Ben: Hey, how you going?
Ben: You doing okay? Studies all good and everything?
Ben: C’mon, Liz. Talk to me. I’m still your friend.
Ben: So I guess you’ll be at the wedding?
* * *
“He’s not really going to wear one of those white satin Elvis jumpsuits, is he?”
My sister shrugged. “Whatever makes him happy.”
“Yeah, but this is your wedding.”
“Our wedding,” she corrected, applying a final coat of lipstick then blotting it carefully on a tissue.
“God, Anne. You look amazing.”
She really did. The vintage lace dress was divine. With her bright-red hair artfully drawn back from her face, she looked so elegant. I had to blink a time or two, my eyes actually getting a little misty. Given how long the makeup artist had labored over my face, I didn’t dare mess up her hard work.
“Thank you.” She reached out, giving my hand a squeeze. “You’re looking pretty awesome yourself, birthday girl.”
My birthday had actually been yesterday. Anne had insisted on waiting until I was old enough to legally join in the wedding celebrations in Vegas. Rather an unexpected delight, since treating me like a full-fledged grown-up wasn’t really her thing.
Ev, Lena, Anne, and I had spent my birthday hanging out in this Bellagio villa’s personal hot tub, nibbling yummy things and sipping cocktails while being waited on hand and foot. Because of course the villa came with a personal butler. Oh, and the outdoor fireplace had been roaring because during December in the desert it actually does cool right down at night. Last but not least, we had cake pops, because nothing could possibly be better than cake on a stick covered in candy.
That shit owned my soul.
I smoothed down the skirt of my own vintage dress, a knee-length ink-blue Dior number we’d found during a Saturday market hunt a few weeks back. It was beautiful. Feminine without being froufrou. My hair too had been pulled back into a simple but classy style.
Wonder what Ben would think.
Not that it mattered. I felt good about how I looked and that was that. My world didn’t stop or spin based purely on his or any other male’s validation. Until my feelings for Ben simmered down some, however, I’d just keep doing my best to avoid him—or at least eye contact with him. Even a stubborn heart like mine had to give up eventually. School had been busy and work much the same. What with Anne occupied with wedding arrangements, Rhys had given me extra hours in the bookstore, so there’d been plenty to keep me occupied. Ben Nicholson had been little more than a stray thought. Mostly. It would be nice later tonight to get out and let my hair down a little. See what Vegas was all about.
Sam stood, giving me a nod. It was time. Any lingering thoughts about the man gave way to squeeful excitement. Muted conversation could be heard coming from the living room, the faint sounds of music.
“Okay, future Mrs. Ericson. Everyone’s arrived so—”
“Pumpkin!” an overly familiar voice wailed. “Pumpkin, where are you?”
A picture of perfect calm, Anne turned to face the doorway and hollered back, “In here.”
The doors crashed inward and Mal appeared, turned out in a truly amazing slick black suit with matching Converse on his feet. What a sight. His golden hair shone, falling over his shoulders. Left undone at the bride’s request. Already he felt more like a brother. But even I had to admit, the man had it going on and then some.
“You’re not meant to see me before the ceremony,” said Anne.
“I don’t like rules.”
“I noticed.”
He ambled up to Anne with a faint smile on his face. “You know, I look pretty fucking awesome. But, Pumpkin, you look even better.”
My sister smiled back at him. “Thank you.”
“Gonna marry me?”
“You better believe it.”
He buried his face in her neck. A moment later Anne squeaked and beat him on the back. “Do not give me a hickey before the wedding, Mal, or I will kill you.”
Maniacal laughter filled the room.
“I’m serious!”
“I love you. Let’s wed it on.” Like something out of a movie, he swooped her up into his arms and carried her out, pausing briefly at the door. “You don’t look too bad either, Lizzy. C’mon, let’s do this!”
I picked up both mine and Anne’s bouquets and followed with a smile. This was going to be awesome.
Out in the super fancy living room, the furniture had been set aside, leaving plenty of space for the ceremony. And the Santa Elvis performing it. The big bewigged guy wore a belt bearing so many sparkly stones it was a wonder his pants stayed up. That thing had to weigh a ton. Vases full of red roses covered every available surface, the heady scent filling the room. A roaring fire burned in the corner. It was perfect, beautiful, and there were so many happy, familiar faces all gathered around, waiting to share the moment. Anne finally had the family she deserved.
In the corner, a string quartet started playing, and Santa Elvis opened his mouth. His rendition of “Love Me Tender” was wonderful. Or so I was later told.
Ben stood to the side with Jimmy and David, all of them dressed in similar dark suits. Only Ben had actually ditched his jacket and tie. He’d rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt, leaving the ink on his thick arms exposed. God, he was glorious. So … manly, for want of a better word. Everyone else faded into the background. He looked so damn fine. It hurt, and angry or not I’d have told him as much, had I been able to find my tongue.
