Page 40 of Take Me to the Wedding

I shook my head. “If it doesn’t have caffeine and aspartame in it, I don’t want it.”

“Why are you here?” I asked Mia. “I thought you were with Brax.”

“I was, but my brother is convinced that Quinn is stalking you. He said something about having a talk with him. He asked me to see if you were okay. Is that valid?”

Wait… Caleb was worried about me? I forced myself up, propping myself on my elbows. I was surprised and grateful that Caleb had noticed. Not that I couldn’t handle Quinn by myself, but still. “Quinn’s just not getting the hint, and I’m not sure what I can do other than spell it out for him.” All this reminded me of tonight, so I turned to Gabe. “Could we be partners at the square dance? If not, then I’m going to get stuck with him.”

Gabe’s face fell. “Oh honey, I’d love to, but I can’t tonight.”

“You’re not going?” My throbbing head just got throbbier.

“Jason’s on the way,” he said a little sheepishly.

“Jason’s coming… here?”

Gabe nodded. He couldn’t contain the elation in his voice. “He’s been working really hard on his dissertation, and we’ve barely seen each other. Ani had the idea that he should bring his work up here for the weekend.”

“That’s really nice.” I tried to mean it. “But I hate you.”

“I can help you with Quinn, don’t worry,” Mia said. “But is something else wrong? I mean, I’ve never known rejecting a guy to get you upset.”

Mia knew me so well. A mere mortal man—especially one who was a pain—wasn’t something I ever lost sleep over. And here’s the thing with Mia. The reason we’re best friends. I can’t lie to her. There’s something about this woman that makes me instantly unburden my heart. I wondered if it was genetic, because I’d felt the same way with her mom. But this—how could I tell her any of it?

She pointed to my lap. “You’ve been shredding again.”

I looked down to find that the tissues I’d been clutching had indeed been shredded to pieces. I swooped down and picked up the mess and balled it all up.

I took a deep breath, finding my courage. Mia was my best friend. No matter what happened, she deserved to know the truth. “I spread a rumor by accident about your brother, and it somehow got back to Lilly, just as he was trying to get back with her.”

Mia frowned. “That’s not like you. What kind of rumor?”

“That he cheated on someone that he dumped. It wasn’t true. But I thought it was, and I was mad about something else that happened between us at the hospital.”

She put a hand to her chest. “Caleb’s a pain, but he’s absolutely not a cheater.”

“I offered to straighten things out with Lilly, but he said no. But I had an opportunity to talk with Lilly just now and I took it. And then I did Oma’s matchmaking move, just to reassure Caleb that all was well.”

“That thing where she puts her hands on the couple?” Mia asked. “She did that with Brax and me.” She smiled proudly. “We were a great match.”

“Your grandma did it with Jason and me too,” Gabe said. “We passed with flying colors. But judging by your face, something wasn’t magical about this time.”

“With Caleb and Lilly, I got nothing. No energy.Nosimpàtico.” I rubbed my pounding temples. “I didn’t pay enough attention to my grandma to understand what I’m doing wrong. And now it’s lost.” I was now bawling into my shredded tissues. Mia ran to the bathroom and gave me a long tail of toilet paper. I promptly blew my nose.

“There’s something else,” I managed. “It’s awful.”

Mia clutched my hand. She and Gabe exchanged grave glances. “What? What is it?”

“You know how I hated Caleb? Well, the energy I picked up wasn’t between Caleb and Lilly.” I hesitated. Was I really going to spill this? “It was between Caleb and me. I really screwed something up. And I think I might have a crush on him! How is that possible? I mean, the last crush I had was Justin Bieber in high school!” I dissolved back into tears.

“Wait a minute,” Gabe said. “You and Caleb?” He started to laugh. “Girlfriend, you’re not telling us anything we don’t already know.”

Mia nodded. “We’ve been seeing the fireworks between you two for ages.”

“Yes, angry ones,” I said. “It’s not anything,” I rushed to tell Mia, because… her brother! “It’s just one of those thoughts that you get in your head, and once it’s in there, it won’t dislodge. I’m sure it will pass. I swear, I would never ruin his chances with Lilly. Hopefully I said enough to Lilly just now that she’ll give him a chance.”

Mia put a hand on my shoulder. “You’re just… human.” She paused. “It’s been a long time since you’ve allowed yourself to be.” That hit me hard. What did she mean by that? “Besides, somebody’s got to love Caleb. It might as well be you.”

“You don’t understand. I don’t love him. And I definitely don’t want to like him. It’s just… attraction. I’m sure it will fade.”

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