Page 14 of Not Quite Perfect

If this was another one of her quickie marriages where the guy would be gone come the holidays, I wouldn’t be freaking out. It would have sucked to put the brakes on whatever was brewing between David and me, but I could have while we bided our time until we could be together.

But this felt different. I didn’t think Richard was a flash in the pan.

And that meant I couldn’t wait around for it to fall apart so that David and I could skip off into the sunset. Because as long as our parents were married, I couldn’teverlet myself think about him in that way. We’d had one amazing, toe-curling, soul shattering night together, and I’d have to live on the memory of it for the rest of my life.

There was simply no way we could ever repeat it.

And I’d gotten the impression he was on the same page when he’d introduced himself so cooly. As if we hadn’t just spent the night together. As if, when he’d dropped me off only hours before, we hadn’t made plans to see each other again later in the week.

As if I hadn’t been imagining what it would be like to have him in my life forever.

Now, he’ddefinitelybe a fixture in it. Just not how I’d envisioned. Not how I wanted.

And I didn’t know how to handle that.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to stomp around. I wanted to lift my fist and rail at the fates. But most of all, I wanted to drink as much champagne as I possibly could and then get fat on wedding cake before retiring to my room—alone.

But first, we had a wedding ceremony to get through.

I pasted a smile on my face and clasped my mom’s hand. “Come on, let’s go get your married.”

* * *

“Are you okay?”Drew passed me a glass of champagne.

“I will be,” I said, taking a small sip of the bubbly. This was my sixth glass, and while I wasn’t as drunk as I wanted to be, I was starting to feel all the carbonation in my belly.

My brother’s eyes flashed with sympathy. “I’m sorry, sis.”

“I know.” I let out a long, protracted sigh. Looking out over the dance floor—my mother swaying in her new husband’s arms to some sappy eighties love song—I told myself that my unhappiness was at least for a good cause.

Drew’s eyes followed mine. “She seems happy. Then again, shealwaysseems happy on her wedding day.”

Something about Drew’s tone made me drag my eyes away from the happy couple to find his again. “Does it bother you?”

He shrugged. “I’d by lying if said her constant quest for love hasn’t made me leery about relationships.”

I’d wanted to give Drew space after our earlier conversation, but this seemed like the perfect opening. “About this morning …”

He chuckled nervously and ran his hand through his hair. “At the moment, I … um … I kind of have a boyfriendanda girlfriend.” As if ashamed, he dropped his gaze to the carpet and shuffled his foot back and forth.

I let out a surprised laugh and held my hand up for a high five, like he’d done earlier. “Good for you!”

At least one of us should be getting some on the regular.

He raised his eyes and bit his lip guiltily. “They don’t know about each other. Obviously. And I’m not really sure I’d call Aaron my boyfriend. He’s just someone I, um, someone …” His cheeks turned pink and he glanced away. “Well, you know.”

Unbidden, my eyes searched for David, finding him deep in conversation with a man who looked as if he could be family. “Yeah, I do know.”

David Carstairs would forever be the guy I’d had the most perfect night of my life with. The sex had been epic, and I would have gladly gone back for seconds, thirds, and fourths, but that wasn’t an option anymore.

But this wasn’t about what had happened between David and me. My baby brother was opening up about something he’d kept hidden from us, and I didn’t want to derail the conversation with longing glances across the room and thoughts of what could have been.

“So this Aaron …”

Drew laughed, as if he knew what I was attempting to do. “Oh no, you don’t. We’re talking aboutyourdrama right now.” His tone sobered. “Seriously, Vick. Are you okay?”

I threw back the rest of my champagne and set the empty glass on the tray of a passing waiter. “I met David approximately thirty-six hours ago. I think I’ll manage.”

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