Page 13 of My December Darling

The bar is low.

Nancy

Just don’t show up to her wedding hungover and you’ll be loads better than me.

Winny

And don’t sleep with the best man.

Nancy

I forgot that happened! I must’ve wiped that traumatic memory from my brain, but thanks for the reminder.

An uncomfortable tightness forms in my chest when I consider the best man of my sister’s wedding.

It’s bad enough that I once dated the groom, even though we never slept together, but to possibly be interested in his best man, too? Worst idea ever.

A one-time fling to get Luke out of my system would only lead to more problems than it’s worth, and any residual awkwardness that’ll occur afterward is reason enough to steer clear of him. Acting on a fleeting attraction would only further complicate an already sticky situation between Gabriela, Aiden, and me, so I’d rather keep my head down and make it through the month without any mistakes or unnecessary drama.

Me

I already dated the groom, so I’ll pass on the best man.

Later that night, once I return home after helping my sister finalize the seating chart for the wedding, I try working on my maid of honor speech. I only make it through a single sentence when a new message from an unknown number pops up on my phone.

Unknown number

Hey.

I’m about to report the message as spam before a new one pops up with a photo of a Styrofoam cup I recognize all too well from the hospital.

Unknown number

If I die tonight, please let them know I hated every sip of this.

My lips twitch as I save Luke’s contact information incorrectly, solely because it makes me laugh.

I spend the next five minutes considering if I should answer him or not before reminding myself that it would be rude to snub my future brother-in-law’s best friend.

Me

If you end up dying, I *almost* feel bad for being the last person you text.

Lucas

Some might consider that a form of flattery.

Me

What’s the antonym of that?

Lucas

Fuck if I know. I’m a doctor, not a thesaurus.

I hate that he’s funny. It would be a hell of a lot easier to ignore him if he wasn’t actively trying to not only talk to me but make me laugh too.

I come to my senses, and I’m about to exit the chat when another text shows up.

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