Page 77 of Until You

“Britt…”

“You’re running from something, Lanie. And until you face it, you’ll never stop.”

Lanie’d had enough. She stood and glared down at her cousin. “I love you, Britt, but back off.”

Britt set down her drink and stood to face her. “No, I love you too much to let it go. Name one serious relationship you’ve had with a man.”

Lanie realized they were drawing attention and dragged Britt over behind a trellis covered in flowering ivy. “Tony,” she said, resuming where they’d left off. “We were together for an entire year.”

“You were a sophomore in college, and you broke that one off too.”

“Yeah. Because he liked Dungeons and Dragons.”

Britt’s brow rose. “That’s not a reason.”

Lanie clenched her fists at her sides. “In my defense, that’s just plain weird. He was some kind of magic guy and started walking around in a black robe, getting pissed if I didn’t call him Mage Llewellyn. How was I supposed to take that seriously? Could you imagine him at Thanksgiving dinner?”

“Were you in love with him?”

“What? Are you kidding me? I loved him at some point. Then he got too weird.”

Britt shook her head. “No. Not love, I’m talking in love. You know, when you see a guy and you go weak in the knees, you can’t take your eyes off him, and he’s all you can think about.”

“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Britt, but that’s lust.” She caught Randy in her peripheral vision. He must have walked over from the grill to see what was going on. “Love’s different. Deeper.”

“That’s true. But let’s focus on the first part. Name one man who’s made you feel alive.”

There was only one, and she sure as hell couldn’t tell Britt, so she remained silent.

“See?”

“Storybook endings are for you, Britt, not me.”

“You don’t know that. You won’t even try.” She took a breath. “So instead you’ll just stay with your job, or you’ll get fired and find some other impersonal corporation to work for, pretending that you like being alone.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lanie said, tears stinging her eyes. She never cried, and that pissed her off even more. “That’s why Aiden was here yesterday. He asked me to—”

“Britt,” Randy interrupted and rushed over to step between them. “Do you know where the hamburgers are?”

Britt gave him an exasperated glare as she pointed in the direction of the grill. “There’re over there where you left them.”

He forced a laugh. “I must have had one too many beers.” Then he moved over to Lanie and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, giving her arm a hard squeeze. “Britt, I think it’s time Lanie and I came clean about Aiden.”

Britt gave him a bewildered look, but Lanie shot Randy a glare. She didn’t want Britt to know until she’d made a decision.

“Randy—”

Randy squeezed again and cut Lanie off. “Let me tell her.”

“Randy,” Britt said sounding confused. “How do you know about Aiden?”

Randy kept his arm in place. “She told me yesterday after the photo shoot. While we were discussing your gift…Isn’t that right, Lanie?”

What was he up to?“Yeah, but—”

Britt put her hands on her hips. “Go on.”

Randy continued. “As you know, Aiden is Lanie’s old boyfriend.” He shot Lanie a pleading look, then turned to his fiancée. “She wants him to come to the wedding as her date.”

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