Romantically Perfect: A Friends to Lovers Romantic Comedy (Perfectly Imperfect Love Series Book 3)

by S. E. Rose

  “Why are all the women congregating in one corner?” Clark yells from the pool as he attempts to splash us.

  I turn to him. “Clark, this is the cool kids’ corner, not the women’s corner.”

  Brix comes up behind Lanie, hugging her and covering her in water. She groans.

  “Now it’s the cool kids’ corner,” Brix says with a wink as he walks back over to the pool and jumps in before Lanie can swat him.

  She tosses off her shirt and shorts and eyes the hot tub. “I’m going to the quiet section if anyone wants to join me.”

  I follow her. We haven’t had a ton of twin time this summer. I pull off my sundress and sink into the bubbling hot water.

  “Have I mentioned how much I love our brother?” I murmur with my eyes closed.

  “You mean, how much you love his house?” Lanie corrects.

  “Touché.”

  I lean my head back against a pool pillow and let the powerful jets do their job.

  “So, who’s the latest victim?” Lanie asks.

  I’d roll my eyes, but they are already closed. “I think I’m going to take a break from dating.”

  “What?!” Lanie says way too loudly and the whole party quiets down.

  “What’s wrong?” Kent yells from the pool.

  “There’s something very wrong with Di. She just said she’s taking a dating break. I think we need a family intervention right now.”

  Before I can even open my eyes, the oversized hot tub is filled with splashing and I groan and sink lower into the water, only my leg touches another leg and I jump back, opening my eyes to find the entire party has moved here.

  “What?” I ask them, looking around at all the faces of my siblings and their significant others.

  “You can’t be serious,” Kent states. “You are our crew love guru. Should we sign you up for like a dating app or something?”

  “Yeah, here, hand me your phone and I’ll find you a good one,” C-Dog volunteers.

  “First off, I don’t have my phone on me because we are in the water. Second, I’m allowed to not date. It’s not like I always have a boyfriend.”

  Everyone stares at me deadpan. “OK, but I don’t rush out for the next one once a relationship ends.”

  The blinking eyes staring back at me make me groan again.

  “Di. We depend on you to be…well, you,” Kylie explains.

  “Yeah, like our constant Juliet,” C-Dog points out while making an air heart with his fingers.

  “We could all set you up on dates!” Kylie says excitedly.

  “No way,” I retort. I’ve had several blind dates and they have all been epic disasters.

  “Spoilsport,” she mutters.

  “We could send in an application for a reality TV series,” Brix says with a wink.

  I sigh. “Can’t I just not date?”

  Lanie clears her throat. “Just promise us you aren’t giving up on love, and we’ll back off.”

  “Fine,” I say way too loudly and throw my hands up in the air, “I’m not giving up on love. Happy?”

  They all look at each other and back at me, nodding and murmuring “OK.”

  “I love you all, but you drive me crazy,” I mutter as I pull myself out of the hot tub.

  “Hey, don’t leave,” Kent pleads as I pick up my sundress.

  “I’m not going to stay here and get the tenth degree over the fact that I don’t currently have a boyfriend,” I huff.

  “Di-pie, don’t be pissed. We wuv you!” Clark says in his best little-boy voice because he knows I’m a sucker for him even though he’s one giant-ass baby now.

  “I’m not pissed, I’m just annoyed.” I pull the sundress over my head. I sigh. “I promise only to be annoyed tonight.”

  “Fair enough,” Kent says. “You good to drive home?”

  I nod. Normally, I’d stay later, but tonight, I’m just not feeling it.

  Garrett

  Something about late-night running is just soothing. It’s quiet and dark out and I love running down Main Street with all its little lights. It’s my time alone. I finished installing the mirror in the guest bathroom and needed to get out of my house. My parents swore my house would be a giant money pit, and they were correct. But I still love it. I love restoring it and making it mine. Last weekend, Dad came over to help and told me I was turning into a young Bob Villa, which made me feel good about my carpenter skills.

  I turn onto Elm Street. I always turn onto Elm Street. Sure, I could run down Maple or Oak, but I’m a glutton for punishment.

