Mr Imperfect

by Savannah Wilde

  Luke covered the distance to her. “And when were you planning to do that?”

  “Oh, maybe when we were both in the same room and not surrounded by my family. I haven’t seen you since last night, Luke. It’s not like I passed up on any opportunities. Last night just didn’t feel right.”

  “As opposed to tonight where I have the joy of seeing him getting under your bra?” Luke snarled.

  “You didn’t knock!”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Mike said, stepping between them. “This isn’t solving anything.”

  Rori was relieved when Luke took the cue and backed off, pacing away. “I don’t approve, Kris. I never will.”

  “Why? Because he’s the one person you’ve ever met that’s called you out on your shit?” Kris said. “You’re the one who started the feud between you two, Luke. At least own that.”

  He spun and faced her. “So, what? He gets to torture me for the rest of my life? And somehow that’s fair?”

  “Well, you’ve never apologized,” Kris pointed out. “He’s over it all now, but you could have saved yourself a whole lot of grief if you’d just apologized back when you both were twelve.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” Rori said. “But can someone explain to me what is going on?”

  “Your fiancé still hasn’t learned to take responsibility for his actions, that’s what,” Kris snapped.

  “Oh, and Caleb has?” Luke shot back. “I don’t see him confessing to stealing my jerseys, or planting porn in my locker, or slashing my tires on prom night.”

  “I’m not saying he was right to do those things,” Kris said. “I’m just saying that now, years later, he can confess that he was wrong to do what he did. Can you, Luke? Can you finally confess that you were wrong, too?”

  Luke rolled his eyes. “What? All this comes down to the snow mobile incident that happened in the sixth grade? It was an accident and his family insurance.”

  Kris shook her head. “No, you were being reckless, Luke. Admit it. You took the machine off a jump and hit a tree when you knew that one of the conditions of riding the snow mobiles was to stay in the flat areas. Then you lied about who was driving the thing, blamed it on Caleb, and got him grounded until he could pay the deductable himself!”

  Rori bit her lip, suddenly feeling a little less defensive on Luke’s behalf. He’d screwed up, no doubt about it.

  “And guess what?” Luke snapped. “I’ve been paying for that mistake ever since, okay? It wasn’t like Caleb suffered like Mother Teresa. That asshole shot me with bee-bee guns, stole my clothes and abandoned me places, and did a million other things nice people don’t do. He’s not for you, Kris. He’s bad news. Case in point, what kind of jerk undoes your shirt on your mom’s couch with your parents twenty feet away.”

  “They were in bed.”

  “Not the point,” Luke replied. “He doesn’t know how to respect people, Kris. He respects money, that’s it. And he knows you don’t have any, so he doesn’t respect you. He’ll mentally buy you, use you, then walk away.”

  With all the accusations flying around, Rori wasn’t quite sure what to believe, but she knew for a fact that Luke wasn’t far off in his assessment. Rich men never respected women who needed their money. Caleb would never be faithful to someone like Kris. That much was obvious.

  “I think that’s enough,” Mike said, his voice calm as he stepped between them. “I think we can all agree that this could have gone down much better than it did.” He turned to Luke. “You know I hate him, too, man. I’m calling this a bout of temporary insanity.”

  “Damn right,” Luke said under his breath.

  Mike turned to his sister. “And seriously, sis, I can’t un-see your bra either and I have no reason to knock when I head over to mom and dad’s. I’d have thrown Caleb out, too, if I’d have gotten there first. If you’re going to be gross, go to his place, okay?”

  “Fine.”

  “So how about we all call it a night and finish this conversation after we’ve had a chance to sleep on it?” Mike suggested. “It’s late. We’ve all had long days.”

  “Sounds great,” Luke said, moving down the stairs without another word. After a moment of debate, Rori started after him only to have Mike snag her arm.

  “Not tonight,” he said softly, and in spite of everything she felt her heart kick at his touch. The human body truly was ridiculous sometimes. “Let him sleep it off. He won’t be making any good impressions right now.”

