by Amelia Stone
“Right,” she drawled. “Because every guy wants the girl he’s seeing to tell him their dates are just for pretend.”
“Well, they wouldn’t really be pretend. I’m talking real dates, just without the pressure of getting to know someone.”
She looked hopeful for a moment, like she was really considering the idea. But then her face fell.
“I don’t think anyone in their right mind would agree to that. Not anyone I’d want to date, anyway.”
I smiled, because this was clearly my cue to move in for the kill. I wasn’t sure where the idea had come from. Maybe it was the despair in her eyes as she explained her fear of never being able to find someone. Maybe it was because the freckles in her cleavage were making me wonder if she was freckled everywhere.
Or maybe it was that her kiss – that brief, chaste press of her lips to mine – had tilted my whole world on its axis, until up was down, enemy was friend, and friend was more.
All I knew for sure was that I had an increasingly urgent need to answer some of those not-just-friends questions.
“I think I have an idea,” I told her.
Across from me, Krista’s brow furrowed. “Oh?”
I nodded. “Yup. I think you should practice with someone you already know.”
The waitress brought our food then, and I took a second to look over my plate while Krista chewed on my proposal.
“That sounds good in theory,” she finally replied, as she broke the yolk on her sunny side up egg, letting it run all over her plate. “But who would I ‘practice’ with?”
I grinned. “Well, that’s obvious.” I picked up a slice of bacon, using it to point at my own chest. “You should practice with me.”
I was standing in front of baggage claim at Macarthur airport when my baby sister ambushed me with a hug from behind. She slammed into me so hard, in fact, that I was almost knocked to the ground.
“I missed you so fucking much,” Jess cried, after she was done squealing in my ear.
“I missed you, too,” I wheezed. “But you’re crushing my windpipe.”
“Sorry, sorry!” She pulled her octopus arms from around my neck. “Sheesh. Can’t have my maid of honor hospitalized a week before the wedding.”
I cleared my throat gingerly. “Plus I don’t think the American Medical Association recognizes hugging casualties.”
Jess laughed as she turned me around to face her. “You’re probably right.”
She pulled me into her arms again, gentler this time, and I breathed in her familiar rosewater scent. When we broke apart, I noted that my baby sister looked pretty much the same as the last time I’d seen her, a couple of months ago: tall, tanned, and beautiful.
She seemed to have an extra glow to her today, though. I chalked it up to her upcoming nuptials. She had to be over the moon to finally be getting married to her longtime love.
“You got your luggage already?” I frowned at the cart she was pulling behind her.
She nodded. “The flight landed a few minutes early. By the time I was able to text you, I figured you’d be parking, so I decided to just surprise you!”
“Is that everything?” I asked, eyeing the four suitcases, two garment bags, and three carry-ons she had loaded onto her trolley.
“All set! Let’s motor!”
I followed her for a few steps, but then I stopped, looking around. “Wait. Where’s Adam?”
“Oh, he couldn’t make it this weekend,” she replied in a breezy tone. “He’s taking a red-eye Sunday night.”
I frowned. “Why? Is everything okay?”
“Oh, totally.” She gave me a huge, genuine smile, and I exhaled. “He’s just got a lot of work to finish up before he comes out here. Don’t forget we’ll be in Alaska for ten days after the wedding.”
I shook my head. Only Jess would want to hike glaciers – in summer – for her honeymoon.
“You should have told me he wasn’t coming,” I grumbled.
She reached for my arm, tugging me toward the exit. “What difference does it make?”
I pressed my lips together, irritated enough that I didn’t trust myself to speak.
“So I’ll just need to borrow your car to come pick him up on Monday morning,” Jess continued.
I stopped short. “You’re not renting a car?”
She turned and gave me a winsome smile. “I can just take yours when I need to go somewhere, right?”
I scowled. “Absolutely not.”
“But I like driving your car.”
“I like driving my car, too,” I replied. “That’s why it’s my car.”
“We can share,” she pleaded. “We shared the Volvo when we were in high school.”
“Yeah, and I never got to drive it, because you always had the car.”
She pouted dramatically. “Come on, Kris, please?”
I shook my head firmly. “No.”
She gave me the puppy dog eyes, but I shook my head again.
“I will pay your rental fees if I have to,” I told her. “But one way or the other, you are getting a car.”
She clasped her hands together. “But you have a Tesla.”
I throw my hands up in frustration. “So we’ll rent you something nice. I’m sure we can get you, I dunno, an Escalade or something.”
She gave me a look like I was the unreasonable one here. “Krista, I can’t drive an Escalade. Those things are huge.”
“You are five-feet-eleven-and-a-half inches tall, Jessica. It’s not like you’ll have trouble reaching the damn pedals.”
“Come on. I don’t want to drive an SUV. And you don’t want me to, either. You hate gas guzzlers.”
She had me there. Reducing my carbon footprint was the main reason why I drove an electric car.
Plus, my car was just badass.
But I wasn’t about to give in now, especially not when I’d been so crabby. “So again, we’ll get you something else.”
“But it won’t be a Tesla,” she whined.
“Jess, you are renting a car,” I snapped. “End of discussion.”
