I shrug it off because that is the typical Isaac thing to do. “Nah, I don’t think it’s like that. Is it? I’ve known her a little over a month. I hardly know her at all.”
Even as I say those words, I know they are hollow. A lather, rinse, repeat habit I have formed over the years and the many casual relationships I dropped before they could bloom into more.
“Since when does that matter? I knew I wanted more with Danielle on the first date. Fifteen minutes in.”
“Bullshit. That’s not possible.”
“Man, anything is possible when the right woman is involved.”
We both turn when we hear his bride-to-be calling for him from across the way.
“You better go. Wouldn’t want to upset the bride. I’ll see you in there in a little bit.”
“I just want to marry her. I didn’t need all the hoopla.” He waves his hand around, gesturing at everything happening around us.
“Hoopla? Goddamn you’re getting old.”
***
“I caught you, you know?” Sawyer says to me when I slide up next to her, at a standing table that overlooks the large vineyard, while we wait for me to be called in to run through the rehearsal for the ceremony.
“Caught me doing what, exactly?”
“Checking me out. You weren’t very sneaky about it. I think Mrs. Leonard thought you were looking at her though. Be careful. She may attack you later.”
“I’ve known that woman since I was a snotty-ass teen.”
“Have you never heard of a cougar? That woman is the definition. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
“You’re gross.” I lean down and press a kiss to her shoulder that is dotted with freckles, no doubt a product of being in the sun.
“Well, that was mean.” She pokes at my stomach.
“Ouch.” I rub just over my belly button where she pressed in. “That hurt.”
“Good.”
We stare at each other for a moment before she finally breaks into a smile. “What?” she asks.
“I’m glad you’re here. I don’t know what to make of all of this with us, Sawyer, but all I know is I’m glad you’re here, and I hope you are too.”
“To be honest, I was nervous. I was worried it would be awkward for me, but truthfully… I feel so comfortable. Your friends and their families are so nice. Though, many of them have told me how shocked they are you have found someone serious. I didn’t really have the heart to crush their spirits.”
“So what you’re saying is that you’re pretending to be my girlfriend?”
She wrinkles her nose a bit, as if preparing for me to be angry. “Yeah, I suppose that is one way to look at it. I’m sorry.”
I place my glass on the table then take her hand in mine. “If we are going to play the part, we may as well be convincing about it, right?”
“What do you mean?”
Without warning, I pull her close then dip her back, causing her to shriek and pull every gaze our way. I kiss her like we have stepped into the middle of a romantic comedy and this is the big finale before the credits roll.
I don’t hear the hooting and hollering at first, because I’m so lost in this moment with her that nothing else matters, except the sound of my own heart pounding in my ears. When their voices start to bleed through, I can feel her giggling against my lips, and I can’t help but laugh with her.
I pull her upright and we keep laughing together along with the applause of everyone around us. I lean in to whisper in her ear, “Now you’re mine.” My brain knows this is for show, a game we are playing because she said she pretended to be my girlfriend, but I can’t deny there is also a part of me that wants my words to be true.
Sawyer
Now you’re mine.
His words are still ringing in my ear and sending a chill over my heated skin. I have that tight, anxious feeling in my stomach when you really like someone and you’re nervous to be around them. It’s like I’m a teenager.
I’m sitting on a barstool in the back of the outdoor venue while Isaac, as part of the bridal party, goes over what he will be doing tomorrow before and during the ceremony.
I watch as the groomsmen take their place next to Christopher, the groom. How does Isaac, a man so stunningly gorgeous, have friends just as attractive?
There’s Christopher, with his dark brown skin and haunting blue eyes, then you have Finn with his dirty blond hair styled in that way that is shorter on the sides and longer on the top. It could make him look like a tool, but he wears it so well, and Caleb… he’s like a sexy as sin Clark Kent.
All of this testosterone isn’t good for a woman who hasn’t had sex in a couple of years. I feel the sudden urge to fan myself like the older women in Southern churches on Sunday mornings.
This cat and mouse game I’m playing with Isaac certainly isn’t helping things either. Everything about him is so inviting. He’s the flame and I am the moth flying straight into its light, but I’m not scared of getting hurt. Not anymore, at least. Because I know at his core, he’s a good man. I can see it in the way he is with me, and in the way his friends look at him. He’s one of the good ones, and for some reason, he likes me as much as I like him.
It’s hard to believe, honestly.
Danielle, the bride-to-be, walks down the area that will be the aisle tomorrow with her father on her arm, and I see Christopher’s face light up. If he looks this proud and excited now, he’s going to be a crying groom tomorrow, and I love that.
Sometimes when I’m having
