress, but we can talk out of Perrie’s earshot there. “Sounds good.”
A few minutes later, Dan and I are settled around the patio table, taking in the sunset. I’m too distracted to appreciate the vivid oranges, pinks, and yellows coloring the sky. I take a deep breath and prepare to blow up my entire personal and professional life with one sentence.
“I’m in love with Perrie.”
Dan pauses mid-sip, then lowers his beer can again. “I know.”
Not only am I shocked, his response gives me zero idea how he feels about that.
Feeling the need for liquid courage, I pop open my brew and chug half in a few swallows. “And…I’m going to do everything I can to put a stop to this farce on Saturday. I don’t want to lose you as a friend or a business partner, but to be honest, Dan, if you don’t approve, that’s not going to stop me.”
Absently, he fingers the rim of his can. “What does Perrie want?”
“Not to disappoint you. So I’m telling you what’s up, man to man. I’d like your blessing, but if you can’t give it to me, please don’t give her your disapproval. It will crush her.”
“You think she’s in love with you, too?”
“She’s done her damnedest to hide it, but yeah.”
“Still?”
It’s my turn to frown. “You knew…”
“She had a crush on you before she left for college? Hell yes.” He lets out a long breath. “She told me. And I’ll tell you what I said to her back then. If my two favorite people in the world make each other happy—when the time is right—that would make me happy, too.”
Warm relief slides through my veins. “I want you to know I’ve never touched her. She kissed me once but—”
“I’m impressed. I wondered for years whether you slept with her that summer before she left.”
If I had, would everything be different now?
