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My heartbeat crashed against my ribs as I stared at him. Did he really not see how amazing he was? He was funny and kind and smart and gentle. He was so handsome it should be illegal, and he could be fierce and protective one minute and then tender the next. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it (quite literally since I had his sweatshirt as proof), and he was always there for the underdog. Anyone would be lucky to have him and any brother worth his salt would be glad his sister had found him.
And yet, he wasn’t perfect by a mile. Because he’d rather fight how he clearly felt for me than risk upsetting his precious best friend.
My shoulders drooped under the weight of my realization. “You know what? I’m sick of this. I can’t keep pining over a man who looks at me like a child.”
“What? I clearly don’t look at you like a child. Come on.”
“But you do look at me like someone who can’t make her own decisions, and you care way too much about what my brother thinks about us having feelings for each other. And that’s not cool. If we’re talking about what I deserve, I definitely think I deserve better than that.”
Without another word, I stomped around him and went to the driver’s side of my car, ripping the door open before plopping into my seat with a huff. I didn’t spare him another look as I put the car in drive and pulled away, but man, I wanted to. I wanted to see if my words had any effect on him. I wanted to know if he understood where I was coming from, and if he cared about me enough to do something about it.
The ball was in Will’s court now. And I wouldn’t try again until he picked it up and did something with it.
* * *
The rest of the week flew by in a flurry of wedding preparations. I had a wedding tonight, another one tomorrow, and then a week from today would be Paul and Shelby’s big day. To say I was busy would be an understatement, and for once in my life, I was glad for it. Running around with a to-do list as long as the Mississippi had prevented me from thinking about Will. From thinking about that kiss.
How could he be so thick? He really didn’t understand why it was wrong to care so much about Paul’s feelings that he’d ignore his own? Or mine, for that matter? It didn’t make any sense. Sure, he’d admitted that he didn’t view me as a sister. That much was clear. We were like lightning when we touched, and there was no way he’d kiss a real sister like that. It’d be illegal, not to mention gross. But saying he didn’t want to start something with me because of Paul despite our connection had me furious.
I wanted to be mad at my brother. If he hadn’t been so ridiculously protective over me, Will never would have started acting that way or caring what Paul thought about us being together. Maybe he would have felt more comfortable approaching him when he’d first realized he was into me.
My mind wandered back to our high school days as I did my final walk-through for tonight’s wedding. I tried to recall any looks we’d shared that would clue me into his true feelings. When had the tables turned for him? When had he realized that he liked me as more than just the girl next door, the one he’d grown up with, and his best friend’s annoying sister?
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out, smiling when I saw it was Layla calling. She’d been on a trip to Florida with her sister, Lyndi, for the last couple of weeks, visiting their grandparents.
I held the phone to my ear, putting a pin in the drama that they knew nothing about. “Hey, girl. Are you guys back yet? It’s been quiet around here without you.”
“Hey,” she crooned. “Yes, we got back last night. It was such a good trip. We got tan, sat by the pool, went to the beach. Everything a vacation should be.”
“Except that you also couldn’t get Lyndi’s nose out of a book the whole time?”
Layla’s laugh was infectious. “Oh, totally. I think she read twenty books over the last two weeks.”
“Seventeen,” I heard Lyndi call out from somewhere in the background.
“But who’s counting?” Layla remarked with a chuckle. “Anyway, how are you?”
“Busy, busy, busy. I’ve got two weddings this weekend and then the official countdown is on for Paul and Shelby.”
“I can’t wait. It’s going to be amazing. Thanks again for hooking me up with Beau. He’s a stud.”
I grinned as I continued to walk around the reception area, straightening every fork, flower, or chair that was even an inch out of place. “Anytime, friend. I’m going to have to put him on retainer at the venue if all of my friends are going to be bringing him to my weddings.”
“You should! There’s no reason you shouldn’t get a cut of the profits for facilitating his dates.”
“Wait,” I said, my feet stuttering to a stop, “I feel like that would make me some kind of madam. So maybe not.”
“Girl, no. He’s a totally grandmother-approved, honest-to-goodness wedding date for hire. Don’t let Paul and Will’s gigolo jokes get to your head.”
“Good point. Anyway, since you guys were gone for our traditional first-Friday-of-the-month girls’ night, we skipped it. I have so much on my plate with June being such a hot wedding month, so it made sense. But now Shelby will be on her honeymoon for July’s first Friday. Maybe we can mess with our schedules so we don’t skip two in a row?”
“Absolutely,” Layla agreed. “We’ll need a girls’ night ASAP so we can catch up.”
I couldn’t help but wonder what things would be like between Will and me when girls’ night came around. I’d never dished about my feelings for him, but maybe if we worked things out, I’d finally be able to. Butterflies took off in my belly at the mere thought of being honest about my love for him. But then I quickly shut them down, knowing that if Will didn’t fix what was broken between us and our relationship never got off the ground, I’d continue to take my secrets to the grave.
“Hopefully we’ll have plenty to talk about,” I said, crossing my fingers with my whole heart and soul that we would.
“Sounds good. Anyway, I know it’s a wedding day, so I’ll let you go. I just wanted to say hi and tell you I’ve missed you.”
