Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
I lean closer and wrap an arm around her. “I don’t know what McKenzie’s motivation was for having us room together.” I smile, looking directly into her beautiful brown eyes. “But I’m sure glad she did.”
Allie sucks in a very deep breath, and I get a deep feeling in the center of my chest that there’s a definite reason that I’m here right now, right here, at this moment, with this girl.
“G-Grant,” she stutters. “I think I left something in my car.”
I’ve been working since I was fourteen, and I know bullshit when I hear it. Allie stands up and moves quickly to the door. She’s freaking out for whatever reason, and she wants to get out of here.
“Allie–”
“I’ve got to go,” she says, twisting the knob. “I’ll see you later.”
She pulls the door and steps out into the hall. And just like that, she’s gone.
4
Allie
I feel like there’s a decent chance I might just have a heart attack as I pace quickly down the hall and then take the stairs back down to the first floor. I can hear McKenzie’s voice chatting with a bunch of other people, and while a large part of me wants to go confront her and ask her what in the world she was thinking putting me together in a room with Grant, I also don’t want to do it in front of an audience. So I take a hard right and go out the front door and step outside, where I’m more or less on my own.
There’s the valet guy again, but he merely nods at me. He’s probably been told to leave the guests alone, thank God. I go lean my back against one of the posts and close my eyes and take some deep breaths.
I hear the chatter inside the house and still can’t help but wonder what McKenzie was thinking inviting me out here and putting me up with Grant. Could she really just still be continuing a practical joke from seven years ago? That would be insane, even for her.
And what was that back there in the room? Grant was really coming on to me. And if my calculations are correct—and I was never great at math—Grant is twenty-seven now, which actually gives him sexy older-man vibes.
He was ruggedly handsome back then, but he’s even more so now. He has sharp, emerald green eyes that felt like they were staring straight into my soul every time he looked at me. It was as though I was right back there at his garage when I was twelve and he was denying my invitation to the dance on Friday.
How does he even know McKenzie well enough to be at her wedding? This just has to be a prank, right? Maybe it’s all part of some crazy YouTube channel or something that they’re both part of.
I look in and see her there, holding her champagne and giggling with the rest of her guests, none of whom I know.
Dinner. I’ll get my answers at dinner.
* * *
The banquet room is the most elaborate and extravagant room I’ve ever been in. The meal ends up being more like a feast, set up at a table that sits more people than I feel like counting. But it’s a lot.
I wait like a secret agent, hiding in the shadows of the fruit salad station and an enormous flower display, biding my time. Then, when I see McKenzie finally on her own for more than two seconds, I spring into action.
“Hey, Kenz!” I hiss. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Oh, geez, Allie,” she laughs, putting a hand to her chest. “You scared me! Yeah, sure. I’ve got a second. What’s up?”
I take her by the wrist and pull her away from the table and over into one of the corners of the room. “Is this a joke?” I ask her quietly.
“Is what a joke?” McKenzie asks. “This?” She waves her hand in the direction of the wonderful dinner setup. I quickly shake my head.
“No, of course not!” I say. “Me rooming with Grant, I mean!”
“Oh!” McKenzie laughs. “Why would that be a joke?”
“Come on, McKenzie,” I say, giving her a hard look. “You know our history better than anybody.”
“Yeah, and?” She looks dumbfounded. As though she genuinely can’t understand why I’m asking her this question.
“And it’s embarrassing!” I groan. “Look, I’m starting to blush right now!”
I can feel it in my cheeks, but that’s not all. My entire body is starting to go hot as the memories of that day come flooding back and drape over me like a sizzling blanket.
“Come on, Allie,” McKenzie laughs. “It was seven years ago!”
“So?”
“So don’t you think it’s about time you get over it already?” McKenzie is looking at me the way I’d expect my mom to look at me—like she’s teaching me a valuable life’s lesson or something.