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Sarai turned toward Ani’s voice so we were both looking over the back of the couch, and before I could block it, Ani’s hat came sailing through the air and hit Sarai in the face.
“You suck,” Ani said, pointing at Sarai.
“What did I do?” Sarai asked, laughing as she threw the hat back. Ani’s hair was sticking up at all angles. She looked like she’d stuck her fingers in a light socket.
“You put makeup on,” Ani accused, like she’d been betrayed. “This is the day after Thanksgiving. How could you?”
“I—” Sarai looked at me for help. “I wasn’t supposed to?”
“How the fuck should I know?” I asked. “I don’t wear makeup.”
My mom came down the hallway, her hair wet from the shower but neatly pulled back.
“You too?” Ani gasped.
“I didn’t want Sarai to feel out of place,” my mom replied, smiling our way. She was wearing lipstick.
“It’s like I don’t even know you people,” Ani bitched, stomping toward the kitchen.
“What was that?” Sarai asked, watching Ani leave with wide eyes.
“We usually just do dinner in our pajamas,” my mom said, grinning. “But I realized I hadn’t told you before you two fell asleep, so I decided to mess with Ani a little.”
“I ruined tradition,” Sarai said with a grimace.
Mom laughed. “You didn’t ruin anything. Ani’s a beast when she hasn’t had enough sleep. She’ll be even funnier by the end of dinner, scowling at everyone and practically falling asleep at the table.”
She turned to walk away, and I reached out to grab her hand. “Hey, Ma,” I said, stopping her. “I just realized that I’m supposed to report back in Sunday night, not Monday morning.” My mom’s smile fell. “We have to leave tomorrow night instead of Sunday.”
“Oh,” she said, looking a little deflated.
“Sorry, Ma,” I said, guilt causing a sharp pain in my gut.
“You gotta do what you gotta do,” she replied, giving me a small smile. She leaned down and kissed the top of my head, then followed Ani into the kitchen.
“Um,” Sarai murmured, drawing my eyes to her. “Were you going to tell me that we had to be home earlier?”
I grinned. “We don’t,” I whispered.
I watched her expression become even more confused as she tried to figure out what the hell I was doing.
“I found us a different flight,” I said easily, leaning forward to kiss her.
“Okay,” she said, kissing me back. “Why?”
I pulled away slightly and stared into her eyes. “This one stops in Vegas,” I replied.
“Las Vegas?” She still didn’t understand.
“Las Vegas,” I confirmed, smiling. “Where you can walk into any chapel and get married on the spot.”
“Oh,” she breathed, her eyes widening.
“We’ll get there tomorrow night, and our flight leaves at noon the next day.”
“That must’ve cost a fortune,” she said.
“It wasn’t too bad,” I lied. “I got us a room, and we’re all set.”
“When did you do all this?” she asked with a chuckle.
“When you were breaking tradition,” I joked.
“I’ve never been to Vegas,” she said, her lips tipping up at the edges.
“Sorry,” I replied, my smile growing. “But we won’t have time to sightsee this trip We’ll be finding the first chapel and then spending the rest of the night in bed.”
“Can’t wait,” she murmured, leaning forward to kiss me.
* * *
The next twenty-four hours flew by. Time at home with my family always went by quickly, and leaving a day earlier made that feeling even worse. It was tempered by excitement, though.
We kept our plans to ourselves as we said our good-byes, but I felt Ani’s suspicious eyes on me more than once. She knew something was up, and she didn’t buy the story that I’d mistaken the day I was supposed to be back in Missouri. She kept her mouth shut, though.
“Are you coming home for Christmas?” she asked, hugging me good-bye.
“Not sure yet,” I replied, surprising her. I never missed Christmas.
“Oh,” she said finally in understanding. “I didn’t even think that you’d have to coordinate plans with your new lady.”
“I’m not sure if she wants to go home for the holidays,” I said with a small shrug, even though the idea of missing Christmas bummed me out.
“Ooh,” Ani said. “Maybe she’ll take you home to meet the family.”
“Maybe.” I glanced over at Sarai, who was saying good-bye to my parents. They both hugged her, and my dad said something in her ear that made her laugh.
“You did good,” Ani said, following my gaze. “I like her.”
“I knew you would.”
“No you didn’t,” she scoffed. “It could’ve gone either way.”
“Not true.”
“You have shit taste in women,” Ani said.
“I do not.” I looked at her in disbelief. “And I’ve never even brought any women to meet you.”
“Exactly,” she said, nodding. “Because you knew they were shitty.”
“That’s not—”
“Jesus,” Bram cut in, shaking his head as he stepped beside us. “You two are like twelve-year-olds.”
