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What can I say, my standards for favorite are pretty low in my family. All it takes is a popsicle and you’re it.
Next to him stands Aunt Glenda. She’s wearing a gold gown that looks more wedding-like than dinner-like, but she looks really pretty in it.
And then there’s Paisley and Max.
Paisley is wearing a white satin nightgown-type dress with a draped neckline that shows her thin frame. Her hair is curled and pulled up around her face with rhinestone clips, and she looks deliriously happy. Her fiancé, Max, is wearing a black suit, a white dress shirt, and a blue tie.
Max’s outfit is basically the same as Cole’s, but there’s a noticeable difference in fit and quality between the two.
Earlier today, Cole had come back with a black garment bag, confusing the hell out of me since I thought he was on a stakeout in the middle of the forest. But he’d explained that Mr. Webster was gone and he’d made the trip to get clothes for tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s wedding. I’d told him the jacket wasn’t necessary, but he’d insisted, saying he’d have it in case I got cold.
That alone had warmed me enough for the entire evening.
Well, that and the fact that Cole looks good in a suit. His shoulders seem extra broad, his tie matches his eyes perfectly, and as comfortable as he seems in tactical stake-out gear, he seems surprisingly right at home in fancy clothes too.
We sit and dinner is actually... okay.
There are toasts, but everyone’s fixated on the bride and groom, and I can comfortably disappear into the group of guests, which is good because I can only focus on Cole. He’s completely at ease, smiling and laughing along with everyone at the right times, clapping politely, and eating with all three forks like he knows what he’s doing.
Meanwhile, I’m struggling to cut my overdone steak and trying to decide whether I should pick up the potato wedges and eat them like fries or dice them up. I glance to Cole for guidance, and he stabs a small piece with his fork and offers me a bite.
“These are really good. We’ll have to make them at home,” he murmurs. It’s between us, but the table is full of people so others can’t help but hear.
“What? Uh, yeah, we should,” I answer clumsily after swallowing the bit he fed me. It is a good potato, but what follows is the real spice that leaves me wanting more.
He places a chaste kiss on my lips, quick as a blink, like he’s comfortable doing that anytime he wants, and then goes back to listening to one of the groomsmen wax poetic about Max’s college days.
He’s playing the doting boyfriend so perfectly that if he’s not careful, I’m going to forget that he’s acting.
After dinner, everyone mingles around the room again, chatting about tomorrow’s ceremony.
I excuse myself to the restroom, but as I’m touching up my makeup, I freeze, caught in the lounge area by Paisley and another cousin, Nikki. They’re coming in the door and haven’t seen me yet, but Paisley’s laughing and says incredulously, “He’s real? I mean, she RSVPed for two, but I totally thought this was one of those ‘he goes to another school’ type of things.”
Nikki laughs and agrees, “Me too!”
Paisley’s not done and suggests, “Maybe he’s a fake boyfriend? I’ve read about those in books. Or” —she giggles— “I could see her paying him.”
“Totally,” Nikki answers. “I mean, talk about an odd couple. Look at him and look at her,” she scoffs.
I drop my lip gloss to the counter with a clatter and Paisley gasps, sounding about as fake as a three-dollar bill. “Oh, Janey! We didn’t know you were in here.”
They knew. I can see it on their faces—the fake shock, the evil glint in their eyes, the triumphant smiles they can’t quite control. They intentionally walked in here, knowing I’d be alone and defenseless, to taunt and tease me.
And I let them.
Most days, I’d have something to say. I’m not the mousey little girl they remember from when we were kids. I’m stronger now, but I’m also too freshly hurt to find anything in my mind. For once, it’s completely silent and blank.
“Excuse me,” I say, trying to brush past them to escape.
But rather than getting out, Cole pushes his way in... to the women’s restroom. Well, it’s the lounge part, not where people are peeing, but still. He shouldn’t be in here.
His eyes are stony and cold, and the charming gentleman from all evening is gone, replaced with the hard man he can be. Is it strange that I’m glad to see this version of Cole? I think it’s closer to the real him, not the fake chuckle-chuckle guy he’s been for some of tonight’s conversations.
“This door is so thin that I could hear every word you two said and it’s fucking disgusting. That sort of disrespect might be accepted by everyone else, but it’s not acceptable to me. And not to Janey. You think we’re an odd couple? Not sure you’re one to judge since your husband has been eyeing every woman here all night—the waitress, the hostess, the blonde bridesmaid,” he sneers at Nikki.
“He has not,” she insists, but there’s doubt in her eyes.
I don’t know whether that’s true or not, but if Nikki’s hubby was eyeing someone else, Cole would definitely be the one to notice. And that particular bridesmaid is Nikki’s sister, who has a sordid history of her own and has actually slept with a couple of Nikki’s boyfriends over the years.
