Don't Kiss the Bride

“True. I just think you two were perfect for each other. The way he looked at you, and talked about you… that shit was valid.”

Hearing that doesn’t make me feel any better.

I lift my shoulder dismissively, trying not to look as upset as I still feel inside. I’m becoming an expert at masking my sorrow.

“Who knows,” I say. “Maybe someday things will change again. When he put the brakes on, he kept sorta hinting at maybe in the future, when I’m older, we could try again.”

She rolls her eyes. “That’s stupid. You’re eighteen, almost nineteen. I don’t see what the big deal is. You’re not breaking any laws.”

Jude and I have had this argument quite a few times since he ended things, and I’ve lost every time.

“I know, but I guess it was bothering him.”

“Maybe you should start bringing some guys over. Make him jealous. I bet he’d change his tune fast.”

She’s right—Jude would probably lose his shit if I started to date guys right in front of him. Especially in his own house. If he brought women over, I’d be devastated. No matter how upset I am, I can’t do that to him.

“I’m not going to resort to games,” I tell her. “He’s been good to me. He’s not a bad guy, I think he’s just… conflicted.”

“Most older guys would love to be nailing an eighteen-year-old. Leave it to you to find one with some morals.” She picks up her phone, sends a quick text, then puts it back down in one huge robotic motion. “Are you sure you still want to live there? I don’t think I could. It’d be awkward as fuck.”

“It’s not like I can move out, Meg. Not yet anyway. I can’t let myself fall apart. At least things are civil and friendly between us. All I can do is try to get over it and reset back to our original arrangement. Which is two friends in a marriage of convenience that was meant to help me get my life together.”

She shakes her head. “I just hate this for you. If we had extra room at our house, I’d be begging my parents to let you move in.”

Living with her and her family would be equally as awkward, just in totally different ways.

“I know you would, and I love you for that. But I’m okay.”

Her eyebrow arches at me skeptically. “Are you, though? Now it’s like you’re waiting to get divorced, but in the meantime, you have to live with your estranged husband. This is like a really bad movie. I don’t think you’re too young to date him, but I do think you’re too young to be going through this crazy bullshit.”

“I’m fine,” I insist, trying to convince myself just as much as I’m trying to convince her. “Things just got complicated.”

“That’s an understatement, Sky. I could never deal with all the shit that’s happened to you this year. My biggest struggle is totally trying to find the perfect outfit and a present for Erik.”

I wish those were my biggest struggles.

“Do you want me to talk to him for you?” she asks, slurping the last of her drink noisily with her straw. “Maybe I can talk some sense into him?”

The hair prickles on my arms just thinking about how that conversation would go.

“No, that will only make things worse. Trust me, he’s not a talker.”

“The hot ones never are. I swear the better-looking Erik gets, the less he talks.”

Megan has turned Erik into a total project. She convinced him to grow the front of his hair out, which now hangs just over his brows and has somehow made his puppy-dog eyes look sleepy and sexy. She’s totally overhauled his wardrobe, she split up his unibrow, and he works out even more. He literally looks nothing like he did when they started dating.

“Your build-a-boyfriend skills have totally paid off.”

She smiles smugly. “True. I just miss how he used to tell me how crazy he is about me all the time.”

“How many times does he have to say it?” I snort. “If he says it every day, it won’t seem special anymore.”

Her smile falters. “I’m afraid maybe he doesn’t feel that way anymore.”

I pat her hand. “I’m sure he does. Go easy on him.”

I’ve hung out with her and Erik together and she has nothing to worry about. He’s totally into her. She’s just a bit high maintenance when it comes to relationships.

She blows out a sigh. “Okay. I’m recharged. Let’s go finish this shopping excursion. I still have to find Erik the perfect gift.”

“I see you caved and went shopping with Megan,” Jude says from the kitchen when I finally get home. I drop my shopping bags in the foyer as I take off my shoes.

“Never again,” I reply, eyeing a huge box leaning up against the wall near the front door. “What’s this?”