Stand-In Saturday (Love For Days #2) - Kirsty Moseley Page 0,58

not devastated at all. I thought this would be agony, watching the girl I wanted to be with marry my brother, but instead, I’m just incredibly happy for them both.

It’s then that I realise that maybe it was never her that I was hung up on but the idea of her. All this time, perhaps it was never actually Amy I wanted but more that I wanted my own Amy. Someone to look at me as if I’m the centre of her world and like I’m the person she can’t live without. Someone who completes me, like Amy completes Jared. I’ve never had that. I’ve had a few girlfriends over the years. One or two of them turned semi-serious, but they soon tired of me when they realised I was basically an unambitious child trapped in a man’s body.

All this time, I thought I was jealous because I wanted Amy for myself, but really, I was jealous of what Jared has with her.

The epiphany hits me just as Amy steps to my brother’s side and smiles up at him, letting out a little sigh, as if she’s now home.

I want that.

I want to be that to someone.

My eyes unconsciously flick back to Lucie. She’s watching Amy and Jared. Her hands are clasped together under her chin, and her smile is huge as her teeth sink into her bottom lip. As if she knows I’m watching her, she glances back at me, and our eyes meet. The soft green to them captures me, and I can’t look away as I get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

That’s when I have my second epiphany … I like Lucie. I like her a lot actually—not just in a friendly way.

And that’s a big problem because we’re only an agreement, merely a two-weekend, help each other out of a sticky situation, friendly agreement—complete with a signed contract stating that clear as day. Plus, I know for certain that she’s still in love with her cheating ex because our whole relationship started owing to the fact that we were both hung up on other people and we needed a fake companion to help us navigate through our situations with our respective crushes.

So what if I think she’s adorable and being around her is as natural as breathing? So what if she makes me laugh until my stomach hurts? So what if I think she’s hot as sin? I can’t have her because that’s not the agreement we made. This whole thing is almost over. Tomorrow, we’ll go our separate ways, and then I’ll see her just one more time at her father’s party, where she plans on using me to make her ex jealous.

The knowledge hurts more than it should. I’m genuinely gutted.

fifteen

Lucie

Oh, man, I’m crying!

Amy’s mum leans over and hands me a tissue when I sniff in a very unladylike fashion. I smile a thanks, and she grins back before letting out a watery sob of her own and dabbing at her eyes.

It’s crazy really. I met these people less than two days ago, and now, I’m crying because I’m over the moon for them.

I let out a little dreamy sigh and look back to the happy couple. With the water behind them and the sun shining, it’s the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever been to. Amy looks incredible, and aside from the colour of the skirt and the pink ribbon, her dress is not too dissimilar from the wedding dresses I used to fawn over when planning my own nuptials to Lucas—though I would never have chosen to wear a pair of lacy Converse as my wedding shoes like Amy has. A small pang of regret and sadness hits me out of nowhere as I realise that this would have been me next spring if Lucas had managed to refrain from bumping uglies with his hot personal trainer.

Amy and Jared are so cute together. Looking at them now makes my whole body break out in goose bumps. Jared is staring into Amy’s eyes as if she’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen, and she’s beaming up at him like he’s the winning lottery numbers. They’re holding hands, his thumb absentmindedly tracing over the back of her hand, her body unconsciously leaning into his. It’s almost like there are magnets pulling them together. Their chemistry is palpable, and their happy smiles make my heart ache. I must admit, more than once in the last couple of days, I’ve been a little envious of the