I got down to the lobby and wasn’t sure if I was breathless from taking the stairs or because I was genuinely excited to see him. Most likely, it was the latter. Luke’s, “I’m on my way up,” text came through at the exact moment I exited the building, causing him to smile as he made his way up the sidewalk. I could never get tired of seeing that face. Every time I was around him, I felt like a kid again, like I’d come undone at the seams. It wasn’t quite natural for us to greet one another with a hug, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to. Judging by the awkward way he approached, stared for a moment, and then took the bags I had, I believe he was fighting the same urge.
“I was coming up to help you with these. I figured you’d have a lot to carry.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine. Everything’s pretty light anyway.”
I took note of the fact that he looked me over again. His eyes traveled shamelessly up my bare legs to where the hem of my dress stopped just above the knee. Next, he zeroed in on the hint of cleavage that I’d let show, but then came to his senses and took my things to his trunk. There was a definite attraction between us that leaned more toward sexual as the days wore on. I suppose it was becoming easier to spot because we were getting more comfortable around one another.
I stepped up to the car and waited while Matt moved to the backseat, letting me take the one beside Luke. He and I exchanged a brief ‘hello’, and then I did a double-take.
“I see we got rid of the facial hair. Looks nice,” I said, complementing the fresh-face look Matt was sporting today. With all that scruff gone, well most of it, he looked significantly younger, closer to his age of twenty-four, just like me.
Matt waited until I was in the car and fastening my seatbelt to reply. “Thanks. I hated letting it go, but it was for a good cause.”
Luke laughed which made me even more curious. “What’s the good cause?”
Luke eyed him from the rearview mirror as we pulled out onto the street, almost daring him to tell me with that look he gave. Matt cleared his throat and willingly confessed what his motivation was. “Luke said that if I did it, he’d introduce me to Brooklyn.”
My eyes bugged as I smiled big. “My Brooklyn? As in my baby sister?”
“Yup,” Matt clarified, clearly not feeling the least bit awkward having admitted that.
Luke saw the look of shock on my face and I think he misjudged it, thinking I was upset when I wasn’t. He scrambled for an explanation while the corner of his mouth tugged up just a little. “I mean… I just thought that… maybe…”
It was impossible not to get a kick out of him stammering. “You thought that you’d just what… hand my sister over to him on some sort of a platter? Like she’s up for grabs? Is that what you thought?” I asked jokingly before turning to shoot Matt a playful glare. “That’s nice of your brother to offer that and all, but don’t you think it would’ve done you more good to ask me to introduce you? I mean, after all, I do know her a little bit better than he does.”
Matt thought about that and shrugged. “Good point. Hook that up.”
“But what’s in it for me, though?” I asked next.
Exasperated, Matt threw his hands in the air, bringing another laugh out of Luke. “You two are ruthless! What do you want from me? I’m not willing to remove any more hair from my body, so don’t even suggest it.”
I laughed, too, now. “Nope, that won’t be necessary. I have a different kind of request.”
He looked worried. “Like what?”
I decided to use this opportunity to my advantage. “Privacy. Whenever I say.”
He shook his head. “Can’t do that. I’m gonna have to keep my original deal with Luke. You’re probably right about my chances being better if you represented me, but…” he paused and shook his head again. “If I had to guess, you’re gonna shut me out of all the important stuff and then I’ll miss something pivotal to the documentary.”
I sighed and amended my initial request. “Fine... how about this then: you at least have to make your presence known on all private phone calls. To both parties,” I clarified. “Not just Luke.”
He took a breath and thought about that for a moment. “Deal.”
