“Should we grab seats or hang around the punch table?” Kayla glanced up at me through her thick lashes.
What if I told her right then and there let’s just get married. Let’s run away together. What would she do?
She’d probably run screaming from the room.
Two women approached us, both of them heavily made-up and their hair dyed so many colors I bet they didn’t remember what the natural colors were. Their nametags read Tonya and Tara. A memory of flashy red fingernails flipping me off as I walked by to class crossed my mind. My eyes widened as I caught a glimpse of their matching gold T necklaces. Ah, right.
The Terrible Ts.
They squealed and kind of did a fluttery thing with their arms, running in place with small steps the closer they got to Kayla. They’d been on the cheerleading squad with her and Kayla had more or left the squad at the end of senior year. She’d had enough of their crap and had never stayed in the clique.
You wouldn’t know it the way they almost hyperventilated at seeing her.
Tonya put her fingers right on her chest, above the overly tanned cleavage she was trying to make sure I saw. She glanced between the two of us and spoke to Kayla, her narrowed eyes watching me. “Did you finally get married? Who is this hunky man? He is gorgeous.” She lifted her eyebrow and licked her lips at me.
I wasn’t sure why, but my stomach roiled in disgust. Even my sarcasm was faint with horror.
“I remember you. Weren’t you the exchange student from Germany who came senior year?” Tara’s brains had only gotten better with age.
I curved my lips and glanced toward Kayla. Amusement wasn’t on her face. No, she had tolerance in the curve of her cheeks and the shadows under her eyes.
She forced a laugh that was markedly devoid of humor. Kayla often talked about how unjust the kids in school had been to me. She pointed at my chest and lifted her delightful chin. “No, this is Dylan. You guys remember Dylan Drake.” Kayla held her shoulder’s stiff as she watched them, like she waited for them to start making fun of me. “He was our mascot for three years. I can’t believe you guys don’t remember him.”
Tonya wrinkled her nose, flipping her hair to the side. “No, our mascot was Dylan Dump. Not this guy. They’re not even similar.”
Tara looked closer, narrowing her eyes. “Dylan? Is that really you? Wow. What happened? Have you starved the last ten years?” They cackled as they air hugged Kayla and walked on, whispering as they glanced back at us.
“Don’t take them the wrong way. You look amazing. I don’t know what their problem is.” Kayla put her hand comfortingly on my back.
While I wanted to milk her attention for all it was worth, I also didn’t want to come across as a sensitive baby. “I’m fine. I never put much stock in what the Terrible Ts say to me.” Her worry in how I might be affected by their words cemented my affections for her. Not that they needed a stronger foundation.
We made our way to a collection of round tables that had been set up on the far side of the gym. Taking our seats, we settled in and I draped my arm across the back of Kayla’s chair. We did everything together, as if we were together. We were pretty much married. The only things we were missing were I love yous – even though we said those – and the physical intimacy. I would say we were missing out on the living together, but Kayla stayed the night at my house and once in a while I stayed at hers.
We were pretty much a married couple.
Minus the benefits.
Some people I recognized by face but not name sat with us, talking with Kayla and drawing her out of her shy shell. She did well with just passing conversation, but when someone tried getting to know her, she shut down. Once she’d told me she was an introvert trapped in an extrovert’s shell.
Watching her laugh, I couldn’t help putting my thumb out on the seat to catch a lingering touch of her hair as it grazed my skin. She would smell like hibiscus and honey. I didn’t dare lean over to catch a whiff.
Pretty soon we would be shuffled to the cruise and couldn’t say I was excited for the night to end. Kayla and I rarely had a chance to just hang out. The flood of emotions and memories from high school were wreaking havoc with my deepening feelings for her. I wanted to linger with her a little longer without the stress of business or other pressures of life dragging us down.
“Did you guys get married or something?” One of the girls from Kayla’s group leaned over and pointed between Kayla and me. I came back to the conversation and blinked slowly, waiting to hear Kayla’s answer.
