I think.
I think I’m ready until tonight when I have to share a bed with Gabriel, who I happen to find very attractive. Who might (maybe just a little bit) find me attractive. Who kisses like a freaking tornado, which would make sense, because he’s taken me by storm. Haha. I’m not usually very punny. Then again, I’m not usually attracted to very inappropriate men. Okay, I was, but I’ve since sworn off that. I was doing so well.
I will do well. I will be fine. I will get through the rest of this weekend. And I will make sure my sister has an awesome wedding. There will not be any disasters of any variety.
CHAPTER 8
Gabriel
After dinner and dessert, which was probably the most delicious meal I’ve ever had (sorry mom!), Susan and her friends headed out. Apparently, they have to set up the hall and the backyard tomorrow, and Susan has other last-minute details to take care of, so everyone wanted to get a good night’s sleep. She’s staying at one of her friend’s houses, though I’m not sure which one, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because she wanted to catch up with them, or maybe so she didn’t feel like she was overburdening her parents with all the wedding details and with us staying here already.
I’ve had a few friends get married over the years, and they were always a wreck in the days leading up to it. Susan seems remarkably calm to me.
I can tell, as the hours tick by, that Pearl is the one getting more and more nervous. I’m not sure if it has to do with the wedding or the fact that in an hour or two, we’re going to have to retire to the guest bedroom on the second floor. I left my bags there earlier, alongside hers.
I bet she would have been much less nervous about the idea if I hadn’t kissed the living daylights out of her and popped a boner she could probably feel while doing it. I kind of wanted to punch my dick in the face for that one. If my dick had a face, that is. Well, the head then. I’d settle for that. But hmm, not really though, because like it or not, the bastard is attached to me, and I don’t want to punch my own dick because it would no doubt cripple the rest of me for some considerable time.
Anyway, I’m currently sitting in the spacious living room, listening to Marnie talk about the wedding and how tomorrow they have to go pick up the chairs they’ve rented from some larger city about half an hour away. Fred just keeps nodding. I think he’s kind of nodding off too. I wish I knew their last name. I’m old school, and calling someone’s parents by their first name feels weird for me. My mom would never have let me get away with that when I was younger, and I guess it stuck with me over the years.
Except I shouldn’t know Pearl’s last name.
And she shouldn’t know mine.
One quick search online is all it would take for her to find a few articles—old ones, but ones that are probably still searchable—with my name in them, and she’d put it all together. Although I’m not sure why it matters as it’s not like we’re going anywhere past this weekend. Because this is a job, it’s not real. As amazing as our kiss was, it’s not real. No matter what kind of undercurrent I felt when we locked lips, it’s not real. I have no room in my life for a partner because they always turn out, no matter how it starts, not be real either. I’ve learned to cover my own ass, and me getting romantically involved with someone just turns into a giant mess. I’d rather save myself the lawyer fees and the years of my life that the stress of a nasty breakup would shave off.
But still.
I guess I’m a little bit nervous about sharing a bed with Pearl tonight too. Not because I’ll try anything, but because there are certain parts of my body that aren’t cooperating fully with what my brain is telling them. Okay, nothing is cooperating past my brain. It’s onboard with the faking it and then get out plan. The rest of me? The rest of me has some doubts.
Ppppppfffffffffttttttt.
My head jerks up from where I’ve been studying my hands. They’re resting on my knees, and Pearl is sitting on the couch beside me. It’s a comfortable, big, overstuffed beast. Microsuede, I think it’s called. Anyway, it’s super soft, and maybe I was kind of dozing off, or at least up in my head because I start hard.
Pearl stiffens beside me.
She sidelong glances at me to see if I heard that sound.