The Proposal - Kitty Thomas Page 0,33

driving, and Livia looks like she might not make it under her own steam to the car.

“Thanks, mom,” I say, even as I know she planned this. I get my calculating nature from her, though hers comes from a kinder place than mine.

She turns to Griffin and Dayne. “You guys should stay, too. I'll worry about you. We need to make sure the best man and groomsman stay safe. By the way, which of you is going to be the best man?”

They both shrug. “Hell if we know,” Griff says. “Maybe we'll flip a coin for it.” But Griffin knows he's the best man. We're going in order of meeting Livia. Groom, best man, and groomsman.

“So you'll stay?” my mom pushes. “Plenty of rooms.”

Griffin and Dayne both get evil glints in their eyes which I hope my mother is too tired to notice.

“Sure,” they both say.

My mother, of course, assumes Livia and I are sleeping together, so she puts us both in the largest guest suite with Dayne and Griffin in rooms a respectable distance down the hall.

As soon as she's gone back to the other end of the house, Dayne and Griffin come into our bedroom.

“No way,” Griffin says. “You're not sleeping with her if we can't.”

“I'm not sleeping with her,” I say.

Livia is too tired to be distressed by this whole thing and has already flopped back on the bed.

“You don't get to share a bed with her, either,” Dayne says.

I point to the large plush sofa against the far wall. “I'm sleeping there,” I say.

“Fuck that. She's getting her own room and we'll share down the hall to make sure nobody decides they're sneaking in here. Livia, lock the door behind us,” Griffin says.

But she's asleep.

“I'm not into necrophilia,” I say. “Look at her. She's not waking up until morning.”

“I let you be the public husband,” Griffin says like he plans to hold this over my head for the rest of our lives.

“Let me? I saw her first. I was dating her first.”

“You were a shit head to her. She was crying over you when I met her!”

I look up to find Dayne undressing Livia.

“What the fuck do you think you're doing?” I growl.

“Chill, Soren. She can't sleep in this. You assholes keep arguing while I put her to bed.”

Livia groans in her sleep but doesn't protest as Dayne slips off her shoes and gets her out of the dress. He takes her jewelry off and puts it on the nightstand, then tucks her into the bed.

I turn back to Griffin. “I can't sleep down the hall in your room. What would my parents think of that?”

“Your parents aren't coming to this wing, period. They think you're fucking your bride-to-be silly morning, noon, and night. They won't risk it.”

I take one more look at the sound asleep Livia and follow Griffin and Dayne down the hall to their room, grateful at least it's another suite with a very large bed.

13

Livia

The First Day of the Year I’m Getting Married

A little less than 6 months ago. New Year's Day.

I wake in a giant bed in a strange room with sunlight pouring in through the huge windows. This isn't Soren's house. Are we still at his parents'? It must be close to ten a.m. by now. My head is pounding. I drank too much last night. I wasn't sloppy drunk or anything, but I had a few too many glasses of champagne, and my head is not happy with that choice this morning.

I glance to the nightstand looking for a clock, but instead I find two aspirin with a note that says “Eat Me”, and a glass of water with a note that says “Drink Me”. I roll my eyes at the Alice in Wonderland reference but take the aspirin anyway.

That's when I realize I'm in my underwear and I don't remember undressing myself. In fact, I don't remember much of anything at all past midnight. Did Soren and I sleep together? I'm horrified by the idea that we might have. But I'm sure I'd be sore if that were the case since it's been so long.

Lying across the foot of the bed is a pair of dark grey lounge pants and a pale pink sweatshirt and a pair of thick fuzzy white socks. I put the clothes on, grateful to have something reasonable to wear and even more grateful that me and Soren's mom are about the same size. Putting the dress back on for breakfast would have been