Satisfied, I sat back in my seat and watched the scenery outside of my window. Feeling Luke’s eyes on me, though, I looked his way instead. A faint smile touched his lips, but he said nothing. The next thing I knew, he’d refocused on the road, but he reached across my lap for my hand, lacing his fingers with mine. Even though this was something small, nothing big like kissing or making out or anything, my thoughts lingered on the deeper meaning behind that simple gesture the entire car ride over to my sister’s. Luke had only let go long enough to get my things from the trunk and then took my hand again as soon as we walked up to Aura’s door. After she answered, the first place her eyes went was to Luke’s hand linked with mine. After staring for a few seconds, she stepped aside to let us in, doing the cutest little pregnant-lady-shuffle.
“Hey, guys,” she said once she got her words together. Clearly she was taken aback by the fact that Luke and I had gotten so comfortable. She wasn’t the only one.
“Hey,” I replied with a smile as I leaned in to hug her.
“Y’all are getting kinda cozy,” she whispered in my ear, prompting me to tug the back of her hair discreetly.
When we separated, her eyes went to Matt, but she addressed Luke first. “Good seeing you again.”
“You too,” Luke replied. “This is my brother, Matt. We’re here to help, so don’t be shy about putting us to work.”
Aura nodded and then eyed Matt suspiciously, knowing he was the one who’d set Luke and I on this unbelievable journey in the first place. She was no match for his charm, though. One flash of that big grin of his and I saw her soften up.
“Nice meeting you,” Matt said graciously. “I promise to keep out of the way with the camera.”
Aura nodded and looked him up and down again, trying to intimidate him as best as she could, considering the fact that she was now smiling at him, too. “Mmm hmm… please do.”
“Where do you want us to work, inside or out?” I asked.
She looked over her shoulder and pointed toward the kitchen. “If you can make the punch, I’m sure Darren could use the guys’ help setting up the last of the tents in the yard.”
I glanced at Luke to make sure he was comfortable with us going our separate ways. When he nodded reassuringly, I followed behind Aura, bringing with me the bags that came from my apartment, as he and Matt exited through the sliding door onto the patio.
“These are the party favors you asked me to finish putting together and I have the game packets in a folder in here, too,” I informed her.
“Oh, ok, thanks. Just set everything over there on the table for now. I’ll have Bean sort it all out,” Aura replied, sitting in one of the barstools while she watched me gather the ingredients I’d need to make our grandmother’s fruit punch. We were all given the recipe, but from what I was told, no one made it more like hers than I did. As I sliced up the first orange, Aura watched me, smirking a little.
“What?” I asked, pretty sure I already knew what this was about.
“Soooo… you and Luke seem to be doing well.” Her statement was loaded, but I chose to ignore whatever information she might be digging for.
I shrugged to downplay what I was starting to feel for him. “You know. He’s cool.”
Aura shot me a look as my eyes drifted out her kitchen window, seeing Luke working alongside Darren as they fought to get one of the tent poles secure.
“That look says much more than just ‘he’s cool’, Lissy.”
Hell, maybe it did, but it felt weird owning up to that, seeing as how we hadn’t been in this long. For that reason, I shut those thoughts and feelings down as soon as they came up.
“How many more days you got left?” she asked. “Until the wedding, I mean.”
I’d been keeping track, so I didn’t even have to think abo
ut it. “Five.”
She rubbed her large stomach in slow circles. “Dang, girl… That ain’t much time.”
I knew this to be true, but the thought of marrying Luke didn’t scare me as much as it once did, so I found that my nerves were surprisingly settled about this whole thing.
“So, I mean, what’s it like? Do you guys talk every day? Do you even feel like you know him?”
Giving her questions some real thought, I paused from mixing the pineapple juice into the punchbowl. “We either talk on the phone or chat every night. A few times he’s called during his lunch break just to check on me, too.” I didn’t realize I was smiling to myself until Aura raised her eyebrows at me. My cheeks got hot and I looked away as I finished pouring.
“I’m just gonna say it. I thought you were both crazy when you called me last weekend, but… I don’t know. I see how you look at him, how he looks at you, and—” she shrugged. “Maybe this idea isn’t as bad as I thought.” There was a loaded silence following her statement that made me pause from what I was doing to meet her gaze. “When are you gonna tell the other girls? Momma? Daddy?”
