Here and Now (Forever and Always #13)

by E. L. Todd

  Janice filled her in.

  “Mike actually wanted to settle down?” she asked incredulously. “I find that hard to believe.”

  “Well, he does,” I said defensively. “He wants to get married and have kids. But Cassandra didn’t…”

  “Wow.” Laura stared at Mike for a while.

  “Everything good between you two?” Janice asked.

  “Huh?” Laura wasn’t listening, too occupied staring at Mike.

  “Is it awkward?” Janice asked again.

  “No,” Laura said. “I don’t care and I can tell he doesn’t either.”

  “Good,” Janice said. “I don’t need any drama during my wedding.”

  Laura rolled her eyes. “Everything is always about you.”

  “On my wedding day, damn right it is.”

  The game ended and the guys exchanged money. Judging by the disappointed look on my husband’s face, he lost.

  “Pussy,” Mike said as he snatched his money out of Sean’s hand.

  “Asshole,” Sean jabbed back.

  I never understood their harsh relationship, but I knew they loved each other deep down inside. Some days, really deep down.

  Sean came to my chair then kissed me on top of the head. He stilled while he looked down my dress, not expecting such an open view.

  “Yes?” I asked.

  “Sorry.” He shook his head. “Get anything done?” He looked down my dress again.

  I ignored his perverted gaze. “Yep. I think we’re done.”

  “Cool.”

  Ryan placed his hands on the back of Janice’s chair. He looked down her shirt. “Your tits look great today, baby.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Could you be more discreet about it?”

  “Nope. So, you’re done?”

  “We got everything figured out,” Janice said. “There will be stuff on the way, but the main things are in place.”

  “Cool.” Ryan massaged her shoulders. “How much is this gonna cost me?”

  Janice gave him the tab with the itemized list. The price was circled in red at the bottom.

  We all prepared for the explosion.

  “Is this a typo?” Ryan asked.

  “No,” Janice said.

  “Are you sure?” His anger started to come through.

  “Yes, I know how to add,” she snapped.

  “Fifty thousand dollars for a wedding?” His voice came out loud. “Are you out of your mind?”

  “Weddings are expensive,” she yelled back. “And if you were so concerned about the price, you should have planned this wedding with me. You were too busy watching your stupid game.”

  Ryan was turning red in the face. “I assumed you were smart enough to budget like a normal person. I knew this wedding would be expensive, but shit, this is just bullshit. Scarlet’s wedding wasn’t even that much.”

  “Well, we aren’t Scarlet and Sean!”

  Ryan stepped away then gripped his skull. “No. We aren’t doing this. You’re going to have to cut some things out.”

  Laura smiled. “This is too funny…”

  Monnique looked awkward.

  And I knew I felt awkward.

  “Cut some things out?” Janice said. “Like what? The food? We’ll just have people eat crackers with ketchup and mustard like Tom Hanks in the Terminal?”

  “Don’t be a smartass!”

  “Don’t be an insensitive jerk. I asked for your input on everything and you didn’t listen to anything I had to say. I told you exactly how much everything cost.”

  He grabbed the sheet then skimmed through the items. “An ice sculpture for two thousand dollars?” He stared at her like she belonged in a psych ward. “We’re getting married in the summer. What the fuck do we need an ice sculpture for?” He looked at the list again “And you got two of them?”

  “They’ll be inside.” She stood up and put her hands on her hips.

  “Fuck no.” He was about to explode. “Just, no!”

  “I’ll pay for my half,” Janice argued. “You can calm down.”

  “So, I’ll still be paying twenty-five thousand dollars for a wedding? Do you realize how insane you sound right now?”

  “And my parents will help.”

  Ryan glared at her like he might slap her. “Your parents aren’t giving us a dime. When I asked if I could marry you, I promised I would take care of you. I’m not taking their money. I will pay for this on my own.”

  She rolled her eyes “Your pride will be the death of you.”

  “I’m a man,” he snapped. “I’m almost thirty and I’m not taking money from someone else.”

  Janice crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, this is what I want. I’m only getting married once….I think.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “You think?”

  “Just let me have my own day, okay?”

  “You can,” he snapped. “For a reasonable price. Even if you said thirty-thousand, I would have said yes despite the nausea I felt inside, but fifty is just over the line. I’m putting my foot down, Janice.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I want to go on a nice honeymoon and have money for rent and groceries when we get back.”

  “I know you have a fortune in your savings account.”

  “That’s my retirement!” He paced the kitchen, his hands swinging by his sides. “That’s so our two kids can go to college. That’s for our health insurance. That’s so we can buy a damn house. I shouldn’t spend a shit load of money on one single day. You know there are people in the world who don’t even have food and water, and you’re spending this ridiculous amount of money on a stupid party? How materialistic are you? Shit, I’d rather give all of that money to charity than do something crazy like this.”

  Ryan just went too far. I could tell by the anger on Janice’s face.

  Sean put his lips near my ear. “I think we should leave.”

  “No,” Monnique said. “I think we should run.”

  Cortland and Mike crept toward the door, trying not to be noticed. We rose slowly from our chairs, trying not to distract Ryan and Janice. I knew dishes would be flying through the air in just a second.

