I had a key of my own for emergencies, but it would feel weird to use it. Maybe some people would find it strange, but it made perfect sense to us. Who else did we trust like each other?
Kenneth wolf-whistled at me and grinned, clasping my hand for a firm shake and hugging me around the shoulders. “You look ready for today.” He wore a dark blue jacket with light blue buttons that matched Chrissy’s dress.
Meanwhile, I was in the formal three-piece suit of my nightmares, stuffed into it like a Christmas turkey. Okay, Alec had made it comfortable, but it still wasn’t my ideal style of clothing.
“Battle armor: check,” I joked, clasping his shoulder briefly. “What I wouldn’t give for a good sword.”
Kenneth nodded knowingly. The question was on his face, but he didn’t say a word, probably letting me choose whether I felt ready to talk about it.
There were lots of reasons I liked the guy.
As Beth’s stepfather, he’d never intruded on Beth’s and my relationship. Instead, it was like she’d just gained an extra dad, and I’d gained a brother-in-law of sorts.
“I’m okay,” I answered his silent question, shrugging at Chrissy. “As long as Beth is happy.” If I said it enough, maybe I’d believe it.
Chrissy steered me to sit on the couch, then took out a paper fan from her handbag to start fanning herself. It was awfully warm in here—not just me, then. They’d probably turned the air conditioning off since they wouldn’t be home all day.
“It’s so strange. It doesn’t feel real yet,” Chrissy admitted. “I thought I’d see you get married again first. But here goes our little girl down the aisle.”
We shared a fond smile born from our years together—all twenty-one, counting the year before the formal divorce—and silence fell.
Then I cleared my throat, a blush rising in my cheeks. I fiddled with the pleated handkerchief in my jacket pocket. “Actually, I do have a date today.”
Chrissy gasped and exchanged looks with Ken. “You do? Tom! You never breathed a word of this!”
“Well, I…” I trailed off, my voice sticking in my throat. My heart was suddenly racing, and I tugged at the stiff neck of my shirt, my finger sliding over my Adam’s apple as I tried to make room to breathe.
Chrissy knew me well. She just folded her arms and waited for me to come out with it.
“I don’t want to make a big deal of it,” I said quietly. “We’re still newly-dating, and the Walkers…” I trailed off, wincing.
Understanding crossed Chrissy’s face, but also something else: impatience.
Uh oh. I knew when a scolding was coming.
“The Walkers are going to be homophobic assholes, because that’s all they seem to do with their time: hate people and toy with them. Will you let that hold you back?” Chrissy slapped my knee. “We were scared teens back then. This time, you’re not.”
“And they’ll take great pleasure in making a huge deal of it,” I retorted, shaking my head. “It’s Beth’s big day. I should play it quiet.” More to the point, she might never forgive me if I start a family fight at her rehearsal. A wave of fear lurched in my stomach.
“Are you going to give them a reason to make a huge deal of it?” Chrissy still sounded like she had no time for my bullshit. Just the refreshing attitude I needed.
“Well…” I hesitated. “He’s a little bit younger than me.”
She raised an eyebrow. “How much younger is that?”
“Sixteen years?”
Chrissy slapped my knee again with her paper fan. “Don’t make me do math,” she warned me.
“Twenty-seven.”
She shook her head and scoffed at me. “You sounded so scandalized that I thought you were going to say eighteen. So what? He’s a grown man.”
“Don’t you think it’s weird?” I pressed. “Beth’s only a couple of years younger.”
“No,” she said frankly. “And I think you’re looking for excuses to worry.”
Despite myself, I smiled. It sounded exactly like something Rusty would tell me, and he’d known me for just days. Maybe he was onto something. “That’s what Rusty told me,” I admitted when she poked me with the end of her fan to get me to spill the joke.
“Aha.” She sat back and folded her arms. “How many men have you dated?”
“Well… none.” I swiped a hand over my face with embarrassment. Jesus. I had been a sad, single loner for years. No wonder everyone wanted me to get with the first man who caught my eye.
“Are you habitually chasing younger men on Tinder, or Facebook, or whatever the twenty-somethings today use?”
I gasped. “God, no,” I said, borderline offended. On top of being creepy, what an exhausting thought.
Chrissy laughed. “So, how did you meet?”
“We danced,” I said simply. Heat rose in my face again at the memory—walking in and seeing Rusty commanding the room with his booty shorts and elegant spins. Admiring the way he didn’t give a fuck about those groomsmen. Making eye contact, pressing close to him, trying desperately to focus on my own two feet.
“Rusty the dance teacher?” Chrissy exclaimed, suddenly connecting the dots. “Look at you! Dating an athlete.”
I cleared my throat but grinned. “Yeah. I have to work on my dance body.”
Chrissy smacked me on the shoulder with the fan again, hard. “Any body is a dance body,” she told me, and I could almost hear Rusty’s words coming from her.
Is it a good sign that they remind me of each other? I gave a sheepish grin. “Yeah. We’re really into each other already. I fell for him the moment I touched him. I want to spoil him, and date him, and… I sound totally sappy, don’t I?”
“Sappy is good,” Kenneth interjected, leaning back in the armchair nearby with an amused expression.
Chrissy agreed. “Fuck what everyone thinks. You’ve always been the strong one for me and Beth when we needed it, Tom. We’ll be the strong ones for you if anyone breathes so much as a word of judgment nearby.”
My nerves were settling already at the promise of an ally on my side. “Okay,” I said, smiling. Then, my bigger fears swooped in again. “Beth won’t talk to you about the wedding either, right?”
Chrissy sighed and shook her head. “Is she being blackmailed? God, I can’t imagine… I hope not.”
“Not a chance. She’d come to us,” I said firmly. I had that much confidence in her. “I think it’s just young, blind love.” Guilt weighed down my stomach. Was I taking advantage of Rusty the same way Jason was Beth?
No. Not a chance. I loved Rusty, whereas Jason just seemed to want Beth around, and hate himself for it.
Chrissy saw the whole debate play out on my face. She poked me with the tip of the fan, and I tried to slap it away but I was too slow. “Well, your love isn’t young or blind. Trust that, at least.”
“Oh! Ouch.” I pulled a long face. “I’ve tried buffing out the wrinkles.”
“The wrinkles have benefits,” Chrissy told me, grinning as she looked at Kenneth. “Right? Age brings wisdom.”