03

« Beautiful but busy, » Jake replied. « Five seconds after arriving home though, I find an invitation to Brandon’s engagement party. I repeat—it’s an invitation to his engagement party. Am I losing my mind ? »

I grinned and smoothed my hands down the skirt of my dress. « Jakey-Bakey. Don’t tell me I was right all this time. »

« Right about what ? »

« That you’re really secretly in love with my brother. »

A raspy laugh escaped him. « I totally dig your brother. Don’t tell him. The other girls are just distractions. »

My smile disappeared at the mention of the ‘other girls’ because Jake was acquainted with a tremendous amount of them. I guess they’ve always been there, just staying in my periphery in the five years I had tunnel vision and all I saw was Jake. After finding him in bed with Gia Davis about two years ago, the blinders came off and I saw the extra-long trail of women Jake had been involved with. It was much, much longer than the line-up at the girl’s bathroom at a house party but everyone looked about the same—restless, snappy and ready to pee their pants off.

« Well, you’re just going to have to nurse that broken heart because from the looks of things at brunch, Charlotte’s got him hook, line and sinker, » I told Jake, forcing a lighter tone to my words.

Out of nowhere, my staid, serious and ever-sensible brother announced that he was getting married and shortly after that, proceeded to drag Charlotte Samuels to our family brunch.

I’d known Charlotte for a few years—she was about my same age. And while she attended the same school as Anna and I, she wasn’t quite like the rest of the fancy prep school’s student body. She was able to attend through the working-student program—an odd kind of scholarship where low-income students paid their way by working a variety of small jobs around campus during most of the day and attending some classes at night. Despite her situation though, she was relatively well-known throughout campus—probably because she’d butted heads with some prominent people among the high school hierarchy. Some people in school put a wall around themselves to keep her ‘kind’ out but she honestly never had trouble climbing it and getting into their faces to tell them where they could shove the rest of their cinder blocks. I still wasn’t quite sure to this day whether I liked Charlotte for her gall or resented her for having it when some of us didn’t.

« It’s a little fast, don’t you think ? » Jake asked, all serious now. « Who’s Charlotte anyway ? Is she pregnant ? What do you know about her ? »

« Why don’t you interrogate Brandon ? »

« Do you think a guy marrying someone he’s known for a week is going to give me a unbiased answer ? » he retorted. « If he’s getting played so well he can’t even think straight, I need to figure out how to help him. »

A big part of me was as dubious as Jake because my brother never made rash decisions—definitely not the kind with catastrophic consequences such as marriage. But Brandon made it very clear to me and Anna when he pulled us aside after brunch that he was serious about Charlotte. Sure, it was a little odd to see Brandon smile so much in a span of four hours but there was no glint of insanity in his eyes when he stared me and Anna down into backing off. He was going into this with eyes wide open—at least from what we could see. There was no talking him out of this—not even Jake.

« Just come to the party and pass your judgement then, » I told him, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden. I had a new dress on and my hair and make-up were classic and impeccable but nothing that screamed for attention. It just wasn’t a style I could pull off—the screaming-for-attention style, that is.

« Are you coming ? » he asked.

« Of course, » I said. « No matter what I think of Brandon and his recent choices, I’m going to be there with the rest of our family. They’re going to need all the support they can get if they want to weather the talk. There’s bound to be some considering how fast they went from zero to a hundred. »

« You’re an amazing sister, Tess. You know that right ? »

The tenderness in his words did nothing to stop my grimace.

Sister—the last thing I wanted Jake Hastings to see me as for as long as I could remember.

It didn’t matter much now that I knew my silly dreams were just that—silly dreams—but it still stung.

« You know I’d do the same for you, » was my gruff reply.

I could hear him smiling as he answered, « Will you, really ? You’ll smile and cheer for me if I’m about to have my own shotgun wedding ? »

I knew he was teasing because he probably didn’t even remember asking me to marry him one day but I still bristled at the joke. « I’ll bring the shotgun and deliver you myself to the girl you’re going to turn into a miserable bride. »

Jake burst out laughing. « Fine. I’m not allowing shotguns to come near you and I’m going to stay NOT married for a good long while to keep the peace. »

« Don’t try to make up some noble reason for your staying a bachelor, » I scoffed. « Everyone knows you’re doing it because matrimony means monogamy in this side of the world and that’s just not your style. »

« You make it sound as if I’m not capable of being exclusive with one woman. » There was an almost petulant tilt to his voice at that protest.

I shrugged, smiling a little now as I imagined his expression. « The question is not whether you’re capable or not. The question is if you’re even willing to be exclusive. Your mantra’s always been the more, the merrier. »

« You know, Tess, you’re a great sister but you’re a terrible friend, » he complained.

Great. First, sister-zoned. Now, friend-zoned.

« Someone’s got to be honest with you, Jake, » I said. « And I can’t help it that I’m always the one around when you’re making mistakes. »

That’s too close to the truth, Tessa.

I took a deep breath and shook myself out of my grim thoughts. « I’m going to hang up on you now because I have to finish getting ready. I’ll see you at the party. »

But Jake sometimes just didn’t know when to quit it. « Are you bringing a date ? »

I smirked. « Nah. Couldn’t find a guy small enough to put in my pocket. »

He huffed out a laugh. « That’s my girl. Wait till someone’s worthy of you. »

Well, that definitely won’t be you, Jake, because one, I’m done waiting for you and two, you’re not worthy of me.

I shook my head at that thought after hanging up on him and focused on a final inspection of myself in the mirror.

It’s been at least two weeks since I last saw Jake but this had nothing to do with him.

I always took too long getting dressed. I knew why.