Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Hugh shivered in the November chill, so I put my arm around his shoulders. “Want my coat?” I asked.
He gave me a shy smile. “No, just your arm. I like you in this coat, and if I’m wearing it, I can’t appreciate you wearing it.”
I nodded and continued walking, patting myself on the back for not asking him about his private conversation with his ex. When we got to the car, I opened his door for him and waited for him to settle before closing it.
“None of your business,” I muttered to myself while rounding the car. Once in my seat, I pulled the seat belt on and started the ignition.
We didn’t speak for several minutes until we were heading toward the turnpike. “You’re being awfully quiet,” Hugh said without looking at me.
“I had a nice time tonight. Abby’s friends are great.”
“Yeah, they are. I’d met Alicia a few times before, but this was the first time meeting Sandy and Henry and those other guys. I liked them.” He held his hand out to the flow of warm air coming out of the vent. “It’s hard for me to get out here very often with work and stuff, but maybe now that I know everyone…”
“She said a group of them do trivia night at that bar. That would be fun.”
“Yeah.” He fell silent for a minute. “God, I still can’t believe your brother was there. What a small world.”
For once, I didn’t point out Sage was only my stepbrother, not my real brother. Tonight, it had almost seemed like it didn’t matter anymore, which was strange because we’d been technically family for fifteen years, and I’d spent every single one of them trying to make sure they knew I wasn’t trying to be part of their special circle.
“It was. Of all the nacho parties in all the world…” I joked, but Hugh didn’t laugh, and when I glanced his way, he was chewing his lip nervously, and suddenly, I didn’t know what to say. The conversation was stilted and strange, as if the words we really wanted to say were being held back behind a locked gate.
Should I apologize for turning our harmless, one-day fake-boyfriendship into a multi-day command performance? After all, the only reason Hugh had called me was because he was desperate. No matter how good it felt to kiss him and tease him and navigate the world at his side, I’d never assume that he wanted anything more from me than what he’d asked. For all I knew, he’d planned on going back to radio silence tomorrow morning.
Suddenly, Hugh spoke. “Jared’s going to propose at Christmas. Dex said if they wanted to, they could take over some of the wedding plans Abby and Dex had made… you know, use them for their own wedding. I guess Jared wanted to make sure I’d be okay with that.”
I glanced over at him to see if I could determine how he was feeling. White headlights and orange lights from a nearby restaurant sign flashed across the planes of his face. The familiar silhouette of his jawline made me want to run my fingers along stubbled skin.
“And are you? Okay with it?”
He inhaled deeply before looking over at me. “No, but not for the reasons you think. I’m disappointed that he would care so little about making it his own that he would simply take someone else’s personalized plan and change the names. Like… Abby and Dex were going to have a three-piece instrumental group playing at the beginning of the reception, and I find it hard to believe the drummer of Toxic Echo wouldn’t prefer something edgier. And the centerpieces were going to be this feather-and-candle combination Abby had seen on Instagram. But Jared loves his parents’ roses. Why wouldn’t he want roses for his centerpieces? It’s just…” He shrugged. “Disappointing.”
I reached over and squeezed his hand before keeping it clasped in mine. “Not everyone cares as much about wedding arrangements as you do, sweetheart,” I said gently. “Maybe they’re more like Abby and Dex. They don’t care about the wedding as much as the marriage.”
He blew out a breath. “Maybe. Maybe you’re right. I know in the grand scheme of things, those things don’t matter as much as loving the person you’re with and promising to spend a lifetime with them. I just… I like the pomp. I like the planning and decorating. And I like the idea that a wedding celebration represents the couple being celebrated. Like, even tonight, the nacho thing… Abby loves nachos and beer. So much so that their first Valentine’s Day together, Dex brought nachos to the school for her lunch. Her coworkers teased her about it, about how unromantic nachos were. But she thought it was the best thing ever. Because he knew they were her favorite. And he went out of his way to make her happy.”