Fiance Next Door

I narrow my eyes at him. “One, I’m not your little brother. Two, I’m not a loser so don’t make me sound like one.”

“Okay.” He takes his hand off me. “Let me start over. Congratulations, Mason.”

He offers to shake my hand and I hesitate a moment before I let him.

“Thanks.”

Leander draws a breath. “So it’s you who gets married first, after all, huh?”

I shrug. “Sometimes, you just can’t let an opportunity pass you by.”

“True. Let’s drink to that, shall we?”

I pick up my glass. He grabs one of his own from the nearby refreshment table.

“Cheers.” He lifts his glass.

I lift mine and gulp the rest of its contents down.

“I have to ask, though,” Leander says. “Aster Higgins. How long has that been going on?”

I had a feeling he’d ask.

“A long time,” I answer vaguely.

His eyebrows furrow. “I thought you haven’t been back since you left for college.”

“I didn’t say it was continuous. We hooked up after you left. We broke up and I left. Things were rocky for a while. Then we started chatting, talking on the phone. We got back together but kept it long distance. It seemed we were better together apart.”

At least, that’s the story Aster and I decided to go with during the two minutes we were signing papers after the ceremony, which is the only time we’ve had alone with each other so far.

Leander shrugs. “Every couple has their own process, I guess. Still, I’m surprised you and Aster ended up together. I seem to recall that she didn’t like you very much when we were growing up.”

Because she was busy liking you.

“But hey, people change, sometimes in the ways you least expect. I guess both of you grew up.”

“I guess.”

He nudges my arm. “And Aster grew up nicely, didn’t she?”

Now, he notices? Wait. He’s not the type of guy to be suddenly interested in a girl after he finds out she’s taken, right?

“Whoa!” Leander steps back from my glare. “I think I just said something I shouldn’t have. But I swear I meant no offense.”

“You never do.”

Yet he still always manages to hit me where it hurts the most. Some things never change.

Leander exhales. “Wow. You really do lo – ”

“Not another word,” I hush him with another glare.

“Okay.” He nods. “Someone’s extra prickly today. It must be the marriage.”

I say nothing. Of course he still doesn’t know when to shut up.

“You know what I really want to congratulate you for?” he asks. “The fact that you were able to keep this from Mom. I could tell she didn’t know anything about you and Aster when she told me about your wedding earlier. Plus, if she knew about this, she would have told me yesterday. How did you do it?”

“I keep my mouth shut,” I tell him.

He chuckles. “Well, you were always good at keeping secrets. You and Giselle. Come to think of it, you both did a number on Mom today. Wow. You didn’t talk about this, did you? It wasn’t one of your secret schemes?”

I shake my head. “No. We both keep our mouths shut.”

“I’m surprised Mom is acting all sweet towards Aster,” Leander goes on.

Yup. He’s still talking.

“She didn’t seem to like her all that much when we were growing up.”

I’m guessing that’s because she noticed Aster’s crush on Leander and preferred Sharon for her favorite son. Then again, everyone noticed Aster’s crush but the guy she had the crush on.

“Like you said, some people change.”

“Yeah. Some married men get more prickly.”

I’m about to reply, but I see Aster walking in my direction. At least, I hope it’s in my direction and not Leander’s. She may have vowed to love me, but that doesn’t mean she ever will.

“Hey.” She smiles at Leander and me.

This isn’t about to get awkward, is it?

“Congratulations.” Leander puts his arms around her for a second and I avert my gaze. “I guess you’re really my little sister now.”

Aster shrugs. “I guess.”

“Sorry I missed the ceremony.”

She shakes her head. “How’s Giselle?”

Did she even see me, her husband, standing here?

“I never did find her,” Leander answers. “And she’s still not answering her phone. But I’m sure she’s fine. She probably just needs to be alone.”

“She’s fine,” I assure Aster. “Last I checked, she was on I-85 South. She’s probably headed to the Duke University Hospital to see if she can still apply for an internship.”

Both Aster and Leander look at me with wide eyes.

“Last you checked?” Aster asks.

“You tracked her car?” Leander asks next.

“Yes,” I answer both questions then turn to Aster. “I checked when we were in the car on the way here.”

She frowns. “I thought you were checking e-mails.”

“That, too.”

“In the car on the way here?” Leander pats my back. “Man, you’re a freaking genius, but it’s your wedding day. You better get unplugged.”

A second later, his phone rings. He takes it out of his pocket.