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“Don’t bet on it.” Her shoulders straighten and that stubbornness that I remember comes to the forefront. I miss that part of her. She’s nothing like the girls I met at college or when I first moved to New York, who would all just agree with me, whatever I said or wanted to do. That’s the last thing I want in a partner.
You want them to be their own person, speak their mind, have an opinion, and tell you what they feel. I don’t know what it is about me, but I need a woman with a strong personality and sense of herself. That’s why Sasha and I work together. She doesn’t rely on me for anything, and we can talk, argue, and then continue to laugh about lots of things.
The only other woman who has ever stood up to me like that is this one sitting next to me. She is more complex than solving the mystery of the Bermuda triangle.
The conversation thankfully has moved a little to Xavier, who’s telling me all about Alesha, while she’s sitting on his lap with her pinked-up cheeks. She obviously doesn’t take compliments well.
“Man, I wish your sister would hurry up and get here, I’m starving.” Xavier lifts Alesha off his lap and stands.
“Well, at least not much has changed there,” I tease. “You were always hungry when we were in high school. We would have this huge breakfast and then halfway through first period you would be asking me for food. Your mom would pack enough for three days’ worth of meals for the normal person, but for the human food vacuum here it was never enough.” Everyone laughs as Xavier is madly trying to defend himself. Even Nat is smiling at that because she knows how true it is.
“Joke’s on you for giving up your food for me when I still had more in my bag then. So, who was the smart one then, huh?” The knock at the door has Xavier moving while still trying to get us all to believe him.
“That would be me,” I say, “because I told my mom I needed money for lunch since you always ate mine. Just saying, my bought lunch was much better than what my mom packed for me. You just ate my sloppy seconds.”
Xavier rolls his eyes at me. In his best sarcasm as he’s opening the door, Xavier looks at me and says, “Man, I miss having you around.” The door opens and Lilly is standing there looking like she is about to hit the town. “Hey, Lilly. Welcome.” Xavier signals her into the apartment so she can make her grand entrance like I would have expected. I’ve only met her once but could tell she’s a wild one.
The banter between Xavier and Lilly is instant, and I can tell she doesn’t let him get away with anything, giving back just as much as she’s receiving. Making her way into the room, I notice that Kane hasn’t taken his eyes off her. Even while I talk to her, I have a feeling that she’s playing a game with him. What is it with these women? I need to get out of this thick supercharged air in here, so it’s time for another beer.
“Lilly, can I get you a drink?” Offering turns out to be a mistake. Kane looks like he wants to stab me, and when I spot Nat out the corner of my eye, she’s looking at me with fire blazing in her eyes because I have my hand on Lilly’s shoulder. I’m getting the picture of what’s going on in this room real fast.
“I got it,” Kane bites out. With Kane now getting the drink for Lilly, I take my seat again with my new beer, and the topic turns to Sasha. It makes me a little uncomfortable, sitting next to Nat and everyone asking questions. Especially Lilly. I can tell by the way she’s dressed that she would love to meet Sasha and talk fashion and modelling.
Lilly is talking so fast and almost like she’s a little nervous, but when Kane sits on the armrest next to her, slinging his arm across the back of the chair behind her, she starts squirming in her seat but she keeps going with the questions, trying her best not to react to his presence.
“Is Sasha going to be able to make it to Xavier and Alesha’s wedding?” Lilly asks excitedly. I hear ever so slightly the hitch in Nat’s breath. I hadn’t really thought ahead about that date either. There is no way that Natalie will be able to get out of being at her brother’s big day, and it would be expected if Sasha can make it, that my wife will be there too.
“She’s not sure. It’ll depend on her upcoming contracts. She’ll try, of course.” Out the corner of my eye I see Nat almost chug the glass of champagne she has in her hand. This isn’t going to end well.
Xavier takes the floor then, and I’m grateful for him to change the subject.
“Well, Alesha and I asked you here for dinner tonight for a special reason.” My mind wanders off when Lilly starts screaming, thinking they’re announcing a pregnancy, but instead he continues. “We wanted to have you all together to let you know that you’re our wonderful bridal party. We’ve asked you individually, but here we’re all together. Lilly and Kane, you will be our maid of honor and best man and partner up, and Nat, you and Jordan will partner up.” Nat tries to take another drink from her empty glass.
He’s already asked me earlier about being a groomsman and if the date would work in with my training schedule. I was honored and told him I would have taken special leave anyway, as long as it wasn’t in the middle of the season. I just didn’t even think any further than that about a partner and all the formalities of the day. This will be my first wedding party, and I’m sure Alesha will be pointing me in the right direction of what I need to do anyway. Thank God I’m not the best man. Kane has that role and responsibility. Xavier already explained to me the only reason I’m not the best man is that my schedule is too chaotic. So, I just get to turn up for the bachelor party, keep Xavier alive through it, and then stand next to him in a suit on his special day. Surely, I can manage that.
Getting us all up to raise our glasses for his toast to the bridal party, Alesha and Lilly are both crying happy tears at his speech, but I’m not sure Nat’s tears are happy ones.
"Cheers to good friends and family. Always there when you need them. We love you.”
The words are a bit too close to home. Reminding me, and I’m sure Nat, of another toast a long time ago where Xavier cemented in our heads the words “friends for life.”
We clink our glasses, and I’m relieved just as I’m sure Nat is too that Xavier has us all heading to the dinner table. I think some food in Nat’s stomach would be a great idea at this stage of the night.
The chatter starts again as soon as we’re sitting, and Nat could not have moved her chair any farther away from me on our side of the table if she tried. There is basically no table left, otherwise I’m sure she would have just kept moving farther down the room. Thankfully, normal conversation starts to flow over dinner. Nat seems to be quiet now but not as tense as before. Her shoulders aren’t up around her ears anymore, and she’s leaning back in her chair looking more relaxed.
The longer dinner goes on, she starts coming back into the conversation a little.
"Baby, no one cares about your crazy mom,” Xavier says to Alesha. “We just want you happy and not stressed. I know this thing is going to be a struggle with your OCD tendencies anyway, but your mom is not helping that. So I have a plan. Whenever it gets too much, we need a code word.”
And then just like that, Nat starts giggling.
Replying to Xavier, she says, “What about ‘red’? That worked so well for a certain book couple. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to take a trip into his red room.” Lilly spits her drink across the table, and Xavier starts carrying on about too much information from his sister and saying no wonder she doesn’t have a boyfriend.
My fists clench under the table at his words until I hear Natalie’s reply.
“No, it’s because they don’t think I’m pretty and they can tell I’m in love with someone else.” She takes another drink of her wine.
Everyone else just freezes and stares at her, but instead, I can’t hold back the words that shoot out of my mouth. “What the fuck? Are they blind? You’re stunning! They don’t deserve you.” I can’t contain the anger I’m feeling at every guy she has ever been with. What the hell were they thinking? Nat is the most beautiful woman on this planet, without a doubt.
