one seated, was probably the best idea. I only made it a few steps when another woman walked into my peripheral vision.
“Dani!” The approaching woman squealed.
My head whipped to the side and in an instant I recognized her—Karly. The grin on her face brightened her blue eyes—the same way it did on Corey’s face. She walked over to me and threw her arms around my shoulders. As if we had done this a thousand times before.
“What are you….” Realization struck. “You’re my wedding consultation today?” Karly nodded.
“Sorry we didn’t call for an appointment, I am a total improv, drop-of-a-hat, kind of girl—drives Corey nuts.” She said leaning in to whisper it—more for effect—since sadly Corey wasn’t here. I laughed and she grabbed hold of my hand, tugging me over to the girl sitting at the table.
“Dani this is Lainey; Lainey this is Dani.” We reached out and shook each other’s hand with a smile. Then it hit me. Karly, Lainey, Abby—Corey’s sisters. My eyes darted to the woman walking over to us, no longer on the phone.
The woman flipped her shoulder length dark brown hair out of the way and extended her hand out to me.
“Abigail Preston, but you can just call me Abby.”
“Nice to meet you all.” I said; trying to smile and not show the sudden ‘oh shit’ moment I was having. Karly let out a laugh and looked from each of her sisters back to me.
“I didn’t even think about it, but you’ve now officially met us all.”
Abby cocked an eyebrow but Lainey spoke first. “What are you talking about?”
I raked my brain for what Corey told me about her. Not married, no kids, turns 30 very soon and was having a breakdown because of it. Just a quick glance at her and I could tell she was in the middle of some transitional moment in her life. Lainey’s roots were coming in and showed off the same shade of brown as her siblings but her entire head was highlighted different shades of blonde. There was a little too much makeup on her face and she looked ridiculously uncomfortable in her too tight outfit.
Poor girl.
Karly’s lips turned up at the corner, in a mischievous grin. “Dani is Corey’s girlfriend.”
“What?!” The other two asked in unison; their eyes turned fixated on where I stood, scanning me from head to toe. Okay, if I had to rate this moment on an “awkward” scale of one to ten…it would easily top the charts. “’Bout time he settled down.” Abby said, taking a seat at the table.
It was obvious that Abby was definitely the strongest and most comfortable of the three. She wore a well-pressed business suit, with not a single thread out of place. Even her perfectly straightened hair didn’t have a single flyaway. Powerful. That was the way Corey made her sound and I could see just from a brief introduction—that was her to a Tee.
“Oh no, sorry, I’m not dating Corey.”
Lainey and Abby looked in Karly’s direction for further clarification. “Fine, they’re sleeping together.”
My face instantly flushed a deep crimson. I had never been ashamed of the terms of our relationship—until now. Basically being called out on our ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement in front of his sisters, was way too much.
Monday’s really do suck.
“Then why would you say they were dating?” Abby inquired; a lawyer she was, indeed, wanted to stick with the facts.
“When I showed up at his place the other night, they were both asleep and he didn’t make her leave— even when he brought me home. Actually, he kept her by his side the whole time, snuggling good and close.” The mischievous charm in her voice was making it all sound so much worse than—I thought—it was.
“That’s about as official as it gets for our brother.” Lainey said. I briefly wondered if my cheeks could be permanently stained red, with the amount of blushing I was doing.
“We’re friends.” I lamely muttered out.
“Yeah… right.” Karly said with a laugh as she took a seat on the other side of Lainey. I half-wished I had some crazy urgent emergency right now—or anything to get me out of this. It’s not that I was completely opposed to meeting Corey’s sisters, but not without a little preparation.
“I can see it though,” Abby decided, still eyeing me down. “You’re gorgeous, and definitely his type.”
“The last time I went over there when there was another visitor, he apologized for the intrusion but called her a cab to bring her home. He