“Tell us what?” my mother’s voice rang out, causing me to drop the mixing spoon down in the punchbowl. I met her questioning eyes and diverted her attention with a smile.
“Hey, Ma!” I said a little too cheerfully as I made my way over to squeeze her tight around her neck. She couldn’t return the embrace because her hands were full, carrying grocery bags full of food and other items.
“Hey, baby. Tell us what?” she said, going right back to her original question.
I pulled away and knew she could read the nervousness in my expression. My mind went blank and I froze.
“Tell youuuu… that I’m making her the baby’s godmother!” Aura said cheerfully, coming out of nowhere with that cover.
I turned my back on them both and pretended to be searching for another spoon in the drawer, but really I was trying to fix my face, getting rid of the look of guilt that I was currently sporting.
“Oh! Well, I think that’s great,” Mom said, placing a kiss on Aura’s cheek when I finally turned back around. I fished out the original spoon, placed it in the sink, and then finished what I was doing. Naturally, my mother came around to watch over my shoulder while I mixed, eyeing my measurements as I followed her mother’s recipe.
Her lips touched my cheek and I looked back to smile at her. “Am I doing it right?” I asked, just making sure.
My mother moved to the other side of the counter to prepare a veggie tray, but smiled at me first. “You’re doing fine.”
Staring at her kind face a few seconds longer, I eventually had to look away. With it quiet, I was able to really think about Aura’s question. How would everyone react when I sprung me and Luke’s news on them? Would they be hurt that I hadn’t said anything? Angry that it was such a short notice? Now I was beginning to rethink our plan—waiting until the week of the wedding to make the announcement. My original thinking was that we should meet one another’s families first before dropping the bomb, but now… I was thinking we should’ve given them more time to process all of this.
Maybe I shouldn’t keep putting this off.
*****
Luke
Guests seemed to show up out of nowhere. It was like I looked up and a hundred people were here. I lingered off near the fence, mostly because I didn’t know anyone, but partly because I was steering clear of people who might figure out that Lissette and I were together. That would’ve inevitably led to questions being asked, questions I didn’t have answers to. Granted, we weren’t hiding the fact that we were new, but there was no way to explain our initial meeting without sounding ridiculous.
Out the corner of my eye, I saw Lissette approaching and I felt a familiar warmth fill my body from head to toe. She did that to me, got to me that way. I stared as the sun kissed the bare skin on her shoulders, reminding me how soft and smooth she’d felt the few times I’d managed to touch her hand, or her arm. That was as far as I’d ventured because I wouldn’t have her thinking I was only in this for something physical. While I was definitely ready for that whenever she was, for now I was perfectly fine with taking things slow.
“You doing okay?” she asked, her curls bobbing when she stopped in front of me. When I nodded, she went on to explain. “Sorry, I’ve been kind of scarce, but Aura has me ripping and running. We shouldn’t have to be here too late, though.”
Knowing that today, this event, was a pretty big deal, I didn’t want her to feel like she had to rush off. “It’s fine. Take your time,” I assured her. “I’m gonna go over there and bug Matt for a while,” I said, pointing over in his direction. As soon as I mentioned his name, Lissett looked his way, too, watching as he filmed.
“Shoot! With everything going on, I forgot I was supposed to introduce him to Brook.” My eyes went to Lissette’s hand when she offered it for me to take, an apparent trend I’d started only a short time ago on the car ride over. I couldn’t help myself, though. As we drove here today, I had to touch her in some way, to get as close as I could.
Slipping her fingers in between mine, we crossed the yard. On our way over to Matt, Lissette snatched Brooklyn up by the arm, apologizing to the people her sister had been conversing with prior to our hijacking.
“What’re you doing?” Brooklyn asked, half-confused and half-laughing as she got her footing together, trying to turn herself so she was no longer walking backwards.