  “How dare you say that to me?” Janice screamed. “It’s just a stupid party? Our wedding day is just a stupid party? And you have the audacity to say I’m materialistic because I’m not giving it up so I can donate money to charity? I’m well aware of the fact that people in the world don’t have what I have. And I appreciate everything I have every single day. But that’s beside the point, Ryan. This is about us and where we are now. You’re lucky this ring is tattooed on my finger otherwise I’d chuck it at your hard head!”

  “Go, go,” Sean whispered.

  We crept to the door then tip-toed through it. We shut the door then dashed down the hallway, like we’d see Ryan get kicked out with a pissed look on his face. When we got to the street, we all took a deep breath.

  “God, that was bad,” Monnique said.

  “I would not want to be either one of them right now,” Cortland said.

  “I knew they would fight,” Laura said. “But…I didn’t know it would turn into that.”

  “They scream at each other like they hate each other,” Sean said.

  “But then they screw like rabbits,” I said. “It’s normal for them.”

  Mike shook his head. “Cassandra and I didn’t always get along, but it never turned into that.” That was the first time he mentioned her voluntarily.

  No one had a response to his comment.

  “Do you think they’ll break up?” Laura asked hesitantly.

  “No,” I said automatically. “They’ll fight for a few days then be back to normal.”

  “Are you sure…?” Laura didn’t seem convinced.

  “I’m not worried about it,” I said. “They are volatile but they are stable at the same time. Honestly, Sean and I would get divorced before they would walk away from each other.”

  Sean looked at me, a glare in hi
s eyes.

  “Hypothetically,” I said.

  “You think they are a stronger couple than we are?” he asked, his tone clipped.

  “Now we have another fire to run from,” Cortland said.

  “No, that’s not what I meant,” I said. “I just mean they’ve been more stable than any other couple here. Cortland and Monnique broke up, and you and I have been on and off for ten years. It took us forever to get our shit straight. When Ryan and Janice go through tough shit, they keep it together. Ryan doesn’t even leave the apartment even when he wants to strangle her. That’s all I meant.”

  “Whatever.” Sean didn’t look at me.

  I knew I would get an earful of this later.

  “Um…what should we do now?” Cortland asked.

  “I guess we could get a drink,” Monnique said. “I could use one.”

  “Me too,” Mike said.

  We walked to a nearby bar then sat in a booth. We all ordered hard liquor. No one was messing around tonight. Mike and Laura sat next to each other, but neither one engaged the other in conversation. Mike downed his scotch and Laura finished three glasses of whiskey like water.

  “You drink a lot,” Mike said.

  She shrugged. “I like drinking.”

  He smirked. “That makes two of us.”

  They seemed to be getting along pretty well.

  Cortland cupped his ear. “I can still hear them fighting.”

  Mike laughed. “I think I just heard Janice throw a bowl at his head. Poor bastard.”

  “My sister was being ridiculous though. Fifty grand?” Laura shook her head. “That’s way too much for a wedding. I don’t care how rich you are.”

  “I would have done it for Scarlet,” Sean said. “Because I’m a stable, reliable, and dependable husband.” He didn’t look at me when he spoke. But I knew that jab was directed at me.

  Cortland rolled his eyes. “Let it go, man.”

  Sean ignored the comment.

  “Is that too much for you?” Monnique asked.

  “Honestly, I would have said no too,” Cortland said. “Ryan had every right to be upset.”

  “He would have known how much it was if he paid attention,” Monnique jabbed.

  “Oh no,” Mike said. “Now the last couple is about to fight.” He turned to Laura. “We should get the hell out while we can.”

  She downed her whiskey then grabbed her purse. “Let’s bounce.”

  They left the booth, Monnique glaring at Cortland, and Sean glaring at me.

  This was going to be a long night…

  6

  Mike

  In a really weird way, seeing all the couples fight made me miss Cassandra. Our relationship was so perfect that we hardly ever argued. The bad times in our relationship weren’t even that bad. We didn’t argue and scream at each other. We talked like mature adults. Our relationship was so stable and perfect. Honestly, we were a better fit than any other couple I knew. If anyone was meant to be together, it was she and I.

  But that didn’t matter. It’d been six weeks and I hadn’t heard from her. She didn’t love me. She didn’t want me.

  “Crisis averted,” Laura said as we walked down the sidewalk.

  I was snapped back to reality. “It’ll be World War III very soon.”

  “I just hope my sister still gets married. That tattoo on her finger would look really ridiculous if she didn’t.”

  “It still looks ridiculous,” I teased.

  She smiled at me. “You want to get a drink?”

  Uh… She and I hadn’t really talked since we hooked up, like, a year ago, but I didn’t have a problem with her. I didn’t particularly want to spend time with her, but since we’d be seeing a lot of each other during the wedding, if there was still going to be one, I may as well make an effort to be her friend. “Sure.”

  “Cool.”

  We walked into a crowded bar then grabbed our drinks. I paid for them because I was used to being a gentleman. Some things never change.

  Laura tapped her glass against mine then took a drink. “Cheers.”

