Page 25 of Four Weddings to Fall in Love
Rory, as usual, isn’t far behind him.
In their mid-twenties, Aaron and Rory are the youngest of my cousins.They like hockey—both watching and playing—and going out for a drink.
“Let’s do a shot!”Rory says.“Tequila for us and a special for you.A cement mixer.”
I’m not falling for that.“Nope.”
“Aw, come on, I thought you liked cement.Aren’t you, like—what’s it called?A structural engineer?”
“That doesn’t mean I like cement…in my mouth.”
Aaron bends over, slaps his leg, and laughs, and I find myself laughing along.What is wrong with me?
“Whatdoyou like in your mouth?”Rory asks.
I think of Kim, of course.
My cousins don’t push me to answer, though.That’s not their style.
“How about a prairie fire?”Aaron suggests.
“I won’t do a shot with hot sauce.”But thanks to the booze flowing through my veins, I don’t feel too irritated by his suggestion.
He slaps me on the shoulder again.“That’s fine.Three tequila shots, coming right up!You enjoying yourself tonight?Cool party, isn’t it?All those purple flowers were pretty.They’ll look nice in the pics, I bet.”
I do a tequila shot with my cousins before they wander off.That’s the first shot I’ve done in many, many years.Then I grab a third glass of whiskey and collapse on the chair next to Leo.
“Hey, bro,” I say, patting his arm.
He looks alarmed.“How about we go back to the hotel?”
“No.”I cross my arms.“No alcohol there.”
“I’m not sure you need more—I can’t believe you did a shot—but I do have a bottle of vodka in my suitcase.”
I start laughing.Leo has a bottle of alcohol in his suitcase!How hilarious!
He glances at his watch.“The next shuttle’s in ten minutes.Can you manage a moving vehicle?”
“I’m notthatdrunk.”
“I think you might be, and I’m jealous.It takes a lot more to get me drunk.”
Something’s up with Leo.He’s frowning—wait, no.That doesn’t mean anything; he’s always frowning.Still, something’s different.Like, his frown is frownier than usual.
I let out a sound that might be a hiccup.“Kim doesn’t do relationships.”But I still have enough wits about me to know that I shouldn’t tell him what I said to her.
I’d utterly wreck you.
“Well.”Leo pauses.“You’re not going to remember this tomorrow, so I can say it.”
“Say what?”
“At least she isn’t engaged to your cousin.”
When I slowly, painfully, become conscious the next morning, the last thing I recall clearly is Leo saying that at least Kim isn’t engaged to my cousin.I told myself this was important and I needed to remember it.
I’m pretty sure he meant Yvonne (engaged to Carl), not Daisy (engaged to Isobel).He looked in Yvonne’s direction after saying that.I swear he did.
