Peter lifted his ass to get his phone out his pocket, but his eyes never left mine. “You’re taking this really seriously.”
“You took the day off work, so you are too.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but it’s my wedding. You didn’t want to be involved at all, but now this?”
“If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it well. You know me. I don’t waste my time.” It was true enough, but it only made him more suspicious.
He held my gaze for another minute before he blew out a breath and rubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, bro. I know you didn’t want to do this, but I appreciate that you’re putting so much effort into it.”
“Whatever,” I said gruffly. “Just answer the fucking questions.” Peter already knew that I’d do anything for him. I mean, case in point. I didn’t need to spell it out for him. “Start with those I sent you, but feel free to add details you think I might need.”
The words came this fucking close to choking me, but I said them anyway. Luna had told me that we needed as much detail as we could get to make their day perfect, and since that seemed to be up to me, I was going to make sure I got everything she could possibly need to give my brother the best fucking day of his life. It was nothing less than he deserved, even if I didn’t agree with how he was choosing to get it.
“Jenny has forwarded all your messages to me, so I figure we go through them point by point.” Peter tapped on his screen. “But it doesn’t make me less curious to know why you’ve suddenly had a change of heart when it comes to wedding details.”
I sighed, wishing I could close my eyes and teleport to anywhere but here. God, the last thing I wanted was for my brother to get married. It couldn’t end in anything other than heartache and destruction, at least not in my experience, but I couldn’t stop him, either.
“I haven’t had a change of heart. I just want it to be a nice day for you. That’s all.” I pressed the tip of my pen into the paper so hard it nearly tore. “Just give me the information, asshole.”
“A nice day for me?” He blinked in surprise, his head jerking back. “Since when do you care about my wedding day being nice? Last I heard, you were raving about how I was making the worst mistake of my life and begging me not to do it.”
“I wasn’t begging,” I scoffed, “and you made it plenty clear you were doing it anyway. If you’re so determined to tie the noose around your own neck, the least I can do is to make sure it’s the best fucking noose there ever was.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Maybe not to you,” I grumbled.
Peter sat back against the leather vinyl of the booth, dipping his head to the side. “Is there some woman helping you with this, telling you what to ask us? Because it sure as shit can’t all be coming from you. Jenny and I went through all your questions last night and there’s a certain… finesse and knowledge to them I know you don’t possess.”
“I have a friend helping me.” It was close enough to the truth.
A friend who made me come harder than ever and become desperate to corrupt that innocent little body, but a friend nonetheless. If there were more rewards like that down the line, I would plan the shit out of this fucking wedding.
Peter scoffed at me. “Bullshit. A friend? As long as I’ve known you, friends have never been a part of your life. You don’t do friends. So who is she?”
“A fucking friend. Do you want my help or not?” I slammed my elbows down on the table and pushed the notebook closer to him. “Because if you do, I need the answer to the fucking questions.”
For a beat, he didn’t respond. Drawing his hands slowly away from the table, he showed me his palms with a smile spreading on his lips. “Okay, buddy. Let’s do this. I’ll answer your questions without asking any more of my own. For now.”
“Just give me your answers,” I said, feeling exasperation scratching at the inside of my chest.
It was amazing how things had ended with no weirdness or need for conversation with Luna, and yet my brother, who was the fucking reason I’d met her, was the one making it annoying. Yes, she was helping me, and yes, we had a great fucking night together, but why couldn’t it be left at that?
We’d agreed there were no strings attached and I’d really believed it. She certainly hadn’t acted like there were, so why should I have to explain anything to anyone?
Thankfully, Peter didn’t press any further. He kept looking at me curiously, but he didn’t ask again. He answered all of Luna’s questions instead and elaborated where he felt it necessary to do so.
By the time our beer was drained and our wings were nothing but a pile of bones, he smirked at me. “If your friend has any more questions, I’ll be happy to answer them, Cy. Tell her thanks, by the way. We really appreciate both of you.”
Chapter 13
Luna
“Adi and I are going shopping for new clothes for summer,” April said when I answered my phone. “You want to come? Please say yes. She’s asked me four times if I thought you’d be able to join us.”
“In that, I don’t think I have much of a choice.” I laughed and drained the last few drops of tea from my mug. “When and where? I’ll meet up with you.”
April gave me the details while Adi sang a song in the background, made me promise again that I would be there, and hung up shortly after. I stood up from my couch, still smiling over Adi’s antics.
She had me wrapped around her little finger and she knew it. Whenever she wanted me to go somewhere with them, I went. I wasn’t even ashamed about it. I adored both her and her mother. Spending time with them was never a hardship.
Besides, I was in such a good mood today and hadn’t really felt like being by myself all evening anyway. Sunshine warmed my skin when I stepped out onto the sidewalk, and a light breeze lifted strands of my loose hair, but the sunglasses on my head kept it out of my face.
The shopping complex where I had to meet up with them wasn’t too far away, so I decided to walk. Pedestrians filled the sidewalk, all eager to take advantage of the fine weather in the late afternoon.
Since it was Friday, many people were dressed up and probably heading out for drinks with friends. As I walked, I admired some outfits and frowned at some of the more eccentric ones.
Mostly though, my mind was on Cyrus and what had happened between us last night. I still couldn’t quite believe I’d actually gone ahead and asked him, but the lingering soreness of body parts that hadn’t been touched or used for a long time reminded me that I had and that being with him had surpassed every one of my expectations.
Seriously, the man was a God in bed. The end result had totally been worth the anguish and anxiety in the run-up to asking him.
All day long, it had been difficult to keep him off my mind. Whenever I had a minute of spare time at the shop, which unfortunately was pretty often, I’d found myself thinking about our night together and got all hot and bothered again.
On the plus side, the memories had kept an ever-present smile on my face and not even my worries about my debt had been able to get me down. Around midday, I’d realized that the feeling of actually being happy and not worried for once was somewhat freeing and I wanted to hang on to that feeling for as long as I possibly could.