“No. Dylan and I are just really good friends.” Kayla deflected the attention and any more conversation on her and I being married and continued. “I’ve been thinking about trying out this new website. It’s called ClickandWed.com? Has anybody heard of it?”
I glanced at Kayla and tried not to be too interested. I’d been pushing ClickandWed.com on her for the past five months. I could tell my expiration date on patience was wearing thin. I wouldn’t be able to stay with her as just a friend forever. I needed more from her and I needed her to need me for more than just a buddy.
“I’ve heard of that. I was looking into it but it seems pretty expensive. Plus, I met a guy last week so I’m hoping it works out well.” One of the women who had introduced herself to me as Kimberly had come by herself. Apparently a week long relationship was not long enough of a commitment to bring to your high school reunion.
“Yeah, I just don’t have a lot of time to date. When I do make it out, it’s usually with Dylan. While the girls don’t have any problem hitting on him around me, the guys don’t seem to want anything to do with me. Maybe he intimidates them.” She smiled and put her fingers on my forearm.
“I can’t imagine why.” Kimberly eyeballed me and gave me a deep perusal. I got hit on a lot which was more than frustrating when the only one I wanted ignored me. She turned back to Kayla. “You should consider the website. I think it could be really fun. If you don’t have time to date, it’s the perfect way to find someone with the same goals. Can you imagine? It matches you perfectly to someone who wants a commitment, too. It’s not like you’re going into a relationship and you’re not sure if the other person wants the same thing. It’s very clear. You’re both there for a marriage. I think it would be ideal.”
I was starting to like Kimberly a lot more, especially when Kayla tilted her head and leaned back in her seat. “Yeah, I think you’re right. It might be a good thing for me to do.” She chewed on her lip and I knew that she was seriously thinking about it.
How the heck had Kimberly, a woman Kayla hadn’t seen in years, been able to get through to her, whereas, I hadn’t even been able to get her to consider the site for more than a couple seconds.
Women were getting on my nerves. I didn’t have any problem admitting that to myself.
For the most part, there were only a couple guys in the gym. Of course, the rest who were coming would show up late, which was good. I needed a few drinks on board before I would be able to watch Kayla flirt her way through the crowd. The sad thing was she wasn’t technically a flirt. She was just friendly. She would flirt with rocks and they would do what she wanted.
Kayla had no idea her effect on people, least of all her effect on me.
Chapter 3
KAYLA
We were on the cruise boat, Spirit of Coeur d’Alene, with its beige paint and navy blue accents. The flat two-story vessel had plenty of room for everyone who had shown up. As it pushed us quietly through the clear, smooth water, I inhaled the fresh water smell. Every few minutes the pine scent of the surrounding woods would reach me.
I hadn’t seen Dylan in over an hour. There weren’t any clouds in the May sky and the stars seemed much closer as the cruise boat crept further into the lake. On the top level, I felt like I could have been abandoned.
Had Dylan seen the girl he’d been thinking of since high school? He never had told me his real crush’s name. I mean sure, he hit on me constantly, but I think his attention t
oward me was more of a convenience and proximity thing. Dylan was definitely a ladies’ man. Sometimes I was the only lady around.
I leaned on the upper deck railing and closed my eyes as the soft May breeze began to cool. We were immersed in an abnormally warm spring and soon we were due for some cooler weather, but it wouldn’t be that week.
Heavy tread on the boat carpet and the tinkling of ice in glasses alerted me to his arrival. I spoke while turning. “What took you so long?” My smile was slow and welcoming. I was ready to go home and relax in front of the television.
But I stopped, my smile frozen. The man in front of me wasn’t Dylan.
Craig Croft held out a glass and his grin was as charming as ever. I hadn’t seen him show up. I forced myself to overlook the stained edges of his teeth and the puffiness under his eyes.
In ten years he had gone from dangerous and alluring to obviously drunk and, from what one of the girls said, he jumped jobs a lot. He had two kids with one of the women in our high school class and he never married her. He said the kids were her problem.
As soon as I heard all that and saw him nursing his own flask at the front of the line at the cruise loading dock, I lost all interest.
“If I had known you were waiting, Carla, I would’ve been here sooner.” His eyes slurred almost as much as he did with a long slow blink and an inability to really focus on me. He called me Carla.
Carla.
I smiled tightly, dodging his leery gaze. “I’m sorry, Craig. I thought you were someone else.” I took a step around him to walk past. He rested the cold bottom of a glass in one hand on my forearm.
“No reason to run off. We can still get together, Shayla. I can be the guy you were looking for. I can be whatever guy you want. You look as good as you did back then.” His eyes had a glassy sheen and he looked me up and down. Licking his lips, he showed me enough of his tongue to display flecks of chewing tobacco which looked like little black scratches.
So now I was Shayla, huh? The ridiculousness of the situation was almost more than I could bear. I smiled, holding my panicked laughter inside. “No, thank you.”
I pushed my way past him and down the stairs. Our class hadn’t been huge when we graduated, maybe a hundred full and only about seventy percent actually showed up to the reunion. With only seventy people on board with their spouses or whoever, it wasn’t hard for me to see Dylan as he leaned against the wall on the far side of the cruise ship, looking out at the lake. He had an ankle crossed over the other and one hand tucked into the front pockets of his slacks.
The slacks were different for me to see him in; anything other than work pants or workout shorts was weird. He’d dressed country club casual and I’d been so proud to have him on my arm all night.
But why he was alone was odd, and yet slightly comforting.
I sidled up to him and took the drink out of his hands. Taking a sip, I winced at the burn of whiskey in my throat. “Gross. I thought maybe you had a Pepsi or something in here. You can barely taste the pop.” I leaned into him, relishing his warmth.
“Kayla, did you find Craig?” He asked me in the barest whisper but I could hear the smile in his voice.
“He found me upstairs. Called me Shayla and Carla. Apparently I was memorable back then.” I laughed and handed Dylan his drink back. “Can I count that as a win? Can we just pretend that I nailed him? Because I’m not going to kiss that grossness.” I shuddered at the thought.
Dylan’s soft chuckle sent goose bumps up my arms and down the backs of my legs. “Let’s count it.”
“Did you find yours? Where is she? Did she come?” I turned my head to scan the thin crowd. I didn’t really recognize anybody as being able to interest someone as complex as Dylan. Although, to be honest, he often went after the not-so-complex women.
“It’s still out for debate.” He sipped his glass and wrapped his other arm around me. “Are you cold? You have goose bumps.”
I shook my head and scrunched my nose, turning and staring up at him. “Is it pathetic that I’m not married?”
“Do you think it’s pathetic?” He tilted his head in that way that told me he was really listening to me. I loved when he gave me that look.
“I don’t know. I suck at relationships.” I blinked back tears. The whole night was filled with melancholy and sentiment and I just wasn’t fond of any of it.
“You always have me. I haven’t left you.” He ran his fingers down the soft part of my arm. I pulled away because... Because...
I pulled away, but not far enough to put too much distance between us. “You know that won’t work. I’m not going to ruin what we have. You’re my family.” If he only knew how absolutely impossible it was, he wouldn’t be so quick to mention it.
Dylan pulled back, something closed off in his gaze. “Are you going to try that online marriage thing?” How long had he been pushing me toward that site? Now, he seemed almost reluctant for me to go forward with it.
Maybe Dylan needed to be married just as much as I did. Maybe it would be good for him to do, too. He’d been pushing me to do it, I could make it conditional – a little I’ll do it, if you do it gamble. “Let’s both sign up.” If I knew Dylan was doing it with me, it wouldn’t be quite so scary. Plus, if he said no way, then I would be justified in saying no.