  Rori looked down to Mike’s hand on her arm, then looked up. To his mouth. Then his eyes. Then she had the presence of mind to scowl. “I think that’s my call to make, don’t you?”

  He didn’t let go, but his grip lessened. “Let me put it this way, how much sleep have you two had in the past few days?”

  Rori glanced at the empty stairway. “Not much.”

  “He’s jetlagged,” Mike said releasing her. “Sleep will help him more than talking will right now. Trust me.”

  Kris stepped to his side. “He’s right. This is my mess. No need for you to clean it up. I’ll take care of it tomorrow, I promise.”

  Rori had a choice in front of her. She could brazenly push through the two of them and follow Luke, or she could follow their sound logic.

  “Let me say good night to him,” she said. “I won’t be a minute.”

  Mike and Kris looked at each other, but it wasn’t like Rori actually needed their permission so she pushed past without another word.

  “I’ll wait here for you so we can walk back together,” Kris said and Rori gave her a brief nod before heading down the stairs.

  From the railing the siblings watched her until she disappeared, then Kris dragged Mike into the living room.

  “Did you see that?” she hissed.

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a little more specific, sis.”

  Kris rolled her eyes. “She was staring at your lips! Did you see that?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “She’s into you!” she whispered.

  “No, she’s not,” he whispered back.

  “When have I ever been wrong?”

  “Uh, how about five minutes ago when you told me to text you when they pulled up,” he said, making sure the stairs were clear. “If I would have known you were going to take your top off, maybe I wouldn’t have been so obliging. This is a mess, Kris!”

  “I don’t regret it,” she said with confidence.

  “Yeah, well I do. I wasn’t kidding when I said I couldn’t un-see the little scene you set up in there. Since when do you wear Victoria Secret shit?”

  “Since I stopped being fourteen,” Kris snapped. “Now stay focused. The point here is that Luke’s fiancée likes you.”

  “You’re seeing things, baby sis.”

  “You think so? Fine. But all I’m saying is that the two of them together is a stain that’s only going to get bigger.”

  “Agreed, but I’m pretty sure those are her footsteps on the stairs, so maybe we should bench this for now. Good?”

  “Good,” Kris agreed, walking back to the stairs just as Rori came into view.

  “He locked himself in his room,” Rori said looking a little confused.

  “Yeah, well, you’ll get used to that,” Kris said heading for the door. “I don’t know about you, but I’m excited for this night to be over. Shall we?”

  Rori nodded and Mike watched as she walked out the door with his sister.

  Chapter 20

  For once, Rori slept. The fatigue of riding horses and spending the day under the sun added to the evening’s fireworks was a perfect sleep cocktail that had her grudgingly opening her eyes the next day when someone called her phone three times in a row. The first time she ignored it. The second time she debated getting up. The third time she tracked her phone down just to put it on silent.

  Then she saw who was calling.

  “Kate?” she said, picking up. Her voice was an embarrassing rasp.

  “The
re you are,” her friend replied in her prim British accent. “One would think you fell off the edge of the earth. Where in heaven are you?”

  Rori chuckled, her eyes still not fully open. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “Well, according to your Facebook update you’re in some Salt Lake City suburb, though I can’t imagine how that came to be. Aren’t you supposed to be in New York about now?”

  “Yeah.” Rori sighed. Where could she even start to explain?

  “But before we cover that, I wanted to make sure you approved of me giving your phone number to Sydney. Remember her?”

  Sydney? “No one comes to mind.”

  “You would have met her a year or so back. In London. An American socialite of sorts. Likes to skinny dip?”

  “Sorry,” Rori said. “Not pulling anything up.”

  “Well, the point is that you two are friends on Facebook and she responded to your picture post of your ‘spare hottie’ by buying a plane ticket. She’s in Salt Lake right now and she wants to meet up with you all.”

  Rori’s fell back on the bed, speechless. Of all the mornings and all the days, this had to happen today?

  Of course it did.

  “Hello? Are we still connected?” Kate asked on the other.