  I’m about to cross the street when a car door flies open and nearly knocks me to the ground. I jump back and grab a nearby streetlamp to keep from falling.

  “Oh my God! I’m sorry, Garrett! I didn’t see you there,” Di’s voice says. A second later she pops out of the car and walks over to me, looking me up and down. “Did I hurt you?”

  I release the lamp and stand straight. “No, I’m fine.” I can’t help but wonder if she’s coming back from a date. It is Saturday night, after all.”

  “Hot date?” I ask, the words coming out of my mouth before I can stop them.

  She raises an eyebrow. “Uh, no.”

  I see something flash across her eyes as she speaks. “Everything OK?”

  She sighs and leans against her car. “It’s fine. I…I’ve just decided to take a vacation from dating.”

  Now it’s my eyebrow that rises. “You?”

  She groans. “Yes. Why is this such a difficult concept for everyone to grasp?”

  I cross my arms and notice that she inspects my biceps. “Because you’ve been talking about finding Mr. Right since the first day we met.”

  “You know what? Maybe that’s my problem. I always talk about all this love bullshit. Fuck it! Fuck love! I’m done with it for now. It’s not like being obsessed with it has gotten me anywhere.” She throws her arms in the air and walks toward her apartment.

  It takes a moment to process what she’s said. And when I do, I’m genuinely concerned. I’m also genuinely interested because maybe this means we can be friends with benefits someday. “Wait. Di, what happened? What’s wrong?”

  She turns to me with her hand on the doorknob. “Love. That’s what’s wrong. Goodnight, Garrett. Enjoy your run.” She shuts her door, leaving me standing there and wondering what the actual fuck just happened.

  Chapter Three

  Di

  I walk into my parents’ kitchen, tossing my purse on their island.

  “Hey,” Dad says as he turns from the counter where he is putting dishes in the dishwasher. “Rough day?”

  I groan and put my forehead on the counter. A moment later, I hear a glass move across the cool quartz surface and I look up to see a glass of chocolate milk. I grin.

  Since I was a little girl, whenever I had a bad moment, Dad was always there with chocolate milk. I don’t know why, but it just became our thing.

  Dad doesn’t speak. Hell, Dad was seldom a big speaker. He’s more like a gentle giant. Always there, catching us when we fell, picking us back up, and brushing us off before sending us on our way. I know he’s waiting for me to speak.

  He pats my hand and then goes back to loading the dishes in the dishwasher. “What’s bothering you, Di?”

  I pull up a stool and sit, taking a long sip of my chocolate milk. Somehow, it always tastes better when Dad pours it.

  “I…have you ever misjudged someone or something?” I ask him.

  “Sure. I’ve had friends and colleagues that I thought couldn’t do something and then, bam, they do it. I mean that in a good way. I guess I more underestimated them. There was a kid in high school that was new one year and I thought he was a real badass. He just had that air about him, he presented himself as this total rebel, but then my debate partner got the flu and I was complaining in class to this kid about having to drop out of this big national tournament. The kid, Gerald, said he could do it. I was shocked but I thought, well, it’s better than not
going. So, I agreed. It turns out, he was this great debater and had decided to put up a rebel façade when he started at our school because he was bullied at his last school. So, yes, I have misjudged someone before.”

  Dad stares at me waiting for an explanation but I don’t give one. I’m saved by the bell when Mom walks into the room. Thank God, because I don’t want to have to explain to Dad that I’ve misjudged the idea of love.

  “Hey, I need to go get some things for Clark’s birthday party. You want to come?” she asks me. I shrug. I probably should get home and prep my lesson plans for next week, but the idea of being distracted seems too much more appealing. And only Mom would buy party items weeks in advance.

  “Yeah, sure. Why not?” I mutter.

  “I’ll meet you in the garage, then,” she says as she grabs her purse, kisses Dad, and heads to the car.

  I turn to Dad who’s leaning against the counter. “I have a feeling there’s more to this conversation,” he guesses.

