Rising to my feet, I give him a quick hug. He briefly kisses my cheek. We settle in at our tiny table and he picks up the menu, though I already know what he’s going to order. I always get a salad and he gets a cheeseburger. While we eat, I secretly salivate over the juicy burger he eats and when he spots me making puppy dog eyes at his food, he always cuts off part of it for me.
Theo is very generous.
“I have news,” Theo says gravely after he sets the menu down.
I study his face. When I first met him, I thought he looked like the saddest version of Ross from “Friends” and Eleanor totally agreed with me. Now, I don’t get that vibe at all. He’s got the dark hair and the dark eyes, but the glum expression has completely disappeared. He smiles a lot, and he has a nice smile with straight, white teeth. Those warm brown eyes that seem to dance every time he looks at me, and the thick dark hair that’s a little too long on top, though he can carry it off. He’s tall and fit and he wears impeccable suits that look expensive because they are expensive.
He’s a successful investment manager at one of the local banks in Monterey. He makes a lot of money. He’s not Alexander Wilder—my boss—level rich, but he does very well for himself.
“What’s your news?” I ask when Theo hasn’t volunteered any more information.
Uh oh. Unease settles over me, making me wary. He’s giving me those old, sad vibes right now, which I haven’t seen in a while.
Blowing out a harsh breath, he tells me, “I received an invitation this morning. To Jessica and Craig’s wedding.”
I blink at him for a moment. “Jessica? The Jessica?”
As in his former future wife.
He nods, his gaze flickering with an unfamiliar emotion. “Yes. That Jessica.”
“They invited you to their wedding?” I’m so outraged on his behalf, my voice just rose about ten decibels.
“He’s my cousin,” Theo says with a shrug, seemingly unaffected. I wish I could be as cool as he’s currently acting. “We’re family.”
“Don’t forget Craig stole your girlfriend. The woman you were going to marry,” I tell him.
“Oh trust me. I remember.” His face is an emotionless mask, and my heart is heavy for him.
The server appears at our table and takes our order. Not only does Theo order his cheeseburger with fries, he also orders a beer. Something he never does.
“A beer, huh?” I ask once the server leaves.
“I need it to get through the rest of my day,” he says. “I have to admit, seeing that invitation kind of rocked me.”
I would assume so. “So you just received the invitation in the mail?”
“Jess sent it to my work address.” I kind of hate how he just called her Jess, as if she’s an old, intimate friend, which I suppose she is.
Thinking of her fills me with murderous images. I don’t know what she looks like, but I imagine tearing her hair out at the roots and kicking her over a cliff, never to be seen again.
See? Murderous. I hate that she hurt Theo in such a cold, callous way.
“You’re not going to go, are you?” I lean back in my chair, contemplating him. The breeze sweeps over us, ruffling his hair and sending it into his eyes and he pushes it back in annoyance.
Look, I can admit that Theo is somewhat…attractive. Okay fine, he’s really attractive. He’s definitely a catch for a certain woman. But that woman is not me. He’s my friend.
Nothing more.
“I have to go to the wedding,” he says, his voice deadly serious.
I balk at him. “Why? What does it matter if you show up or not? Everyone would understand why you don’t. She was your fiancée. She practically left you at the altar.”
“Not quite,” he says with the faintest smile. “Our breakup wasn’t that pitiful.”
“You found them in bed together,” I remind him. “Naked.” I hesitate before I forge on. “That’s pretty pitiful, don’t you think?”
He winces. “Kelsey, you always have this…way of always keeping things extremely real between us.”
I sit up straighter, my demeanor solemn. “Some say it’s my best trait.”
“Who says that?” He grins and I can’t help but laugh a little. “I’d say sometimes it detrimental.”
“I just don’t want you to forget what they did to you,” I say, unable to ignore how heavy my heart currently feels on his behalf.
“I will never forget,” he says, and I can tell from the serious way he’s watching me, he means it. “Right now though, I’d prefer not to dwell on the horrendous details of when my future marriage went up in flames.”
Pressing my lips together, I nod once. “Sorry.”
“Hey. It’s all good,” he says easily.
The server returns with our drinks. Theo gratefully reaches for the beer and takes a sip, leaving a thin line of foam on his upper lip. He licks it away quickly and I experience a weird dip in my stomach.
Yeah no. I’m not ready for weird dips. I’m off men, remember? Especially ones I consider an actual friend.
“The main reason I wanted to meet for lunch with you is that I was hoping I could convince you to…” His voice drifts and he glances down at the table for a moment before he lifts his head, his gaze meeting mine once more.
But he doesn’t say anything.
I shake my head a little, giving him a confused look. “Convince me to what?”
“Be my date. For the wedding,” he says softly, suddenly looking bashful.
My mouth drops open. “You want me to go with you to your ex-fiancée’s wedding?”
“Yeah, I do. I definitely do.” He nods eagerly.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I start, trying to choose my words carefully, but he cuts me off.
“Honestly, Kels, what’s the big deal? I need a date, we’re friends, you’re gorgeous, Jess will take one look at you and realize I made a major upgrade and I’ll look like I am on top of the world,” he says, his words coming out all at once, like one long string of consciousness.
I’m guessing he’s been thinking about this situation a lot. And he wants me in on it.
I’d love to help but…
“I just worry about you,” I admit, reaching out to rest my hand over his. “Have you seen her lately?”
He slowly shakes his head. “I was invited to a family get together recently and when I found out they were there, I didn’t go.”
“Right. Because you didn’t feel ready to see her.”
“Well, I feel ready to see her now.” He flips his hand up so now our fingers are interlaced, and he gives them a squeeze. “Come on, Kels. Go with me. Be my wedding date. We’ll show everyone I’m completely over Jessica once and for all.”
I don’t know why, but the idea of going to Theo’s ex-fiancée’s wedding to his cousin fills me with dread. Like this is a bad idea.
Perhaps even the worst idea ever.
But have I mentioned how hard it is for me to resist Theo when he’s looking at me like that with those big brown eyes? I’m suddenly filled with the overwhelming need to make him smile, make him happy, and so of course I say: