“And what did you say?”
“What did I say? Of course, I said yes. What sort of a clod do you think I am?”
“Thanks, Sis. I knew I could count on you.”
“So, who all did you invite?”
“What do you want to know that for?”
“I’m just curious. Did you invite any skeletons out of your closet?”
Charlie hesitated. I could just see his face, and he wasn’t smiling now. “You know I don’t have any skeletons in my closet. I just invited friends and family. Mandy doesn’t want any drama at the wedding, so it’s not gonna be a big grand to-do. You know how it is.”
“Yeah, I know how it is. I better call her to discuss all the wedding details. I’m really happy for you, Charlie. I know Mandy’s gonna be great for you.”
“She already is. I’ve never been happier since I got together with her.”
“I know, bro. I’ll talk to you later.”
I signed off with him. How much can you really talk about a wedding with a guy? I punched my speed dial to get Mandy on the line. After the initial excited screaming, we settled down to talk about the dress fittings, the cake, the decorators, the honeymoon plans—everything.
Mandy was the best thing that could have ever happened to Charlie. Since they started dating, I was lucky enough to get hang out with her too, and since then we had become really close.
“You have to come with me to the pick out my dress, Victoria,” Mandy said excitedly. “I couldn’t face all the choices without your style sense.”
“I’m all over it, sister,” I told her. “When do you want to go?”
“How about next Tuesday? And I want you to come over and take a look at the flower magazines. I get confused by all the choices. I need your practical head.”
I laughed at her. “My practical head could still choose something you don’t like.”
“No, no. That would never happen. You always make the right choice.”
Always? Maybe not always. Especially when it came to guys. Charlie didn’t say anything, but I couldn’t help wondering. Did he invite Brady Townsend? I know they haven’t spoken in a while. Maybe they fell out, and Charlie cut him off.
“Hey, Mandy,” I breezed, “do you know everybody on the guest list?”
“Just about. Why?”
“Did Charlie invite anybody you don’t know?”
“He invited some people from work, and he invited your cousins from Indianapolis. I don’t know them. He invited a few of his old bowling buddies—don’t ask me why. He had a laundry list of social acquaintances he wanted to invite. I didn’t even look at the list. I just let him invite whoever he wanted. I got my friends on the list, so I didn’t make a federal case about his peeps. You know?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I know. I was just wondering if he told you anything about who he invited.”
“He tried, but I got lost once he started to explain them all. I’m sure I will get to know them all eventually.”
I listened with half an ear while Mandy rambled on. Charlie never found out about my fling with Brady, and I could never come right out and ask him if he invited Brady to the wedding without raising his brotherly suspicions. What would it be like
to see Brady again?
I never met any guy who turned me on as he did. For years, he was nothing but Charlie’s dopy friend. His couldn’t stop making those moronic jokes to save his life. He and Charlie went to high school before me. By the time I got there, Brady had started lifting weights and packing on the muscle. Holy hell did he get hot. He could make the girls pass out in the hall when he went to his locker. Every girl on the block wanted a piece of that. Girls used to break down crying if he smiled at them.
His straight brown hair fell over his soft hazel eyes. His mouth twisted up when he smiled or laughed, and his jokes improved, so he always made everybody laugh. He liked to get everyone in a room watching him.
All of a sudden, he started noticing me, too. Every time I turned around, I caught him staring at me. He would lose track of his train of thought when I walked into the room. I suppose it was inevitable we would wind up trying each other out.
Once it started, it just wouldn’t stop. We did it all the time, in every possible way, as long as Charlie didn’t find out. Brady kept finding ways to see me, even after all three of us went to college. His eyes made me so wet and tingly all over. He used to track me down so he could corner me into some shadowy place. He’d have his hands all over me before the first kiss.