  I shrug and draw a circle with my finger on the countertop. “I…I’ve misjudged so many people…boys…men that I wonder if I’m just a bad judge of character.” It’s not exactly what I’ve misjudged, but it is part of the equation.

  Dad steps over to me and puts his hands on my shoulders. I look up into his kind eyes. “Listen here, Diana Carol, you are not a bad judge of character. You, of all my children, are the best judge of character because you have always believed that there is good in everyone. You seek out that good. It’s what draws people to you. Don’t give up on us guys. We’re a little dense sometimes when it comes to love, but I promise, we do come around eventually.”

  I look down and bite my lip to keep myself from crying. “Thanks, Dad.”

  He pulls me into a bear hug and kisses the top of my head. “I love you, kiddo. Don’t give up on love. Romance is part of who you are. It feeds your soul. But love is hard. You’ll find it. And when you do, I know it will be the real thing because you have studied love more than anyone in this family.”

  I squeeze Dad’s middle and nod, knowing that if I speak, my voice will crack and give away the emotions that I’m feeling right now.

  I turn, and only once I’m by the garage door, I yell, “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Anytime, Di-pie.”

  I hurry to the car, wanting to put distance between me and the real words that Dad just spoke. I’m not ready to process them quite yet.

  Garrett

  I have no idea how I ended up at the party store. One second I’m minding my own business, and the next the teachers rope me into planning Principal Kennedy’s birthday party. She turns fifty this year. I don’t know what to do with that. I mean, does she even want a party? Caris Kennedy hates dark colors and all these damned decorations are black and say “Over the Hill” and other stuff that makes me feel like we are just throwing a “You’re halfway to dead” party. I groan and look around the store, at a total loss of what to do.

  “Garrett, my dear, you look like you are lost.”

  I turn to find Mrs. Moore standing in the aisle staring at me with concern.

  “Hi, Mrs. Moore. I…well, I’m trying to plan Principal Kennedy’s birthday party, and…” I wave my hand over the decorations.

  Mrs. Moore surveys them and a small smile forms on her lips. “Caris would hate a party with such…uh…morbidly funny décor. Might I suggest this aisle,” she says as she motions for me to follow her.

  I do. But when I turn the corner, I find myself face to face with Di.

  “Oh,” she says, her mouth forming a perfect “o” as she says it. Dirty thoughts run through my mind and I quash them immediately.

  “Sorry, uh,” I start to say.

  “Here you go. They have all these colorful rainbow decorations,” Mrs. Moore calls out from farther down the aisle.

  I step around Di and head over to her. She helps me pick some out as she gives me pointers about how to hang the decorations. “I planned so many parties in that teachers’ lounge.” She sighs as she looks off dreamily toward the shelves of napkins and paper plates in various colors.

  “Mom, I think Garrett’s got it from here,” Di pipes up from behind us.

  “Oh, right, of course.” Mrs. Moore pats my hand and heads to the shopping cart in front of Di.

  “I can help you decorate tomorrow if you like?” Di says quietly.

  I nod. “That’d be great.”

  They walk away and I hear Di hissing something at her under her breath. I grin. They are an awesome family. I sigh as I think about how I miss my parents. They live up in Pennsylvania. Dad lives on our old farm and my mom and stepfather, Glen, live in town. My parents didn’t exactly have an ideal marriage, but they have oddly had a great divorce. The three of them are always cordial and even get us all together for the holidays. My older sister, Kit, lives near them with her husband, Tony, and their two kids, Leslie and Sylvie.

  I see them on holidays or when they come to visit, but I’m pretty much on my own here. It’d be nice to have family nearby. I can understand why Di and her siblings all chose to stay around Banneker.

  I finish grabbing party supplies and head back to my house. I’ll need to be up early tomorrow if I’m going to get these decorations in place.

  Chapter Four

  Di

  I have to give it to Garrett; the teacher’s lounge looks amazing. He might not like planning parties, but he certainly can decorate.

  “I was going to see if you needed help, but I think I came too late,” I call out to him as I enter the room. He’s in the far corner on a small ladder, hanging the last of the streamers.

  “Thanks, but I think it’s all done.”