He looked up and found me staring. There was no censure in his eyes. Just the same, embarrassment threatened to flood me, turning my face to red. But he stopped and stared at me too. If our breathing and hearts were beating in exactly the same rhythm, it wouldn’t have surprised me. It was crazy. I should have known better by now.
There was just me and him.
Things were said and I heard my sister’s laughter.
His gaze strayed down over my dress then back up again. Little lines appeared beside his eyes, his face tensing. As for me, my jaw ached from all the things I was holding in, all the words left unsaid. Or maybe it was just more of the same, the urge to convince him that there was something real between us that was worth the risk. Some jumble of sex and friendship and I don’t know what. The fabled connection.
In all likelihood, he still wouldn’t want to hear it. The man made my head and my heart hurt.
“No, you’re not doing it right.” The pronouncement split my focus, my gaze darting to the front of the room. Something was wrong in wedding town.
“I’ll do it,” Mal told Santa Elvis.
The King just shrugged. Guess he got paid either way.
“Of course you, Anne, take me, Mal,” he proceeded, my sister still held high in his arms. “You’re my Pumpkin, my whole damn world. You get my music and all my weird moods, and you think I’m funny when other people are just shaking their heads wondering what the fuck I’m on about. I think it’s cute when you have your little hissy fits, but if you need me to listen and take shit serious, I promise I will. Good times or bad, you’re with me and I’m with you. No matter what, we’ll always work stuff out together, okay?”
“Okay,” said my sister, raising a hand to wipe a tear from her face.
“You’re the only woman I want or need, and no way are you into any other guy, ’cause you got me and I’m awesome. We good?”
“We’re good.”
“Right,” said Mal. “We’re married.”
“They’re married!” shouted Santa Elvis, throwing in a hip swivel just for fun.
Music started up again and the room filled with the sounds of clapping and cheering. Mal’s and Anne’s mouths were melded together. I wanted that, what they had together, and without a doubt it would be worth waiting for. After spending seven years believing love had to be just so much bullshit, I couldn’t give up on it again now. That was the truth. One day I’d find someone else who made me feel like Ben did.
I just had to wait it out.
Santa Elvis started beating out “Viva Las Vegas” while those assembled went wild. Everyone apart from me and Ben. Shit. I’d pretty much missed the entire ceremony. Thank goodness, Mal’s dad appeared to be taping it. Worst sister ever. I went to start clapping, like everyone else, then remembered the posies of flowers still gripped tight in my hands. Whoops, better not.
So many happy smiling faces—except for one. Oh great, my mom was here. From the other side of the room, her mouth wrinkled, brows drawn in tight. Seemed my initial lack of attention on the bride and groom hadn’t escaped everyone’s notice. Her gaze darted between me and Ben, her frown deepening. Might be best if I avoided dear mama for the rest of the night. Possibly the next decade too, just to be safe. The last thing I needed was for Jan to decide to start sticking her nose back into my life now.
No, thank you.
“Little sister,” Mal cried, bearing down on me with arms wide open.
He’d obviously finally set Anne down, because she was busy being tag-team squeezed by David and Ev. My new brother-in-law basically tackle-hugged me, picking me up around the waist and squeezing me crazytown tight. Breathing … so passé.
“This is going to be great. I always wanted a little sister,” he said. “Older sisters are okay, I mean, don’t get me wrong. But little sisters are way more fun, right?”
I just kind of wheezed.
“And you wait until you see what I got you for your birthday. Best. Present. Ever.”
“Dude, put her down before you fucking break her,” said Ben with some urgency.
“What?” Mal deposited me back on my feet. Thank god.
I gave my sore ribs a rub, taking nice deep breaths. “There was a touch too much love in that hug.”
“Oops. Sorry, little sis.”
“All good.” I grinned, still catching my breath. “Congratulations.”
“Yeah. Congrats, man,” said Ben. They shook hands vigorously, followed by some shoulder slapping.
“Thanks, dude.”
Without missing a beat, the drummer moved on to his next love hug victim. Which left me and Ben staring at each other again. Not awkward at all.
“You look great, Lizzy.”
“You too.” I couldn’t meet his dark eyes any longer, so instead I studied his shoes. A nice safe target. The big black boots made for quite a dramatic contrast against the cream marble floor.
He said nothing.
And yeah, okay, I was done. “Have a nice night.”
“Liz, wait—”
“Must mingle.”
His hand hooked my arm. “Wait. I want to talk to you.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I pulled my elbow free.
“Please.”