  “Cheers.” I switched to beer because I didn’t want to be drunk off my ass. I had a feeling Sean would call me later to bitch about his wife. Then Scarlet would call me later to bitch about my brother. Seriously, nothing was a secret among us.

  “You looking forward to this wedding?” she asked.

  I looked at her like she was crazy.

  She laughed. “Me neither.”

  “I thought girls were supposed to be into that shit.”

  “I’d like to get married, but planning a wedding doesn’t sound like fun at all.”

  “Definitely not.”

  She felt the rim of her glass with her finger. “How’s your life been?”

  I shrugged. “Whatever.”

  “It’s whatever?” she asked with a smile.

  “I’ve taken over my dad’s company. That’s alright.”

  “Alright?” she asked incredulously. “It sounds like a good gig.”

  “I can’t complain. What are you doing? Weren’t you going to school or something?” It was pretty sad how little I knew about her. I just knew her measurements and how her pussy felt through a latex condom.

  “I was but I dropped out.”

  “What do you do now?”

  “I’m a stripper.” She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.

  I almost spit out my beer. “A stripper? Since when?”

  “A few months ago. I really needed the money after I got into a car accident. I couldn’t pay off my medical bills. Then I kept doing it because the money was so good.”

  “Does your sister know about this?” I think I already knew the answer.

  “No. And you won’t tell her.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Because I just asked you not to.”

  I didn’t like sticking my nose in other people’s business. “Okay.”

  “Good. Because she’d tell my parents and they would disown me.”

  I didn’t particularly give a shit about Laura, but she was Janice’s sister and I really liked both Janice and Ryan. Actually, I loved both of them. So that did make me give a shit. “It’s not forever, right?”

  “No,” she said immediately. “I just need to find a better job.”

  “I can give you one.” I blurted that out so quickly, I didn’t even think about it. I just wanted to get her off a pole where a bunch of sleaze balls were staring at her. I knew Ryan would be pissed if he knew.

  She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t even know what I’m fit to do.”

  “I can find something.”

  “How big is this company you’re running?”

  “It has three-thousand employees—in New York.”

  Her mouth dropped. “Wow…”

  “So I can put you somewhere with benefits and good pay—if you’re serious about the job.”

  “It depends on what it is.”

  “Are you interested in filing?”

  She gave me a smartass look. “Who the fuck would be interested in that?”

  I smirked. “Then what are you interested in?”

  “I’ve always wanted to go into marketing.”

  “I can find you something easily.”

  “How much is the pay?” she asked bluntly. “Because I’m making a hundred grand easily dancing on a pole.”

  “Damn, maybe I should be a stripper,” I teased.

  She laughed. “You do have a nice body.”

  Which she knew from direct experience. “So, you’re interested?”

  “I think I am.”

  “Cool. Come to the office and we’ll talk more about it.”

  She eyed me for a long time. “Why would you even offer that to me? It’s not like you and I are close—at all.”

  “Ryan and Janice mean a lot to me. They are family. I’d do anything for them.”

  Her eyes softened. “That’s really sweet.”

 
“I can be sweet…sometimes.”

  She nodded slowly. “That girl really changed you.”

  The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “What girl?”

  “Cassandra, I think it is. The girls were talking about her. Apparently, she walked out on you because you wanted marriage and she didn’t.”

  I really didn’t want to talk about this. “Yeah. End of story.”

  She gave me a sad look. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

  “Life goes on.” I drank my beer then eyed everyone else in the bar.

  “I think it’s really sweet that you’re a different person now. You know, most guys never change.”

  I didn’t have anything to say to that.

  “So, what made you think differently?”

  I shrugged. “Seeing how happy my brother is with his wife makes me want what he has.”

  “The second couple who were about to scratch each other’s eyes out?” she asked with a laugh.

  I chuckled. “They fight sometimes but they are madly in love.”

  She reached across the table and patted my hand. “You’ll find that eventually, Mike.”

  I didn’t like it when she touched me, but I didn’t want to be rude and pull my hand away. She was just trying to make me feel better. “Honestly, I don’t even know if I want that anymore.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I thought this girl was the one but she left me so easily. I thought she would change her mind after a week or two but she never did. Maybe I’m just not meant to settle down. And then my parents divorced…I don’t know. Marriage isn’t for everyone, and I think I’m one of those people.”

  “If that’s how you really feel, why don’t you just go back to her?”

  “She really hurt me. I don’t think I can look at her the same, even if I didn’t want to get married. I just don’t want to be monogamous with anyone again. It’s stupid and pointless. I’m not a guy that will ever be loved by someone—really loved.”

  She gave me a sad look. “I think you’re being too hard on yourself, Mike.”

  “I don’t,” I said simply. “My mom and dad were married twenty-five years and they got divorced. My dad is the coolest guy ever. He’s generous and sweet, but strong and powerful. He treated my mom like a queen and she used him and walked all over him. She even pushed his kids away from him. Honestly, I doubt she even loves my dad. She just wanted him for his money and for his security. I grew up idolizing them, but I was too young and stupid to really understand what was going on. And if their marriage is bogus…then why would mine be any different?”