  “Yes. Merda.”

  “Rori, is everything all right?”

  “Yes, yes,” Rori said quickly. “Just a little bit of drama.”

  “Ah, I see. Well then Sydney should fit right in. May I give her your number? If not, check your Facebook. She’s tried to contact you exhaustively there. I’m certain she’s checking that as well. Then she can stop calling me at all hours.”

  “Facebook it is,” Rori said, not needing her phone to ring. “Sorry for the hassle.”

  “Not at all,” Kate said. “You’re not the one acting like an insane person and calling everyone in her phone book on a scavenger hunt for a hot fuck. Although I did hear about your new beau and I expect to see a picture soon. Congratulations, my dear.”

  “Thank you. And you will. I’ll call you as soon as I have things here under wraps, how about that?”

  “Looking forward to it,” Kate said. “Oh, and my advice? Stay away from bodies of water with Sydney. She has a bit of an exhibitionist streak.”

  Perfect. Just perfect. “Thanks for the warning.”

  “Not at all. Cheers.”

  “Cheers.”

  Rori hung up and stared at the wall for a moment. She really didn’t remember anyone named Sydney, but perhaps a picture would jog her memory. Pulling up Facebook on her phone, Rori found Sydney in her friends and enlarged the picture.

  Oh, no.

  Yes, Rori remembered Sydney, and yes, that memory included a swimming pool. The woman had implants the size of a book shelf. It made her pretty hard to forget.

  Great. How was she going to explain this? Because she certainly couldn’t ignore the situation when she’d been the one to issue the invite. A joke, true, but it wasn’t like she’d made that clear in the post. Sydney liked boy toys and Rori had posted a picture of a stud.

  To save Kate from getting another phone call, Rori posted Are you still in SLC? on Sydney’s wall and went to search for Kris. When she didn’t find her in her room, Rori headed for the kitchen.

  “Kris,” she called out, hoping against hope that the other woman was in the house and found Mrs. Cannon instead.

  “She’s not here—Oh, goodness!” Mrs. Cannon said giving Rori a once over. “Would you like to put some clothes on, dear? You never know who is going to walk in.”

  Rori looked down, realizing she was wearing only bikini briefs and a tank. No bra, and it kind of showed.

  “Sorry,” she said, backing out. “Do you know where Kris is?”

  “She didn’t say, but do you have her number? You could call her… after you get dressed.”

  “Of course,” Rori said backing away.

  “I’ll write the number down for you. It’ll be right down here when you come back.”

  “Great. Thank you.”

  Rori was headed back to the stairs when the front door opened.

  “It’s too late to head to Moab,” she heard Kris say. “We wouldn’t get there until the afternoon.”

  “And we can stay the night,” Luke said looking very much himself as he followed Kris through the door. Apparently things had been resolved a bit while she’d slept.

  “Some of us have work in the morning,” Kris said, before the conversation came to an abrupt halt as they all caught sight of her. As a rule Rori wasn’t particularly self conscious about her body, but the expressions she was looking at inspired a streak of modesty in her.

  “My apologies,” she said. “I was just going up to get some clothes on.”

  “Not on my account,” Luke said stepping forward. “You look good to me.”

  Kris gave his arm a little slap. “You’re not the only man in the room, Luke. Clothes would be a good thing.”

  Rori tried to avoid looking at Mike, but as she fled up the stairs she glanced at him to see his reaction only to find he had turned his eyes away. He wasn’t even looking, which annoyed her somehow.

  It took her less than a minute to throw on some pants and a bra before she raced back down the stairs and found the threesome right where she’d left them.

  “Luke, we need to plan trips like that in advance,” Kris was saying. “Wherever we go today, it can’t be overnight or Mike and I can’t go.”

  “Pardon,” Rori said interrupting. “But I’m afraid I may have accidentally complicated things.”

  All three turned and looked at her and Luke offered her one of his smiles. “Got in trouble already?”

  “Perhaps,” Rori said, looking at Mike. “This is doubly awkward because I’m not even sure you’re single. Are you?”

