Seducing the Bride

She has it all wrong. But when she crosses her arms over her chest and looks out the passenger window at the passing scenery—tuning me out—I realize nothing I say now will convince her she’s wrong.

The rest of the trip is silent.

When we arrive back at Dan’s place, Derek is gone. Perrie disappears into her room.

My best friend frowns as he watches her go. “She’s upset. What happened?”

“We should talk.”

Dan frowns, then shrugs. “Sure. It’s beer o’clock. We can sit out on the back patio.”

I’m not eager to see all the wedding prep progress, but we can talk out of Perrie’s earshot there. “Sounds good.”

A few minutes later, Dan and I are settled around the patio table, taking in the sunset. I’m too distracted to appreciate the vivid oranges, pinks, and yellows coloring the sky. I take a deep breath and prepare to blow up my entire personal and professional life with one sentence.

“I’m in love with Perrie.”

Dan pauses mid-sip, then lowers his beer can again. “I know.”

Not only am I shocked, his response gives me zero idea how he feels about that.

Feeing the need for liquid courage, I pop open my brew and chug half in a few swallows. “And…I’m going to do everything I can to put a stop to this farce on Saturday. I don’t want to lose you as a friend or a business partner, but to be honest, Dan, if you don’t approve, that’s not going to stop me.”

Absently, he fingers the rim of his can. “What does Perrie want?”

“Not to disappoint you. So I’m telling you what’s up man to man. I’d like your blessing, but if you can’t give it to me, please don’t give her your disapproval. It will crush her.”

“You think she’s in love with you, too?”

“She’s done her damnedest to hide it, but yeah.”

“Still?”

It’s my turn to frown. “You knew…”

“She had a crush on you before she left for college? Hell yes.” He lets out a long breath. “She told me. And I’ll tell you what I said to her back then. If my two favorite people in the world make each other happy—when the time is right—that would make me happy, too.”

Warm relief slides through my veins. “I want you to know I’ve never touched her. She kissed me once but—”

“I’m impressed. I wondered for years whether you slept with her that summer before she left.”

If I had, would everything be different now?

“You would have killed me.”

“At the time, yes. In retrospect, maybe it would have been for the best. To be frank, I don’t like Derek. No, that’s not true. He’s okay; he’s just not right for her.”

“Of course he’s not. He left on a business trip days before their wedding. He doesn’t love her.”

Dan shakes his head. “And Perrie doesn’t love him. I figured that out in the first five minutes.”

“She says she does…”

“She probably wants to because marrying him would be easier since he’s not you. I admit she’s attached to him in some way I don’t understand. But I’m not blind; I know her heart has been yours for a long time.”

“Do I have your blessing, then?”

Suddenly, Dan smiles and thrusts his hand toward me. “A thousand percent. You’ve always felt like family. It would be nice to make it official.”

A two-ton weight just lifted from my chest. “Thanks. It would be great.”

“Got a plan? She’s a stubborn thing. She’s going to keep marching ahead with this wedding to Mr. Metrosexual unless you make her change her mind.”

“I’ve got some ideas, and I might need your help. But I’ll get back to that. Since we’re clearing the air… Speaking of not being blind, I know about you and Hannah.”

“Seriously? Oh, thank fuck.” Dan’s visible relief is almost comical. “I have been wracking my brain for months to find a way to tell you.”

“You two and your incessant eye fucking made it obvious over Fourth of July. I suspected way before then but…”

“It’s funny. You and I have both been worried that the other would think we’re too old for the women we love. After all, I’m thirteen years older than Hannah.”

I shrug. “My younger sister is very much an adult. If you two make each other happy—”

“We do.” He winces. “She’s pregnant. Seven weeks. We just found out last Friday. I was going to propose anyway, but we should speed things up now. With your blessing.”

It’s impossible to stay in my chair for that news. Dan gets to his feet, too, and we share a long bro-hug. It’s the most emotion I’ve seen out of him in a decade, and I can’t help but think my sister has been good for him.

“You got it. But dude, this is weird. If it all works out, you’ll be both my father-in-law and my brother-in law.”

“It sounds creepy.” He laughs. “But I can’t think of anything better than Hannah and I finding a place together to raise a rugrat or two. I’ll be a better father this time because I’m ready and I know all the ways I fucked up the first time. Plus, if you convince Perrie to be your wife, she’ll be back for good.”