Wedding Date (Dating #6) - Monica Murphy Page 0,36
Ali spots us first, her expression full of surprise.
“There you two are!” she says, a little frown wrinkling her forehead. “Where did you go?”
“We took a little walk,” I say vaguely.
“Your property is truly beautiful,” Kelsey says to my mother, who’s standing next to Ali. “I love it here.”
“Hopefully Theo will bring you around more often,” Mom says, shooting me a challenging look. I roll my eyes at her.
What is it about parents that make us revert to sullen teenagers?
I introduce Kelsey to my sister, and to Max, who both greet her politely, but not too over the top like the rest of them. They’re a little more restrained, like me.
Both Mason and Max are standing with Dad, both of them checking out whatever’s cooking on the barbecue. “Where’s Cam?” I ask, referring to my other brother, Camden. He’s the one closest in age to me, the one I fought with constantly when we were young. The one I’m closest to now.
“He said he’ll try to make it, but no guarantees. Had to work today,” Mom says, shaking her head. “I produced workaholic sons, I’m afraid,” she tells Kelsey.
“It takes a lot of coaxing from me to get Theo to leave his office at a decent time,” she tells my mother, sending me a warm look. Like we’re a loving couple who can’t get enough of each other.
Not so sure about the loving part, but I definitely can’t get enough of her since last night.
“Oh Theo. Here you have this gorgeous girl who wants you to spend time with her, and you’re always in your office?” Mom tsks and shakes her head. “Shame on you.”
“Hey, I’ve gotten a lot better.” Since Jessica.
The words hang in the air, unspoken but nevertheless true. That was Jessica’s biggest complaint. I never made time for her. Craig has all the time in the world for her, I guess. That’s why she left me for him.
That and our sex life dried up. We rarely did it, and when we did, it was fairly standard. Missionary. Boring. Hell, most of the time we didn’t even take all of our clothes off.
Maybe that’s why I’m unleashing on Kelsey now. It’s been so long, I’m like a deprived prisoner who’s finally broken free.
“Food’s almost ready,” Mom calls as she makes her way toward the kitchen door. “Ali, will you come and help me, please? And Kelsey?”
The panicked look Kelsey has on her face fills me with concern, and I lean over, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “Don’t be scared. They won’t bite,” I whisper in her ear.
She blinks at me, a tremulous smile on her lips. “You’re really good at this pretending stuff,” she says, giving my hand a hard squeeze before she releases it and joins my mother.
Once the women have entered the house, I go over to the barbecue to talk to my dad and brothers. Of course Mason has something to say.
“What the hell, T? Where did you find that gorgeous woman? She is way above you on the food chain, you know.” He starts laugh.
Dad smacks his shoulder and sends him a scathing look. Max shakes his head in disgust. They’re twins, Mason and Max, but they are also complete polar opposites of each other. Meaning most of the time, Max thinks his twin is an absolute asshole. Yet they balance each other out. They would do anything for each other. And all of us.
“Be nice,” Dad says with a scowl. “I’m just glad your brother found someone after Jessica.”
“We were afraid she fucked with your head permanently,” Mason says, his tone grave. “Getting ditched right before the wedding has to be a major blow.”
Leave it to my douchebag brother to remind me of that. “It sucked, yeah. But Kelsey has been a good distraction.”
“I’ll say,” Mason says right before he cracks up.
“You need to shut the hell up,” Max grumbles. “Leave him alone.”
Mason stops laughing. They may be opposites, but Mason is always seeking Max’s approval, which he rarely gets. “I’m just joking.”
“It’s a sensitive subject,” Dad says, making me sound like a baby. “Getting dumped practically at the altar will do that to a person.”
“Dad, what the hell.” He’s not making things any better. “It wasn’t at the altar.”
“Close enough,” Mason says. “And I heard Craig asked you to be one of his groomsmen? Is that true?”
Gossip travels fast in our family.
“Yeah,” I admit, not wanting to have this conversation.
“And you told him to go fuck himself, am I right?” Mason’s