That one simple word did it, made me hesitate. Stupid soft me. “Okay. Maybe later.”
“Later.”
It was good to want things in life. Didn’t mean you were necessarily going to get them. Already, the thought of hearing whatever he had to say brought anxiety rushing to the surface. Bridesmaids are busy people; I had shit to do. Ben Nicholson could just wait. Tonight wasn’t about me or him or the lingering mess between us. Not even a little. There were about twenty-five or so people present, excluding Santa Elvis and the string quartet. Mal’s family, his dad and sisters, husbands and kids. Mine and Anne’s mom (henceforth known as She Who Must Be Avoided). The Stage Dive members and their partners, plus Lauren and Nate, of course. Lots of people to meet and greet and mingle up a storm with.
But first I wanted to hug my sister. To hold her tight and know that good things happened to good people, and that she was every bit as happy as she’d always deserved to be.
So that’s what I did.
* * *
After I spent almost five hours chatting and being the best bridesmaid possible, the wedding reception finally began to wind down. Hand to god, I’d more than earned my night out on the town. I’d avoided both Ben and my mom by never standing still for long. My attempts to keep Mal’s clutter of nephews and nieces under control went a long way toward helping.
Mental note to never, ever have children. Working with them would be fine, but I wanted to be able to clock out at the end of the day, thank you very much. They might be cute, but they could also be total maniacs. I was pretty damn certain Mal would be getting hit up for the replacement of at least one of the fancy jacquard-covered chairs. I’d tried to get the pâté finger art out, but with little luck. The perpetrator of that particular crime remained hidden under a hallway table.
Couples were beginning to get overly amorous, what with the late hour, rich food, and expensive booze. As for me, I was ready to par-tay!
“We’re about to slip away,” reported Anne, hooking my elbow with a hand. Her other arm was occupied resting around her husband’s neck.
“I guessed.” I nodded. “The dude attached to the side of your head kind of gave it away.”
Mal didn’t bother coming up for air. Instead, he kept right on nibbling at Anne’s ear. But he did say something. Some muttered string of words I didn’t have a hope in hell of understanding.
“What did he say?” I asked.
“He said we have to go consummate our marriage,” said Anne.
“Of course he did. Have fun with that.”
“We will.”
More incoherent mumbling from the guy attached to her ear.
“I thought that was meant to be a surprise for when she got back?” replied Anne.
Mal finally surfaced. “But it’s just so cool. I am just so cool. I think she deserves to know this.”
“It’s your present, it’s up to you. Tell her if you like.” Anne laughed.
The smile Mal gave me was megawatt, blinding. “I got you a baby blue 1967 Mustang GT for your birthday.”
“You did?” I shrieked in glee.
“Exactly. Aren’t I just the best? Ohmigod I’m fucking amazing! My own mind is just blown by me. Put it there, little sis.” He held up his hand for a high five.
I slapped palms with him with much zest. “That’s awesome, Mal!”
“I know, right?”
“Thank you so much.”
“It’s nothing.” A careless hand waved my gratitude away. “Sheesh.”
Only Anne seemed unenthused. “You got Liz a muscle car? You bought me a Prius.”
With pouty lips, Mal framed her face with his hands. “Because you’re my Pumpkin Prius princess. Girls like you don’t drive muscle cars.”
“Girls like me?”
“Beautiful, clever, good girls with lots of respect for traffic lights and shit like that. Besides, you’ve got me. You don’t need any more muscle in your life.”
I wouldn’t say Anne looked appeased, exactly. But she did drop the subject after yet another lingering kiss.
“What are you up to tonight?” she asked me eventually.
“I thought I might go dancing or something,” I said, rocking back on my heels in excitement. Vegas, here I come. “Put my legal ID to good use.”
Anne’s grin faltered. “Right, yeah. Listen, Sam was thinking of going around to a couple of clubs too. You mind if he tags along?”
Ruh-roh. “Sam the security man?”
“Yeah.” Her gaze wandered around the room for a moment, avoiding mine. “He won’t get in the way, I promise. He’s a really great guy and going out on your own in Vegas isn’t the smartest idea. You don’t mind do you? I promise he won’t get in your way or anything.”
“No, I guess not.”
“Good.” She visibly relaxed, leaning against Mal. “I think they took your stuff up to the penthouse suite already, by the way. You’ve got the key, right?”
“Yep. All set.”
“And if you go anywhere on your own, don’t get lost in the hotel. That place is huge.”
“I’ll be fine. Go make merry with your husband.” I smacked a light kiss on her cheek. “Congratulations. It was a wonderful night. You looked beautiful.”
“What ’bout me?” came from Mal.
“Very pretty.” I gave him a pat on the head. “Later!”
I had a man to forget and a town to explore.