  He steps down and takes a look around the room. “Not too shabby.”

  “How did you end up drawing the short stick for this?” I ask.

  He chuckles. “Uh, Marian had to take her husband for a follow-up appointment this morning, so…” He trails off with a shrug.

  Marian Smith was a first-grade teacher. And she also typically planned all our parties. She loved planning parties, just like I loved all things about romance…or I did.

  “Well, you did good.”

  The vice principal, Chrissy Walters, walks in and surveys the room. “Good job, Garrett. Thanks for stepping in to help. I’m sure Caris is gonna love it.” She looks from me to Garrett and I just know we are about to get volunteered for something else. “Sooo…” She trails off and runs her hand along a table that is covered with a happy birthday–themed cover.

  “What do you need us to do?” Garrett asks with a sigh as he steps toward her.

  “The Banneker Children’s Charity campaign needs two leads.” She looks between us.

  “We can help,” I answer as he looks over at me with a shrug. He glares at me and I give him the “oh, come on” look.

  “Wonderful, I was hoping you would say that,” Chrissy says with a clap of her hands. “I’ll drop the binders off in your rooms and you two can take it from there.”

  Garrett gives me a look that says I owe him at least two beers. I shrug and smile innocently. Nope, I didn’t just do that so that we would spend more time together. Definitely not. I am not looking for a love interest and Garrett doesn’t believe in that nonsense anyhow, so he’s like the perfect partner for a co-ed charity campaign. One hundred percent platonic.

  I’m spared from questioning when my BFF and fellow teacher walks in the room after Chrissy’s announcement.

  Bailey Landon is my best friend. She’s also a total enabler who always applauds my bad decisions. Bailey, me, and our two friends Finley Jacobson and Sydney Lawrence have been friends forever; we all grew up here and we all stayed here. Bailey teaches kindergarten. Finley works at the boutique clothing store on Main Street called Gem’s Garments. And Sydney is a nurse for the local pediatrician’s office, Dr. Claiborne. We also may have formed a small club in middle school called the Future Brides of Banneker. Yep, they are as obsessed with love as I am. Ironically, not one of us is
married yet. So, I guess our best-laid plans didn’t exactly work out like we thought they would.

  Bailey sits down next to me. “So, I hear you have sworn off men.”

  God damn siblings. I turn to her with narrowed eyes.

  “Which one ratted me out?”

  She grins and shrugs. “I’ll never say.”

  “Bai, which one?” I demand in a low menacing voice that no one would ever take seriously because it’s coming out of “my” mouth.

  “I saw Kylie at the coffee shop this morning, OK?”

  I groan. “Freakin’ Kylie. I swear she can never keep her mouth shut,” I grumble.

  “Come on, this isn’t like you and you know it,” Bailey says with a pointed look.

  I shrug. “I’m just…taking a little time for me. I don’t get it. Any other woman would take some time for herself and everyone would applaud her and her efforts toward self-realization. Meantime, I try this, and suddenly something is wrong with me.” I cross my arms defensively and then uncross them immediately because I don’t want to appear defensive.

  Bailey pats my shoulder. “Di, it’s just unlike you, that’s all. You’ve been love, love, love, romance, romance, romance for your entire life. It’s a part of who you are, a big part.”

  She’s about to say more but, suddenly, the lights dim, and we are shushed as Caris enters the room and everyone yells, “Surprise!”

  Bailey gets pulled into another conversation with the art teacher. I slink away and grab a slice of cake, wishing Caris a happy birthday before I duck out of the room, trying to avoid any more inquiries into my dating life.

  I busy myself with my students for the rest of the day. But as I sit at my desk after school, attempting to grade homework, I’m struck by how much my infatuation with romance has taken over my life. I don’t remember ever making a conscious decision to make it the key part of me, but somehow, it’s become that. Is it wrong? Is there something wrong with me? I glance down at an open drawer in my desk. I have three romance novels sitting there, waiting for me to read them. Normally, that’s my thing. I have a few minutes, I read a romance novel. I’m not out on a date, I watch a romance movie.