Total pages in book: 191
Estimated words: 182070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
But all it took was one peek at my cousin’s smiling face—something about his eyes looked a little off, but I ignored it—to remind me about my priorities. About who I was and what Mamá Lupe would want for me: to be nice and kind to someone she had loved very much even if he hadn’t loved me very much—or at all—in a long time.
I waited a second, then lifted my arm to wrap around the middle of his back, fingers curling over his lowest ribs before giving him a side hug for a second.
And that was my cue to get us in to eat and back out. I’d let him and my cousin do most of the talking. That was good with me. I could catch up with Boogie another time.
“Well, I’m hungry,” I said, trying my best to keep my tone light.
I didn’t miss the side look Boogie shot me as I slid out from under Zac’s arm like a fish, flashing him a brief smile before we headed inside the chain restaurant. The place was small, and we’d been there together a bunch of times in the past. The hostess didn’t do much more than glance at my cousin in his work clothes, Zac in his dark jeans and plain white T-shirt, and me before leading us toward a booth. I slid in to one side first, Boogie following, and Zac taking a seat across from us.
I could do this.
And Zac, fortunately, decided to pick on my cousin as he opened his menu and asked, “What’s that dumb look on your face for, Boog?”
I glanced over. He did have a weird expression on his face as he took in the menu like he wasn’t going to order the same thing he did every time. Was he looking weird because I was being weird? There’d been something in his eyes when we’d been outside….
My cousin didn’t glance up as he shot his best friend the middle finger.
Zac snickered.
Worried it was me causing him to make that strange expression, I nudged Boogie. “I like that dumb look on your face.”
And one of my favorite people in the world nudged me back in a way I was pretty sure said I wasn’t causing anything before lifting his other hand and shooting yet another middle finger at the man across from us.
And that made Zac laugh, the sound rich and familiar still. Like old times. But not like old times.
Focusing down at my menu, I reminded myself again that this was all fine, that I wasn’t going to stare at Zac’s face or, much less, bring up anything from the past. I wasn’t going to ruin dinner with my cousin. I was going to go about the rest of my day and my week and—
“I was going to wait until after we finished eating, but the dumb look on my face is because I was planning on asking you two to be in my wedding, and I wasn’t sure how to ask.”
Yeah, both of our elbows dropped off the edge of the table—mine and Zac’s—and for whatever freaking reason, we looked right at each other. Light blue to my very dark blue. Just like in the past when we’d be on the verge of ragging on Boogie over something.
And that was when he raised his head.
Busted.
His facial expression wasn’t a hurt one or even a sad one. He still had too much of a babyface to really be good at mean-mugging, but it was more… resigned. He knew us both well enough to have an idea of what we were thinking. Which was: you want to marry her? Of all the people in the world… of all the women he’d dated over the years... her?
But he didn’t say anything. He didn’t explain or apologize. He’d made a decision, and everybody else had to live with it.
My cousin—the man who was basically my brother, who had been there for me more often than my own dad—was going to get married.
To someone who didn’t deserve him.
Shit.
“Congratulations?” I said, trying not to let it sound like a question and failing because… well, because I still couldn’t believe he was going to get married, period, much less to someone I didn’t like. If I’d ever fantasized about it, I’d figured he’d marry someone I liked as much as I did my sister’s husband.
“Congrats,” Zac said, sounding only slightly more convincing than me.
At least it wasn’t just Connie and me who hated Boogie’s girlfriend. Future wife. Whatever she was now. It made me feel a little more justified in my dislike to see Zac didn’t seem all that stoked about it either.
“Thank you,” Boogie replied.
I scratched my nose, and Zac just sat there. Neither one of us had the balls to make a face, probably because we were both being watched.