Saturday

I smiled as I watched Scarlett and James dancing. At first she had been standing on his shoes, but she had found out that twirling was much more fun. I didn't understand how she hadn't gotten too dizzy to stand yet.

"May I have this dance?" Matt asked and put his hand out for me.

I laughed. "Honestly, my feet are killing me, Matt. And I'm exhausted."

"One dance." He smiled and kept his hand out.

"Fine, just one." I put my hand in his and he helped me to my feet.

It was a slow song I didn't recognize. Some old love ballad. I was glad that my stomach was in the way of us being able to dance any closer.

"So all of our friends, including James, think I'm in love with you," Matt said.

"I didn't say..."

"But what do you think?" He twirled me around and then pulled me back in close.

"I think that you're nice to me because you respect your friendship with me and with James. And that you wouldn't do anything to jeopardize either of those friendships."

He smiled. "So you do think I'm in love with you?"

"I didn't say that."

"If you want to put your mind at ease, I'm not in love with you."

"Good."

He smiled again. "Good." He twirled me around once more. "I'm the youngest of my friends. I'll eventually get married. I'll eventually have kids. But I'm not in any rush for either."

"Good," I said again. I wanted to roll my eyes at myself.

"So do you think maybe you could tell your husband to take that stick out of his ass?"

I laughed. "I can try. I don't get it though, Matt. What happened with Jen? And Kendra? Why do they all think you're an unemotional brick wall? You're always so nice to me."

"Let's make a deal. How about you stay out of my relationship issues and I'll stay out of yours."

"What relationship issues?"

He laughed. "Penny."

"Matthew."

"You know I hate being called Matthew," he said and gave me an exaggerated frown.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Then tell me what you meant."

He shrugged.

I punched him in the same spot that James had apparently been punching him."

"Ow."

"Tell me."

"James has a huge list of problems. I don't think you need me to name them all. I love him like a brother, but that doesn't mean he's perfect. I've never really understood why you chose him."

Harsh. "It's simple. I love him."

"Right, I get that. But there are plenty of guys out there with their shit together that would love to be with you."

Every word out of his mouth was making me more and more pissed. "What, like you?"

He smiled. "Yeah, like me."

"You just said you didn't like me." I punched his arm again.

"No, I didn't say that. I said I wasn't in love with you. There's a pretty big difference between like and love."

"I know. There's a huge difference. But I don't think you understand the difference, Matt. I love James with everything that I am. He's my husband, the father of my kids. He's everything to me."

He stared at me blankly.

"I'd take a bullet for him."

"Would he for you?"

"Of course he would."

"You never saw what he was like before he met you."

I swallowed hard. "I know. But he's not that way anymore." The song had stopped, but we were both still standing in the middle of the dance floor. "What was he like?" I don't know why I asked it. Matt's ulterior motives were pretty clear tonight. But he had been drinking since this afternoon. And every person here without a date was probably a little lonely. Being single and going to a wedding was never the best mix. He probably wouldn't remember this conversation in the morning. I wanted the information, though. I wanted to understand that part of James that I never knew.

"He was a dead man walking," Matt said. "I'm not an unemotional brick wall. But he sure as hell was."

Another song had started. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back in close.

"You're drunk," I said.

"Maybe. But I meant what I said."

"Which part?"

He smiled. "All of it."

I punched him in the arm again.

"Jesus, Penny." He released his hand on my waist to grab his arm. "Would you cut that out?"

"If you stop hitting on me I'll stop hitting you. I hate you for making James right about this. It's bad enough I lose arguments without putting my neck out for a friend."

Matt laughed. "I'm not hitting on you. You're so full of yourself. Which is a good quality. Guys like girls who embody confidence."

I punched him again. "There are plenty of single girls here who would love to be with you."

"Good," he said.

"Well, good then."

He smiled down at me.

"Stop smiling at me."

"I'm not allowed to smile at you now? Penny, we're friends. What I think about in my free time is really none of your business." He winked at me.

So I punched him again.

I jumped when James put his arm around my waist.

"Can I steal my wife for this dance," James said. It was phrased as a question, but there wasn't a hint of a question in his tone. And he didn't wait for Matt to answer. He just pulled me into his arms.

"Why did you just punch him?" he asked. There was a hint of humor in his eyes.

"He was making me mad."

"Okay, I'll rephrase the question." He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing important." I put my hands behind his neck. Maybe I'd tell him when he got back from his trip. But there was no reason to make him worry. I didn't care if Matt liked me. I only had eyes for James. "I'm pretty sure Matt is drunk."

James laughed. "He's young. He's in his prime to make mistakes."

"Like when you were his age?"

"If I'm being honest, I can't really see them as mistakes anymore. How can anything I've done be a mistake if it's lead me to this moment?"

I smiled. "You can't."

He leaned down, pressing his forehead against mine. "I have to get going."

No. "Don't leave tonight."

"I'll be back before you know it."

I frowned and pulled my face away from his. I didn't understand why I felt like crying. He had gone away on business countless times.

"Is something else bothering you? I'm only going to be gone for a few days. You'll barely notice I'm not home."

"Oh, I'll definitely notice." I bit the inside of my lip. "Did you have a chance to talk to Scar? The whole snake thing has been getting to me."

"I talked to her. I don't think she'll be mentioning it anymore. She even claimed she wanted to watch the movie again. She was insisting actually. Don't worry, though, I shut that down right away. But I thought it was a good sign. It probably means she's not as scared anymore."

"Well that's good. What exactly did you say to her to calm her down? Every time I told her the snake was just in the movie, it seemed to make her more upset."

"I told her that she was scaring you."

I laughed. "You did not."

"I absolutely did. I told her she needed to stop talking about snakes because it was scaring Mommy."

"I'm supposed to be able to protect her. I don't want her to think I'm easily terrified."

"She doesn't. Besides, I'm the protector of the house. And I'll be back before you know it. I really have to get going, though."

I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I couldn't quite place. I wanted to protest. I wanted to beg him to stay. Instead, I just nodded my head and tried to ignore the imminent tears pricking the corners of my eyes.

He placed a gentle kiss against my lips.

I grabbed the lapels of his tuxedo to deepen the kiss, but he pulled away far too soon.

"Feel free to keep punching Matt as long as he keeps flirting with you," James said and placed a kiss on my cheek. "I'm going to have a little chat with him before I head out."

Before I could say anything, James had dropped me from his embrace and was stalking over toward Matt. He grabbed him by the arm and pulled him off the dance floor.

Bye, James. I put my hand on my stomach. What was this feeling? All I knew was that it wasn't just a chill down my spine. It was like my whole body felt cold.