“There’s just someone I want you to meet,” Lissette replied.
Brooklyn had been on the verge of protesting, but fell completely silent as we came within a few feet of my brother, her eyes deadlocking with his.
“Matt, Brooklyn. Brooklyn, Matt. He’s Luke’s brother,” Lissette explained to her wide-eyed sister. Without discretion, she looked Matt over from head to toe, stopping again once she got back to his eyes. It was then that she realized her mouth was hanging open and she corrected it by putting up that same hard front I’d seen from Aura. These James women were tougher than I realized, tougher than they looked. I knew then that I shouldn’t just expect Lissette to let me all the way into her world willingly. No, she’d undoubtedly make me work to earn her trust, her friendship. And yes, even her love.
“What’s this about?” Brooklyn asked Lissette, still trying not to salivate over my brother. She even swallowed hard and folded her arms over her chest to keep her composure.
Lissette made her uncross her arms like a mother would do her child, shoving her in Matt’s direction, which he didn’t seem to mind at all. When she was close enough, he offered her his hand to shake after pushing his fingers through his hair. “Nice to meet you,” he said calmly, doing his best to keep his eyes on hers instead of checking her out more thoroughly like I knew he secretly wanted to.
Brooklyn stared at him for a moment longer and then finally greeted him. With that, Lissette dragged me away so our siblings could get better acquainted without us there watching over them.
“Oh my gosh,” Lissette laughed quietly, leaning into my arm when she did. Being so much taller than her, I had to crane my neck to hear what she whispered. “I sure hope you’re brother’s thick-skinned. Brookie is… let’s just say she’s the toughest one out of the five of us. I don’t know how that happened, with her being the baby and all, but she is. Daddy calls her his little pit bull. You do not wanna see that girl angry.”
I looked over at the two trying to find something to talk about, knowing good and well Matt could handle himself. Hell, he needed someone who could keep him in line anyway. Maybe she’d be the one to do it.
My pace slowed to match Lissette’s as we walked the perimeter of her sister’s lot, still holding onto one another. She never leaned away from my arm either, completely consuming that side of my body with her warmth. I liked the feel of it. Loved it, actually. She couldn’t have known how much.
While her co-hosting services weren’t needed, I decided to steal some of her time,
making the most of the brief moment I’d have her to myself.
“You look beautiful today. Did I already tell you that?” When I asked, we both stopped walking, standing completely still by a lilac bush in the corner of the yard.
She looked away, trying not to smile, but I saw right through her. When the breeze blew a strand of hair into her face, I brushed it behind her ear.
“No, you didn’t,” she finally said back. “…but thank you.”
Standing there with her, feeling more vulnerable than usual for some reason, there was something I wanted to tell her, something I thought she needed to hear after voicing her fear of being the only one who felt something. With her hand already in mine, I pulled her even closer, causing a breath to catch in her throat when I did.
“I’m glad we’re doing this, glad you said yes.”
Her eyes flickered like she wanted to look away but couldn’t. She chewed the side of her lip, but didn’t respond.
“I’m glad you’re gonna be my wife, Lissette.”
Her chest heaved up and down heavily as I assumed her pulse quickened. The words I’d spoken were true. What I was feeling was real. And what we were doing was meant to be—written in the stars for us. I knew this to be true after only one week of knowing this girl.
Instead of answering, Lissette wrapped herself around my neck and held on. I couldn’t have dreamed of a more perfect woman, in every sense of the word. I know some might argue that things were only so blissful because it was all new, but I beg to differ. There was more to our connection than that—something deeper than that.
*****
Lissette
The hairs on the back of my neck stood and I immediately knew someone was watching me. When I turned to survey the mostly empty yard, I found my mother’s eyes boring a hole through the back of my head. I smiled. She smiled. But she was hiding something, a thought maybe. It didn’t surprise me when she stopped gathering fallen trash from the grass and came my way while I untangled a bow from the ceiling of the tent.
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