Pretenders (Firsts and Forever 3)

I thought he was beautiful anyway, but in his perfectly tailored tuxedo he was drop-dead gorgeous. I whispered, “You look absolutely stunning.”

He grinned and said, also in a whisper, “Thank you for the compliment, but I think everyone looks good in a tux.”

“A lot of people look good in them. You look downright edible.” He fought back a laugh.

I locked up behind us, and as we crossed the living room, Jasper’s bedroom door opened. He stepped into our path carrying an empty mug, then froze in his tracks when he spotted us.

“Sorry if we woke you,” I said.

“You didn’t.” Jasper’s expression immediately became guarded as he turned his gaze to Wes.

I gestured from one man to the other. “Jas, this is Wesley. Wes, meet my friend and roommate Jasper.”

Wes hurried over to him and offered his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said. “Thank you for taking the time to speak to me on the phone the other day, and also for introducing me to Ash.”

Jasper gave his hand a quick shake and muttered, “No problem.” He shot me a look and seemed like he wanted to say something else, but then he went back into his room and closed the door.

I’d known he wouldn’t be thrilled I was spending more time with Wes. He’d already been worried I was getting too attached to him, and this would just add to his concerns.

Wes didn’t have the same context for Jasper’s reaction, so once we were in my room he said, “I get the feeling Jasper doesn’t like me.”

“That’s not true. He never would have sent you to me if he felt that way.”

“Then why did he seem upset to see me?”

I really didn’t want to talk about what was worrying Jasper, so I went with, “We just caught him off guard. I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to meet someone new on the way to the kitchen.” There was definitely some truth to that.

“I hope that’s all it was.”

Since he was clearly uncomfortable, I asked, “Want to relocate to your apartment?”

“Are you sure? I didn’t mean to disrupt your entire evening.”

“My night needed disrupting.”

“Okay, then.” He seemed unsure of himself as he asked, “Would you maybe want to spend the night? I’m just asking because it’s already late, and—”

“I’d love to. It’ll just take me a minute to pack an overnight bag.”

He smiled at me, and while he called a cab, I found my backpack and stuffed it with a change of clothes and a few other necessities. When he got off the phone, he told me, “They’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”

I suggested waiting downstairs so Jasper wouldn’t be annoyed by the shrill buzzer. As I stuck my feet into a pair of lavender Converse and put on a hoodie, I asked, “Do you have snacks at your house? I mean real ones like chips, not healthy stuff like carrot sticks.”

“The latter, but I do have hummus to go with the carrots.”

“That’s what I thought.” I swung by the kitchen on the way out and grabbed an enormous bag of Funyuns, which I’d procured when I tagged along with Cole to one of those giant food warehouse places.

Wes asked, “What is that?” I held up the bag and gestured at it with a flourish. He looked amused. “Yes, I see the word. I just don’t understand what it means.”

“Haven’t you ever seen these before? They’re Funyuns. You know, like fun onions?”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Sure it does.”

“Why is the bag as large as a king-size pillow?”

“It had to be that big to contain all the awesomeness,” I said, as I led the way out of the apartment.

It was cold out, so I pulled up my hood when we reached the sidewalk. I wasn’t sure why Wes started chuckling until the cab pulled up and I caught a glimpse of my reflection in its window. I’d totally forgotten that particular hoodie had built-in cat ears.

No wonder the cab driver stared at us in the rearview mirror as we slid into the back seat. Wes and I couldn’t have been more of a mismatch.

On the way across town, I slid Wes’s lapel between my fingertips and asked, “Will I need a tuxedo for the wedding? I took a look at the itinerary and it said the dress code is semi-formal, but I’m not entirely sure what that involves.”

“Just wear a nice suit. Even though it’s an evening wedding, it’s also at a tropical resort, so the grooms wanted to go with something slightly more relaxed.”

After a pause, I said, “Feel free to tell me it’s none of my business, but I’m curious where you were going to get married.”

“At my parents’ house in Connecticut. It was going to be black-tie, because Jack wanted everything to be elegant and sophisticated. I guess that means the more casual island wedding was Warren’s idea.”