She winced. “Okay. What’s your problem today?”
My problem?
“You’re being a brat,” I spat.
She raised her eyebrows. “Okay, yes I am, and I’m sorry. But why the Hulk smash? It’s not like you.”
I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment. She was right, I didn’t normally have a quick temper, and I very rarely spoke to my sisters – or to anyone – like this.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered. “It’s not you.”
“It’s okay. I’m sorry, too.” She paused, and we continued walking. “But does this have anything to do with what happened at the reunion?”
I stopped short again, rounding on her. “How do you know what happened at the reunion?”
Seriously, how did news travel so freaking fast in South Bay? I’d barely had time to take a breath since last night, let alone process any of what had happened.
And that was before the confusing conversation with Seth this morning. Gods. No wonder I was so crabby.
Jess’s forehead creased in concern. “I texted with Kelly last night. Why didn’t you tell me you were going?”
I shrugged, not wanting to admit my since-justified fear that Seth wouldn’t come if he knew I’d be there.
My baby sister laid a hand on my shoulder. “She told me about what happened with Melody. She said you got upset and left early.”
I huffed. “Melody was just being her usual self.”
“I really wish you would have let me kick her ass all those years ago,” Jess growled as we wheeled out to the short-term lot.
“Knowing our luck, you would’ve gotten suspended, I would’ve gotten expelled, and Melody would’ve gotten off scot-free.”
She chuckled. “You’re probably right. But it might have been worth it to see that stupid smize wiped off her face.”
Smize? “You watch too much reality TV,” I told her.
“No
such thing, my sister. No such thing.”
We loaded the bags into the trunk, and Jess at least had the decency to wait until we were safely buckled in before she dropped her next bomb.
“Kelly said Seth was there, too.” She looked over at me with wide blue eyes.
I tipped my head back against the seat, closing my own eyes. “We talked a little.”
And then we talked some more this morning, enough to make my head spin for all of eternity.
“That’s good!” she cried. “At least he didn’t just walk away.”
I nodded. Yes, he had stayed. He stayed, we hugged, and I assaulted him. With my lips.
“What did you guys talk about?” she asked in a gentle voice.
I exhaled noisily. “We agreed to be friends again.”
And then he offered to fake date me. But for real. But also not.
Gods.
“Friends.” Jess’s tone was now incredulous.
I nodded, trying not to squirm at the minor lie as I put the car in gear. “Yup. Friends.”
Jess looked out the window as we pulled out onto the road, then turned back to me. “And you’re okay with that?”
I frowned. “What else can I do? Demand that he fall in love with me?”
Fake date him! my brain screamed at me. Take him up on his offer! Spend time with him! You won’t have to make any demands. He’ll be bound to fall in love with you this time!
I huffed. That way lies madness, I reminded myself. The kind of madness that tortured me for far too many nights as a kid, made me question my own eyes and ears, made me disbelieve my power over men. It was the kind of madness that had made me push him away in the end. And now I was in danger of repeating the whole crazy cycle all over again.
No thank you.
“Oh, Krista.” Jess rubbed my arm soothingly, and I glanced at her. She gave me a sad smile. “He’s lucky to have you, even as just a friend,” she said, because Summers girls were nothing if not loyal.
We rode in silence for a bit, until I couldn’t take the oppressive quiet anymore.
“I had breakfast with him this morning,” I blurted out. “I bumped into him on my run.”
I glanced at Jess again, only to see that her eyebrows were now in danger of disappearing into her hair.
“Did he ask you to breakfast, or did you ask him?”
I frowned. “Um. I asked him. Why?”
She huffed. “Damn. I was hoping he would have gotten his head out of his ass by now.”
“What do you mean by that?”
She was quiet for long enough that I thought she wouldn’t answer me.
“You know, I’ve been friends with him this whole time,” she finally replied. “You two weren’t speaking, but I stayed in touch.”
My brow furrowed. “I know that.”
Jess had been prepared to cut him off when I did, out of solidarity. But I didn’t want to deprive either of them of a good friend. And though her constant updates had been like sandpaper on a sunburn at first, I was ultimately glad they had each other.
“And I’ve talked about you a lot,” she added.
“So?”
None of this was really a surprise. She’d kept me up to date on all of his exploits in the last decade. It stood to reason she’d extended the same dubious favor to him.
“So he was always really interested anytime I mentioned your name.”
I chanced another quick look at her right before I merged onto the Southern State Parkway, frowning at her mischievous grin.
“Well, I always paid attention when you talked about him,” I admitted, still not sure where she was going with this.
“Yes, because you were in love with him and you missed him terribly.” The ‘duh’ in her tone was unmistakable, and it finally clicked.
“No way.” I shook my head vehemently. “I’m not going down that road again, Jess. I’m not deluding myself into thinking he wants me.”
She hummed thoughtfully. “We’ll see.”
“He didn’t love me then,” I insisted. “He won’t love me now.”
Which was exactly why there was no freaking way I could date him, fake or otherwise. I absolutely could not spend one-on-one time with him, couldn’t flirt and tease and seduce. I would never be able to kiss him goodnight, or – gods – kiss him good morning, and keep it casual.
