Page 18 of Like It's 1999

“Well, I hate to sayneverabout anything. But not till I’m alotolder.”

“When is the ideal age to settle down, do you think?”

“I don’t know. Sometime after thirty-five. Forty, maybe.”

“Really?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Well, that’s kind of late to have kids.”

“Exactly! That’s my plan. Like, oh…too bad, so sad Mom and Dad, you could never match me up with the perfect Korean guy, and now I’m too old to pop out perfect Korean grandbabies. So I guess I’ll just have to be an old maid”—I whisper the next words as if my parents were in the next room instead of hundreds of miles away—“and do what I want. Which does not include kids. I’d be a terrible mother. I’m way too selfish.”

“Wow. I thought all women wanted kids.”

“Pretty sexist, dude. I mean, doyouwant kids?”

His grimace matches mine. “Well, not really. I like being an uncle, but I’m very happy to return them.”

“That’s how I feel. Plus”—I gesture to the atmosphere—“there are too many people here on earth anyway. Nope. Not having kids.”

“Alright then. Let’s make a deal.”

“I’ll take whatever’s behind curtain number two.”

Ignoring my quip, he clears his throat and continues. “Assuming they’re still together, let’s you and I throw Kate and Will a ten-year anniversary party. If neither of us is married at that point, we get hitched.” He shrugs, like this is a deal he makes at every wedding. “The last day of 1999, we’ll both be well into our thirties.”

“Sure.” I can’t even imagine where life will take me between now and then, but if my parents haven’t managed to pin me down by the year 2000, it wouldn’t be settling to settle down with a fun guy like him. Plus, this feels kind of like a dare, which I can never resist, so I pull out the wedding program from my bag. “Got a pen? Let’s make it official.”

“There’s one in my pocket, along with my program.” He points to his coat. I fish both out and turn him around so I can use his back as a desk. “I, Alice Kim, do hereby swear that if I’m not married on December 31, 1999, I will marry Hot Steve Lowell.”

After I sign, he takes his program and the pen, and we switch places. His breath is warm on the nape of my neck as he recites, “I, Steve Lowell, do hereby swear that if I’m not married on December 31, 1999, I will marry Love ’Em and Leave ’Em Alice Kim.”

As he finishes, the muffled chanting of the wedding crowd counting down to midnight echoes across the water. Steve’s brow arches in question as they shout, “Happy New Year!”

What the hell. It’s breaking all my rules, but it’s just a New Year’s kiss. I step in close, take his face in my hands, and pull his lips to mine.

STEVE

She started it, but I’m the one who can’t stop. This woman’s scent has been driving me wild all night, like she’s emitting pheromones designed for me. The moment her lips touch mine, it’s on. She tossed a match, and there’s only one thing that’ll douse the flames.

I just hope she doesn’t say no.

I pull back from the crush of lips and teeth and tongues, to skate my nose across the soft skin of her jaw and trail a finger down the side of the dress that hugs her waist and hips the way I want to. I get a shiver in response. It is cold out here, of course.

Man, I’m overthinking this.

Hoping for the best, I just whisper in her ear, “Wanna go to my room and get naked?”

“If you didn’t ask in the next thirty seconds, I was gonna drag you to mine.” She grabs my hand. “Let’s go.”

She can move in those heels. By the time we get to the exit, I’m breathless.

Tick-tocking a finger in the space between us, she says, “No more cigarettes tonight. I thought you gave that up.”

“I did,” I sigh. “But work stress has been bad. End of year shit.” I pull a roll of peppermint Life Savers from my pocket and peel the paper until two drop into my palm. She takes one, I pop the other in my mouth, and then I steer her to my rental car. Once we’re inside, I get the heat going and then pull her in for another kiss. This time her shivers can’t be about the chill in the air.

Thanking the gods that the hotel is close to the wedding venue, I get us there in minutes. As I fumble with my room key, I wonder if I’m actually nervous. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve picked up a girl at a wedding. In fact, I had sex with one of Kate’s many cousins after the wedding where I was her fake date. On the down low, of course. I’m not a complete asshole.

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