Our eyes met and I couldn’t help myself. “I love you, Drew.”

He smiled against my lips as he kissed me.

***

Drew hopped in the shower while I rummaged through the fridge.

Ping, ping. I grabbed my phone. Four texts and three missed calls, all from Peter.

Peter: It’s not over, it barely had a chance to start.

Peter: Alex, talk to me.

Peter: Answer me.

Peter: ?

This was ridiculous.

Drew came out of my bedroom. He looked sexy as hell with a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair disheveled and wet.

He nodded to the phone in my hand. “Still not taking no for an answer?”

I shook my head and set my phone down. I wasn’t going to let that nut bag ruin what was turning into an amazing weekend.

There was a knock at the door, and Drew went to answer it. He already had the door open before I realized that he was still only wearing a towel.

“Alex!” I heard Peter shout from the hall. I came around the corner and saw Drew blocking the doorway as Peter fought to get around him.

“She doesn’t want to see you, man,” Drew said, shoving at Peter’s chest.

Peter caught sight of me and anger filled his face. “So, you’re fucking him now?”

I flinched.

Drew took a step toward him and grabbed a handful of Peter’s shirt. “Don’t you ever fucking talk to her like that again.” Drew released him, shoving him back into the hall. Peter backed up and brushed himself off. He shot a nasty look in my direction, then headed down the hall.

Drew shut the door and turned to me. “Think he got the message this time?”

Chapter 19

Drew (Then)

“Can you believe this shit?” I said, gesturing to my open laptop.

Red leaned over to look at the screen. “What?”

“They’re selling kits on how to write a best man speech.”

Red looked at me and shrugged. “So?”

“So? That’s ridiculous. Whatever happened to just giving advice for the hell of it? Now people want to sell you some bullshit kit.”

“Why are you researching this anyway? Can’t you just write from the heart?”

“I needed a place to start.”

“What do you have so far?”

I sat up straight, cleared my throat, and read dramatically from the legal pad in my lap. “Good evening, friends and family.” I sat there, watching her face for a reaction.

“That’s it?” she asked.

“Hey, this is harder than it looks.”

“Don’t you have some funny story from when you were kids or something?”

“Yeah,” I sighed, “but isn’t that kind of cheesy?”

She folded her legs up under her on the couch and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Not if it’s something personal,” she said.

Things had gotten a little easier between us since the day we spent at the park. I made it my mission to make her feel like she wasn’t so alone anymore and we had grown a lot closer since that day. We settled into a rhythm, spending almost all of our free time together.

Tonight, we ordered a pizza and she was helping me with my best man speech for David’s wedding, which was approaching fast.

“When is the wedding anyway?”

“Saturday.”

“Saturday? Like, four days from now?”

“Yeah.”

“Why so soon? Wait!” She sat up and grabbed my arm. “Is Millie pregnant?” she whispered as her eyes widened.

I laughed. “No, but I said the same thing. They want to be sure that mom can be there.”

She dropped her head “Oh.” Her voice was soft and sad. “How is she doing?”

“Not bad, but not great either.”

“I’m so sorry, Drew.” She rubbed my shoulder.

I nodded. I never knew what to say when people said they were sorry. It felt wrong to say thanks. I was anything but thankful for watching my mom waste away.

“I wanted to talk to you about the wedding, actually,” I said. “What do you think about going with me?”

“Me? Don’t you have a rolodex of girls chomping at the bit to go out with you?”

“None that I want to go with. Come on, Red. It will be fun and my family loves you.”

“I don’t know.” She sounded more than a little reluctant.

“Hey, if anything it gets you off campus and away from Kerri. Plus, there’s cake.”

“Well, if there’s cake…” she said with a smile.

“So, you’re in?” I tried not to sound too eager.

“Yeah, I’m in.”

“Great!” I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “We leave tomorrow,” I said quickly and turned back to my laptop.

“Tomorrow? Jesus, Drew. Could you give me any less notice? I need to pack. Shit, I hope I have something to wear.” She hopped up from the couch and grabbed her bag.

“Wear whatever you want.” I shrugged. I watched her flit about the room, gathering her books into her bag and slipping into her shoes.

“You really don’t understand women, do you?” She laughed.

“That’s just one of the many things you love about me.” I shot her a cheesy smile. Red just shook her head and tossed a pillow at me.

***

The next day, we pulled into my parents’ driveway just as the sun was setting. I grabbed our bags from the trunk and headed toward the house with Red in tow.

When we stepped inside, the house was crazy. The dining room table was covered in trays of little white boxes tied with a blue ribbon. Mom and my Aunt Evelyn were on the phone talking to different relatives who were coming in. Papa Jack had most likely escaped to the bar. I couldn’t blame him.

I set our stuff down by the door, walked up behind mom, and wrapped my arms around her shoulders.

“I have to go, Rachel. Drew just got here. Okay, see you there. Bye.” She hung up the phone and turned to hug me. She wore a light pink scarf and a gray cardigan sweater. Her eyes were a little more sunk into her face and she was nothing but skin and bone. She was deteriorating faster than I thought. Maybe David was right to move up the wedding.

“Alex,” Mom said, stepping out of my arms to give her a hug.

“Hey there, Mrs. Coll—I mean, Emma,” Red said, gently wrapping her arms around Mom’s frail body.

I leaned down and whispered into her ear, “Nice save, Red.” She rolled her eyes at me, but couldn’t hide the smile spreading across her face.

“I didn’t know you were coming, but I’m so glad you did. You can help me keep this one in line,” Mom said, looking up at me.

“Hey, I’m not the trouble maker in this family,” I said. “If I recall, at Rachel’s wedding, it was Aunt Jean who had one too many whiskey sours and ended the night on top of a table.”

Mom giggled. “Well, that’s true.”

“So, where is everyone?” I asked.

“Your father is at the bar.” See, smart man. “Millie and David are doing a walkthrough of the hall and the rest of the family is descending tonight. Oh, speaking of which, the hotel lost Evelyn’s reservation and now they’re full, so you and Alex will have to bunk together.”

I swallowed. Sharing a room with Red was going to seriously test my newly acquired willpower.

“I put some extra blankets and pillows in there and you can make up a pallet on the floor, Drew.” Mom met my eyes and winked at me.

“I can take the floor,” Red said. “I don’t mind.”

“No way, Red. Mom’s orders.”

She nodded.

“Well, I’m going drop our stuff and then I gotta go meet David for a tux fitting.” I looked at Red. “You going to be okay here?” She nodded again.

***

I walked into the tux rental place. David was already in his tux and the tailor was taking measurements. I laughed at the sight of a guy on his knees in front of my brother.

“I didn’t realize this was a happy endings sort of place,” I said as I approached.