“What? I’m not on the marriage market.” Dylan squinted at me like maybe he had more to drink than I’d assumed. His next question reconfirmed we still finished each other’s sentences. “How much have you had to drink?”
I slapped his arm, grinning at him. “I haven’t had anything to drink. Get your phone out. We’re doing this together. There’s an app we can download and do the whole questionnaire, all of it, together. Sit over here.” I almost dragged him to the table. We sat side-by-side. He reluctantly picked out his phone and we downloaded the app.
We went through a few buttons and we reached a questionnaire on the screen. “Are you at the questionnaire?” I lifted my feet and rested them on the chair across from me.
Dylan nodded as he stared at his phone and sipped his drink.
A waitress passed by and I lifted my hand. “Can I get a Pina colada, please?” She nodded and returned moments later.
Laughing, Dylan nodded toward my drink. “I thought you weren’t having any?”
I shrugged. “The only way I’m going to be able to make it through this, is half-wasted.” I giggled. “It’s really strong.” I blinked past the lightly green-tinged drink. “Okay. Let’s answer together.”
The questions seemed pretty fun at first but the tediousness of the questions grew and I started to laugh as I realized we were probably answering similarly. “Wouldn’t that be hilarious if we were matched?” It wouldn’t happen. It couldn’t happen.
Dylan and I would not be good together. I would destroy everything about him. He was one of the good guys. I was interested in bad boys.
“Am I interested in the honeymoon option or the six-month option? What do you think that means?” My finger hovered over the six-month option button. That was a long time commitment. What if I hated the guy? What if he chewed with his mouth open? He might have hair plugs or a shaved chest. I moved to put the phone down and sip my drink for more liquid courage.
“I think you should do the honeymoon option. Big Dog won’t make it very long without us. I think two weeks would be good. Don’t you think we’ll know after two weeks of being with someone, if we were going to be able to last more than that with them? Two weeks or six months doesn’t mean anything about having to be in love. It would be a quick way to know if things will be worth pursuing. I mean, you know they want the same things, right?”
Dylan hadn’t drank that much. He was very logical. I was a light weight and the rum was mixing with the sugar and I could barely focus.
Nodding wobbly, I took a couple more large pulls on the straw and then set my drink down and picked up my phone. “Two weeks. Yeah, I like that idea. Do you really think we should do this?” My ha
nds were shaking because of the alcohol. Okay, no, it was because I was about to commit to something I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
Dylan laughed, he leaned close to me, his eyes dark and shadowed with meaning. “It’s this or we resign ourselves to marrying each other.” He searched my face as if maybe that really was an option.
I shook my head and laughed at the absurdity of it. I didn’t need a couple drinks to look at Dylan and realize if I didn’t jump on doing this and finding a man on my own, I would watch Dylan disappear from my life as he got married and had kids. No way would his wife let him hang out with me the way we’d grown accustomed.
The thought of him leaving me was abysmal. I nodded my head jerkily. “Let’s do it.” I submitted my profile and hurriedly drank more. I needed to get drunk. Things were getting serious fast.
“Let’s see if we get matched.” He laughed and put his phone away.
I took solace in knowing that just because we got matched didn’t mean I had to marry him.
But I suddenly was excited to find who each of us was paired with. It would be awesome if we were paired together and we could laugh about it. Of course, we would never agree to do it, but it would be funny to see just how much alike we really were.
Would they find someone who was the right match for me? At that race, no one would be better than Dylan. But he wasn’t a possibility.
I sure hoped they matched me to someone perfect, because I was striking out left and right.
Chapter 4
DYLAN
The steady rhythm of my steps pushed back the migraine that had been building all night. Kayla had had too much to drink and I left for our morning run alone with the sun still a distant plan on the horizon.
We were matched on the ClickandWed.com site shortly after two AM. The double beep of the app on my phone had woken me from my not-so-sound sleep.
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