Page 9 of Take Me to the Wedding

“That it’s in the shop.” He paused. “I don’t mind giving you a ride, but I have a few conditions.”

Conditions?The nerve. “Iwasgoing to say that was incredibly nice of you, but now I changed my mind.”

He ignored that. Instead, he simply counted them out on his long, elegant fingers. “First of all, I’m spending Thursday at home with my family, so hope that’s not a problem. Number two, I don’t want to discuss Lilly anymore. Three, I’d prefer you not mention any of this to my family—especially to Mia. And four, most importantly, I need you to stay out of my way. Please,” he added, sounding vehement. “Absolutely no interference.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You don’t want Mia to know that you’re planning to get back with your ex?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know if I’m getting back with her. But I need to resolve some things. And I like to keep my business private.” He got up close. So close I could see the pure, unusual green of his eyes. I’d never seen eyes like that before. They might be beautiful, if he wasn’t someone I wanted to run from screaming, as far away in the opposite direction as I could. His expression was dead serious. “Okay, Dr. Bashar?”

“Yes. Fine. I’ll be ready.” I hesitated, knowing what I had to do. I opened my mouth. Cleared my throat. Forced out the words. “Th-Thanks.” The word stuck like dry, sticky rice to the roof of my mouth. “Thank you.”

As painful as a shot in the butt, but I’d done it.

He gave me a nod and a self-satisfied smile. Then he disappeared into his apartment.

Behind his back, I flipped him the bird.No discussing, no mentioning, no interfering, I mimicked to myself. What a sanctimonious jerk.

But at least he was a sanctimonious jerk with a vehicle. And he’d been nice to save me the humiliation of asking.

So, fine. I’d follow the rules.

Except for that last one.

I lived my life like I lived our Hippocratic Oath; above all, I tried my best to do no harm.

Plus Dr. Annoying was Mia’s brother. Granted, he annoyed the hell out of her too, but she loved him. I had to fix the damage I’d done—fast. I wouldn’t be responsible for someone losing their true love. I committed to do everything I could to help.

I was almost inside my apartment when I heard his voice. “By the way, I saw that,” he called over his shoulder.

ChapterFour

Caleb

I’d told Samantha that we were leaving at eight on the dot, and I meant it, I thought as I checked my watch that Saturday morning. She might’ve sounded apologetic for what had happened, but I trusted her about as much as I’d trust any fresh-faced, brand-new ortho intern to reduce my compound fracture on July 1 of any given year.

And so, on that bright May morning, the birds rioted loudly in the trees, and the clear blue sky promised a sun-kissed day. My great mood was on the brink of teetering when eight a.m. came and went, Samantha nowhere in sight.

Figures she’d be late, I thought as I sat in the driveway, drumming my fingers on the wheel of my voodoo-blue Toyota Tacoma truck. I ran my hand over my few-days stubble—I hadn’t bothered to shave, but I would for sure before I saw Lilly, who’d agreed to meet me for coffee later today. I was just texting SamThe bus is leavingwhen suddenly my passenger door opened and there she was, waving and smiling a startlingly white smile that contrasted with her dark-as-midnight hair, which she wore up in a high, thick ponytail that reminded me of a thick rope of silk.

“Hi,” she said like we were old friends, tossing a brown lunch-sized bag onto the seat.

For a moment, my brain took a detour. I momentarily forgot that we were going to have to sit together in my truck for two hours breathing the same air. She handed me a cardboard drink holder with two steaming coffees as she climbed in.

“Sorry I’m late. I got us some breakfast.” I was confronted by a pair of big brown, worried eyes. Doe eyes that could cause the snarliest grouch to melt. “Peace offering.”

I glanced at the iconic brown bag with a red stripe. “You went to Donut World.” That was the local donut shop around the corner. There was no bad donut there. I should know; I’ve tried every single one.

She clicked on her seat belt, opened the bag, and held it out to me.

“Thanks,” I said, suppressing a groan of ecstasy. First choice? I definitely wasn’t going to let on that cream sticks were my favorite, and one was sitting right there, calling my name.

So Sam was pretty,andshe’d brought donuts—that didn’t mean she wasn’t the devil.

I helped myself to the cream stick, not feeling a stitch of guilt.

“They’re my favorite too.” For a minute we devoured our donuts. Then I sat back and placed an earbud in my ear. “You don’t mind if I listen to my book with one of these while I drive, do you?” I was going to set the precedent early. Low expectations on conversations meant less getting in trouble.

“No, of course not.” She reached into a canvas bag and pulled out a giant library book.

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