  Mike blushed lightly. “At the moment—”

  “Yes,” Kris answered for him. “Why?”

  “Oh, well. That’s good at least. How do you feel about being set up? Just one date. Sort of a favor?”

  That earned her three confused looks.

  “You know people here?” Kris asked just as Luke broke out a smile.

  “Is this about your Facebook post at the party?” he asked. “Who won the auction?”

  “Auction?” Kris echoed while Mike chose to stay silent.

  “Not an auction, per se,” Rori said quickly. “A random post—a joke, really. I took a picture of Mike and said I had a hottie to spare. I didn’t expect a spoiled American to get on a plane.”

  For a moment Mike’s face was blank. Then he pursed his lips in a sly smile. She would draw it later. “What does she look like?”

  “Attractive,” Rori said pulling out her phone. “And what God didn’t give her, modern science has.” She picked a picture and handed him her phone. Then she watched Mike took the phone and studied it, his pupils dilating as he focused in. She fought the urge to snatch the phone away.

  “Holy hot!” Luke said peeking over his shoulder. “He’s in.”

  “She’s here?” Mike said, still looking at the picture.

  “Yes,” Rori said taking the phone this time. He’d looked long enough. “What do you say, Mike? She’s in town just for you. Want to skip some editing today and go on a date?”

  He didn’t ask how she knew his schedule for the day. From what Rori could tell he didn’t have enough blood in his brain to think that hard. “Sure. If it helps.”

  Even Kris saw through that one and snorted with laughter. “Yeah, anything for charity, right bro?”

  “I like to be a team player.”

  That earned a laugh from everyone but Rori.

  “Excellent,” Rori said. “I’ll find out where she is and let her know we’ll pick her up. Let me go get ready.”

  Chapter 21

  Several thousand feet separated the bottoms of their feet from the earth beneath. Mike conceded it was a breathtaking view, but it was not without its distractions. There was the pilot,
for one. Droning through his usual tour and putting minimal effort into making his words sound spontaneous. Then there was Luke, who had become obsessed with seeing how far he could lean over the basket before either the pilot or Rori pulled him back and scolded him. But most of all, there was Sydney, whose apparent reaction to being scared was to press her breasts into something. At the moment, that was Mike.

  Not that he was complaining. They were a stellar pair of breasts, and if Rori hadn’t told him they were fake, he wouldn’t have guessed. Sydney’s dad was clearly a good plastic surgeon, although Mike was still trying to wrap his head around the kind of man would put breast implants in his own daughter. Part of Mike didn’t want to judge and the other part wanted to punch a man like that in the teeth.

  As it was, imagining the surgery was enough to keep things quiet for Mike in the southern regions. Even when Sydney turned in his arms, aligned her rear to his crotch and leaned forward to peer over the edge of the balloon.

  “So cute!” she squealed. “A deer! You see it? That’s a totally a deer!”

  Damn, was all Mike could think as he was unable to drum up images of a surgery for the first time.

  “Right there! See its rack?”

  That earned a snicker from Mike’s left. When he looked over he saw both Luke and Rori looking at him. They looked quite cozy themselves, with Rori leaning up against Luke’s chest while Luke loosely wrapped his hands around her waist. There was an easy comfort between them.

  “That’s actually a moose,” the pilot said. “Much larger than a deer. You’re probably not as tall as that bull moose’s leg.”

  “No shit?” Sydney said, looking at the pilot in disbelief.

  He nodded. “No shit.”

  She blinked her doe eyes. “And he just looks small because we’re way up here and he’s way down there?”

  “Yep. And trust me, you’d rather see him from up here than face to face.”

  “I’ll bet,” she said, spinning in Mike’s arms. “I can’t believe I haven’t done this before. It’s so fun!” Then, without warning, she pressed a kiss to his mouth. Contrary to everything else she’d done, the kiss felt honest, unchoreographed. Thoughtless. Mike couldn’t help but smile when she pulled away.