Page 89 of Best Man
Paulina snickered, admiring the badly butchered metaphor. “Sure, I gotcha.”
“The thing is, I didn’t know or expect that he’d actually fall for you. Ihopedhe would. But I didn’t want you to get hurt or else I’d feelinsanelyguilty—I mean, the best man breaking the maid of honor’s heart? That’d be the exact opposite of a blessing for the marriage—that’d be acurse.”
“Yeah, I see your point.”
“But if you went into it fully knowing how athletes are, and were prepared for him to just walk away after it ended, then you probably wouldn’t get hurt.”
“Ah. I see.”
Piper added, “Besides, I’ve only known him to date models and famous girls, and let’s face it, you live and work on a farm in Montana.”
Paulina pretended to be offended. “Wow! Rude.”
Piper backpedaled. “Not that youcouldn’tbe a model—”
“I’m just playing, Pip. I actually kept telling myself the same thing—oh, Sasha can’t actually like me, he likes supermodels!”
“Gotcha,” Piper said. “Anyway, you want to know when Iknew-knew that you and Niko were hooking up?”
“When?”
“The morning of the wedding when you showed up late, looking all cracked out.”
“Cracked out?!” Paulina repeated with a burst of laughter. “Cracked out on what, exactly?”
“I don’t know! Cock, maybe?”
Both sisters exploded with laughter.
“Cracked out on cock?! Oh my God! You’re unbelievable, Pip!”
“Look, I don’t know what else to call it, okay! But you looked so satisfied with yourself, but also really dopey and sedated, like some really good dick kept you up all night long.”
“Well.” Paulina bit her lip, a silent moan escaping her as a flood of sexy memories rushed through her mind. “Actually, that’s surprisingly accurate.”
“I don’t need to know the specifics,” Piper said. “One last thing. When you were puking in my toilet the morning of the wedding, and I jokingly asked you if it was morning sickness? You totally gave away the game when you ‘joked’ back that you used a condom. Like, that was too honest, too real—no one thinks to make that joke unless they’reactuallytelling the truth. That’s when I knew forsure.”
“Well, shoot. I really thought I’d outsmarted y’all.”
Piper laughed. “Not a chance. Wewerequietly pulling for you, though.”
“Who’s we?”
“The other girls, of course.”
“So they all knew, too, then?”
“Duh! That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Paulie—everyoneknew! But don’t feel bad. We’ve seen this situation play out dozens of times. We know what it looks like when one of the guys starts falling for a girl. Trust me, once you’re here and part of the group, you’ll get to see it happen, too. It’s always so cute.”
Part of the group,Paulina said, those words sticking in her mind.Whoa.
It hadn’t occurred to her yet—probably because she and Sasha had kept their relationship under wraps until now—that she might be part of any group. It was one more thing that cemented the reality of her and Sasha.
“Why do you look so stunned all of a sudden?” Piper asked.
“You said group,” she stammered. “Am I really part of the group already?”
“You’re Niko’s girlfriend now, aren’t you, sweetie?”
