Page 43 of Love and Other Champagne Problems

The elevator arrived then with a blessed ding. “What did you do?” Sumner asked me as we stepped on, putting a respectable space between us.

“Nothing.” I kept my gaze on my feet to avoid Sumner in the elevator’s mirrored doors. My fingertips fluttered at the hem of my shorts, and I half wished I’d changed into pants so it covered more skin. “Sketched. Read my horoscope. Stared out the window. Exciting times.”

“Your horoscope say anything good?”

“‘You will not die of boredom, but it will feel like it.’”

“So, I’m your main source of entertainment, too, huh?”

I lifted my chin. “Maybe a little.”

Sumner smiled, and my own threatened to tip up in response.Am I pretty when I smile?

You’re pretty when you don’t,Sumner had said.You’re beautiful when you do.

The elevator opened on the fifth floor, where a group of four men stood waiting to get on. Sumner stepped closer to me, our shoulders brushing once before he shifted to stand slightly in front of me. I had the perfect view of where his golden hair curled against the back of his tanned neck, where the fabric of his shirt lay against his skin. I thought about when I’d pressed my thumb to the side of his neck on Saturday, about how he’d jumped in response. In disgust? Somethingelse?

If I reached out now, he’d surely jump again. My gaze slipped to his shoulders, ones that seemed stiff even through the fabric of his loose shirt. If I traced the tension, he’d be sure to stiffen further. A part of me wanted to test it. It was an impulsive sort of want.

The doors to the ground floor opened before I had a chance to, and the elevator unloaded its occupants. “Did you have a lot of friends back home?” I asked him as I headed off to the left of the hallway, toward the lobby, feeling almost shy.

“A few. Only two that I was close-close with.” Sumner tipped his head one way, and then the other. “These past few months were really busy for us all, though. One got engaged, started wedding planning, and the other was busy with work most of the time.”

“People grow apart,” I murmured with a nod. “I know what that’s like.”

“Yeah. We talk often, though. One of them, I’ve known since, like, pre-school. I talk to him practically every day.”

I scrunched my nose. “The beans on toast guy?”

“That very one.” He smirked at the disgust on my face. “He’s the busy one. We both started working for the same company right out of college, but he took on a position… higher up. Good guy—a little socially awkward, drinks too much sometimes, but I think he’s finally ready to settle down.”

I listened to his fondness for his friend quietly. The words seemed somewhat of a ramble, but it was rare for Sumner to reveal anything about himself, and I soaked it up. “He’s ready to settle down… and you?”

He shrugged. “If I ever meet someone.”

“You haven’t met anyone yet?”

“I haven’t really had time to.” We made it to the lobby then, and in a wordless agreement, we turned down the passageway that’d lead us to the country club. There weren’t many people about; the country club itself closed at eight on weeknights, so it’d be ghostly soon. “High school, college, work, moving here—maybe one day.”

It all sounded very normal, ordinary. I liked the simplicity of it. I also liked knowing that there wasn’t someone back in California waiting for him to come home, but I didn’t let myself think about it long.

Sumner glanced at me, an obvious attempt to be casual. “So… How did you and Aaron—well,meetisn’t the right word, is it?”

“We were at the same social event this past December. Apparently, he saw me and fell in love, but not enough to walk over and introduce himself. He’s either more of a social outcast than I am, or the ugliest man alive.”

Sumner seemed offended for him. “Maybe he’s just socially awkward, too. Shy.”

“Too shy to talk to me, but not shy enough to reach out to my parents and ask them to ‘save me for him.’”

“He didn’t say that.”

I sighed. “Fine, he didn’t, but it was probably along those lines. He did reach out after that event, though, and ever since, my parents have been full steam ahead for an Astor-Massey collaboration.”

The lobby of the country club was empty, not even a staff worker seated at the desk. I started downthe left corridor, and Sumner followed along after me. “You said yes, though. You talk as if you didn’t have a say in marrying Aaron.”

I looked at him and realized that he didn’t know that I hadn’t had a say. Of course, he wouldn’t have known, since I’d never told him, but it was still a shock to realize he assumed I was excited about being set up with Aaron Astor.

My silence must’ve made him suspicious. “Youdowant to marry him, don’t you?”

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