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Wade’s bed is comfortable and soft, the blue plaid comforter smells like fresh laundry. I barely remember lying down, but when I open my eyes, the light in the room is different and there’s a weight at the foot of the bed.
For a heartbeat, I think it’s Wade. But no.
I sit up fast. “Kelsey, what are you doing in here?”
She’s sitting with her knees tucked neatly together, eyes rimmed in red, and a tragic smile on her face.
“When you first got here, I didn’t know what to think. Wade never brings girls home. And I didn’t really see—” She takes a breath and holds up her hands with a helpless laugh. “I thought, she’s all wrong. It can’t last. I even let myself think maybe you weren’t really together. But I see it now.”
Her being in here while I’m sleeping is beyond inappropriate, and it isn’t even close to the oversteps she’s taken with Wade. But more than ever, I can understand why Kelsey hasn’t been able to get over Wade. If I lost him, I’m not sure I could.
I wouldn’t be like this, but I feel for her.
“I care about him very much.” I love him. It took me by surprise, but there it is. And while I’m sure, the first time I say those words, it will be to him.
A nod, and she pushes up from the bed. Walks to the bookcase filled with trophies and medals. “He deserves someone who will love him. Through thick and thin. I thought it could be me.” A fresh tear slips free. “But he wants it to be you.”
“I’m sorry, Kelsey.” What else is there to say?
“Me too.” And then with a last sad smile, she leaves the room.
I take a minute to absorb what just happened. I hear the front door close and then the sound of an engine turning over. The house is quiet and when I make my way downstairs, there’s a note on the kitchen table.
Kelsey’s getting ready at a friend’s.
When I text Wade, he calls me back within seconds.
“She was sitting on the bed?”
He sounds pissed.
“It was weird, definitely. But, Wade… I think your fake girlfriend plan actually worked.”
“Realgirlfriend. You agreed. You’re mine.” His voice drops to a seductive whisper that stirs another needy ache low in my center. How is that even possible? “But I’m happy to leave my parents with the chair rental truck and come back there to remind you, Good Girl.”
“Don’t abandon your parents, please. I want them to like me. But feel free to remind me again once you’re back.”
He growls through the line and I practically float into the living room.
“Wade, I’m serious, though. Maybe this was exactly what you were hoping with Kelsey. Maybe she needed to see you with someone else.”
“Maybe she needed to see me withyou.”
My heart warms. “Maybe you should hurry back here. See if we can sneak off for an hour before the rehearsal.”
There’s some rustling from his end, like he might be covering the phone. Then a muffled, “Dad, let’s wrap it up… tell Mom I’ll buy her both.” Then more clearly, “On my way.”
* * *
Turnsout the hour we were hoping for ends up being more like ten minutes. But they’re ten minutes I put to good use getting Wade to tellmeemphatically,repeatedly, and interspersed with a string of unintelligible cursing,that he’smine.
Who knew a girl could get such a power trip being on her knees?
We make it to the farm for the rehearsal with a few minutes to spare. Janie’s family is fussing over her and Walt in their matchingBrideandGroomT-shirts. There are cousins on ladders stringing LED lanterns around the grove that borders the clearing where the tables will be set up. And the Gradys are all smiles and hugs as we walk over to where some relation on one side or the other is coordinating the dry run.
I step off to the side where a smattering of dates hang back, watching as the bridesmaids and groomsmen are paired up and given instructions.
There’s a tiny blond girl with bright blue eyes running around like an adorable terror. And when Wade catches her on her next pass, parking her in the crook of his arm… well, that is some potent stuff.
