“What about you? Did you pick up that redhead that was hitting on you?”
“No,” I sighed. “Sadly, I woke up alone in my bed this morning.”
“What? The handsomest man in the room went home alone? What’s up with that?”
“I don’t know,” I said, looking down at my brunch. “I just wasn’t feeling it, and there was this chick on my mind from earlier.”
“Who?” he asked, scrunching his eyebrows. “I didn’t see you with anyone.”
“I only talked to her for a few minutes,” I replied. “But she was freaking perfect and absolutely adorable. Her name was Reese. She said she was friends with your sister. I guess they used to keep each other company when they were younger. Your father and hers work together.”
“Hmm,” he said, lifting his fork to his lips. “I know who you’re talking about, and I do remember seeing you talking to her for a few minutes.”
“So, tell me about her,” I said with excitement brewing in my belly. “What does she do? Does she have a boyfriend? I know she isn’t married because our conversation led to her saying she didn’t want a big wedding like Caroline’s, though she thought it was beautiful.”
“Honestly, man, I really don’t know much about her,” he said. “Her father owns a financial firm and travels back and forth to New York where one of his branches is. My father does work for them, but other than that, I really never spent any time with the girl. Why didn’t you just get her number?”
“That was the weird part,” I said, replaying it over in my head. “I found her before she left and asked her for it, but she blew me off, saying something about her not being the girl I was looking for.”
“That’s weird,” he said with a mouthful of bacon. “You aren’t really the type to go scaring off women.”
“I know man,” I said, shaking my head.
“So why are you looking for her then?”
“I don’t know,” I said, rubbing my hands over my still-unshaven face. “There was just something about her that I couldn’t turn away from. She was on my mind all night.”
“Whoa, that’s heavy, bro,” Caleb said with surprise. “It’s not like you to keep thinking about a girl like that.”
“I know, I just—”
“Hey, guys,” Caroline said as she pulled out a chair and plopped down. “Ugh, I am starving.”
“Hey, sissy,” Caleb said fondly. “Where’s Troy?”
“He’s still sleeping,” she said. “I didn’t want to wake him.”
“Up all night, huh?” Caleb playfully elbowed his sister.
“Stop,” she said with blushed cheeks. “That’s gross. I am not joking with my brother about my sex life.”
“You looked amazing yesterday,” Caleb said. “And everything went off without a hitch. That has to be the first time in wedding history.”
She smiled. “I know, right?”
“When are you guys leaving for the Bahamas?” I asked.
“Not until tomorrow morning,” she said. “We wanted to have a day to relax here in the city before jumping on a plane. Besides, I think Troy knew that he would need a day of rest after like a week straight of celebrating and drinking.”
“Yeah, I feel like I could use a vacation.” Caleb chuckled, handing Caroline a piece of toast.
Caleb and Caroline had been very close their whole lives, without much of the normal sibling bickering that usually went on. I assumed that with their family being so business oriented, they leaned on each other for support growing up because their mother and father were just too busy with other things. Sure, it wasn’t your typical family with a comforting mother and strong, leading father, but the two of them seemed to turn out really well. Caleb treated all his friends like family, and his sister as a friend, too. It was nice, and I wished that I had that kind of relationship with my family, but alas, I was left to my own devices.
“And how are you this morning, Blaine?” Caroline looked over at me and smiled.
“I’m really good since I watched what I drank last night, unlike some people,” I said, looking over at Caleb.
“Yeah, my brother has an issue with excess.” She laughed and took a sip of coffee.