Page 17 of Fumbling for Perfection

I’d be mortified if I didn’t know how much Jackson and Kendall love each other. As friends. Friends who only see each other every month or so. Small doses are all they can take of each other.

“Promise me you won’t say or do anything to embarrass me in front of his parents.”

“Me?” Kendall looks at me in the mirror, her not-so-innocent green eyes wide with mischief.

At first sight, Kendall is a loose cannon. Her gestures, her mouth, her attitude. It’s the image she likes to portray to keep her heart from getting crushed again. But I know the real Kendall. The woman whose heart is as big as her personality. The woman whose heart was utterly destroyed by a slimy bastard. She hates herself for being fooled by him, and this act is a way to prevent it from happening again.

But when it comes to our friendship, she’s as real as it gets. I love her and respect her. There’s no way I could go through with this without her.

CHAPTER FOUR

RILEY

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, Riley.” Rowan hugs me from behind and takes a seat next to me.

“Trust me. You were better off working in the OR than being snubbed by the Bankeses.”

“Was it that bad?” Rowan picks up the margarita we ordered for her and takes a healthy gulp.

“Worse.”

“Ignore the drama queen.” Kendall loads a chip with a mound of guac and points it at me. “The Bankeses are your old school traditional more-money-than-God snobs, but they have gorgeous friends.”

“Of course you’d turn this mess into an opportunity to pick up a man. Oh, Riley. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“No need to apologize. You’re right. It is a mess.” I squeeze Rowan’s hand. She’s the sweet to Kendall’s sarcastic sass.

I guess I fall somewhere in the middle. Sweet when I need to be, and sarcastic when it suits me and my mood. Unlike my best friend, I’m able to bite back my sass where Kendall has no filter.

Rowan taps on my fingers. “You’re not wearing your engagement ring. Have you and Jackson talked about what happens next?”

“What happens next is we continue with our lives while his mother plans the wedding.”

“You mean herpeopleplan the wedding,” Kendall quips.

Lydia Bankes doesn’t seem the type to fuss over her future daughter-in-law or call around for a bargain wedding. No, she informed me she had a wedding coordinator who would do all the planning, and if I had anything to contribute, I could have my people call her people. To which Kendall replied thatshewas my people.

“I’m sure whatever I’d come up with would be an embarrassment to Mrs. Bankes. She’s more than welcome to make all the decisions.”

“And Jackson said you’re more than welcome to keep having sex with studs like the one you hooked up with Friday night.”

“Kendall,” Rowan warns.

“Seriously, Row. You should have seen this guy.” Kendall fans herself with her hand. “If he hadn’t already eye fucked our friend here, I would have been all over him like a drunk on a tequila bottle.”

“I’m pretty sureyouwere drunk, andyouwere all over the tequila.”

“And Michael.”

“Who?” Rowan and I say at the same time.

Kendall shrugs. “Some guy I hooked up with after you took off with sex on a stick. I doubt his dick was as big as Walker’s, though. Our girl here could barely walk the next morning.”

Rowan curls her lips in to hide her giggle. She’s super sweet but doesn’t mind Kendall’s dirty mouth.

Groaning, I lower my forehead to the table and thunk it two times. Any sane person would be annoyed with Kendall. But my actions prove I’m anything but sane. Besides, she’s right. Walker was perfect, and not because of the size of his dick. I mean, it was totally impressive, and I’d been worried he wouldn’t fit, but what keeps my mind in a constant spiral of lust was how sweet he was with me while at the same time giving me orgasms and dirty talk.

I’d given the girls the rated R version of our night, keeping the X-rated pieces to myself. I don’t know why. It’s not like I’ll ever see him again. Sadly. We didn’t exchange numbers or even full names. Even if I wanted to, there’s no way I could ever find him again. Walker’s not a common name, but it’s not like I can do a first name search on Google.

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