Because after the conversation that morning, it was clear that was all it would ever be for him: casual. Practice. Nothing more than a game.
He’d put forth his screwball idea, clearly expecting that I’d leap at the chance to even pretend to date him. He actually seemed surprised when I told him I needed to think about it. But really, I just needed a bit of time to come up with a way to say ‘no’ that wouldn’t ruin things between us again.
“People change, you know,” Jess said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Just look at you. You grew into a bombshell. You get up every morning and exercise. You even had the balls to show up to that reunion last night.” She poked me in the shoulder. “What makes you think he can’t change, too?”
I frowned. “I can’t hold out hope for that, Jess. I just can’t. Not again.”
“We’ll see,” she repeated, still with that Sphinx-like smile.
I took a deep breath, trying to wipe the conversation from my mind. “Anyway. Do you mind if we stop at Roosevelt Field before we head home? I want to go to Sephora.”
Jess gasped in an exaggerated fashion. “You want to go shopping? At the mall?”
My cheeks flushed. “Well, Kelly was really nice to me last night, and I felt kind of bad. She made it seem like she really missed me.”
I could see my sister nodding from the corner of my eye. “She did. She always thought of you as a friend.”
My face burned, and I shifted in my seat. “That’s what she said.”
“But what does that have to do with Sephora?”
“Well, she loved the lipstick I was wearing last night. You know, that red one I got the last time you were in New York, when we went shopping with Ellie?”
“Oh, the NARS one? That looked fabulous on you.” I glanced over again to see her grinning at my bemused expression. “I saw Mom’s photo on Facebook. You looked smoking hot last night.”
I grimaced. “Well, anyway, Kelly was saying that she can’t afford to shop at Sephora often. I looked up that lipstick online, and it was more than thirty dollars.” I swallowed down a wave of nausea, as I always did when I thought about how much money Ellie cajoled me into spending on all the fashionable stuff I never used. “I got the impression that she’s kind of struggling with the pregnancy, too. I thought I could get her that lipstick, and maybe you could help me pick out some other stuff for her? You know, to make her feel pampered before the baby comes?”
I could feel the weight of her stare on me for a long moment, and I shifted in my seat again.
“What?” I flicked my eyes to her once more.
“Nothing.” She shook her head, but she was smiling, too. “It’s just that you, Krista Marie Summers, are quite the human being.”
A few hours later, we left the mall weighed down with enough shopping bags to fell a Titan. I was more than a little horrified at the price tag for all the malarkey Jess talked me into. Before I knew it, I’d paid for lunch; a visit to the spa for a facial, massage, and mani/pedi each; and a stop into a swimwear boutique for new suits and coverups for the beach party the next day – which I was ordered to attend, by the way.
And finally, there was the extravagant trip to Sephora, where I got things for Kelly, things for Jess, things for Nana, a couple of things for Ellie, and a face cream that a nice woman with intimidatingly perfect eyebrows assured me I “needed.”
By the time we made it out to the parking lot, I’d spent more than Golden Goddess had earned our entire first month in business. My knees felt wobbly, and I had to grip the door handle to steady myself.
Jess laughed as she loaded the bags into the car. “You look nauseated.”
She shook her head, still grinning at me. “You do realize you can afford the finer things in life now, right?”
“That’s not the point!” I cried as we climbed into the car. “I could have donated two cows to Heifer International with the money I just spent.”
Jess chuckled. “You’ve donated over a thousand cows to Heifer International, Kris. You’ve been donating three cows a day, every day, for the last year.”
“It’s a worthwhile cause,” I sniffed. “The money I spent today is enough to help two families in developing nations pull themselves out of poverty and live sustainably. And I bought beauty products and bathing suits instead.”
“Well, Kelly will appreciate your gifts. That has to be worthwhile,” she teased. I grumbled, but it was halfhearted. “And it will be worthwhile when Seth’s eyes pop out of his head at the sight of you in that super-hot bikini.”
My cheeks heated up again. “I am not wearing that thing in public.” The suit Jess had picked out for me revealed way too many freckles for me to ever feel comfortable in it. “And besides, what part of ‘I’m not going there again’ did you not understand?”
She bumped my shoulder. “I love my little bleeding heart. Even if you are too shy for your own good.”
I stuck my tongue out as we began the ride home, and thankfully, she quickly changed the subject. As she ran through a list of all the things we still had to do before her wedding next Saturday, I did my best to put Seth out of my mind and focus.
It was only when we pulled onto the causeway that connected Long Island and South Bay that I realized we forgot to get Jess a rental car before we left the airport.
“I’ll do it on Monday when we pick up Adam,” she assured me.
“You better,” I threatened, though we both knew it lacked any menace.
She grinned at my pathetic attempt at intimidation. “I promise.”
I listened to her chatter on as I wound through the streets of our hometown, wondering how I was going to find the time this week to do all the things I needed to. I had to prep for the biggest gaming convention in the industry; get my baby sister ready for her big day; and figure out a way to help Seth with his injury. Oh, and I had to give him an answer to the fake dating proposal.