A Twist of Date (8 page)

Chapter Nine

After consuming way too many calories on overpriced wedding cake, I arrived at The Oasis. Nick met me at the entrance and we spent a total of two minutes together before he strode off with the club owner, Elliott Wittle. That left me with the Bachelorette party from hyperville. Despite my joking invitation to Matt, I knew he wouldn’t come, but I couldn’t help wishing he would.

“I think the bride needs a shot of alcohol.” Ashley, one of Kaitlin’s sorority sisters, shoved her face into mine, her pupils big and black underneath the strobe lights. “Maybe another round for all of us?”

Her breath smelled like tequila and my nostrils flared.

“I’m okay with my rum and cola still.” Kaitlin waved her glass in front of her friend, who then disappeared up to the bar. “I think Ash is a little wasted.”

I turned to my stepsister, who looked regal in an ankle-length white veil. Could I really let her marry Paul DeWitt, the cheater? I’d had so little time to process the whole thing, let along sit down to have that uncomfortable chat. “You sure you don’t want another one? It is your bachelorette party.”

“No, thanks.” She smiled and sipped through a red straw. “I’m perfect.”

As always, Kaitlin looked perfect. She positively glowed in a camel-colored silk chiffon dress, and despite the small fortune I’d spent buying Kaitlin drinks, she didn’t look even slightly buzzed. The perfection drove me crazy. Unfortunately, her friends weren’t as perfect since one of them had splashed their red drink on my favorite pink top, leaving a noticeable stain above my left boob.

“Be right back.” Deciding that I needed a drink, even if Kaitlin didn’t, I snapped my purse shut and headed for the bar.

“Wait!” Ginger came up beside me. “We
have
to get the bride needs a blowjob.”

“Yes, a blowjob!” A brunette named Heidi grabbed my arm, jumped up and down, then squealed. “With lots of whipped cream.”

I leaned toward Ginger’s ear. “This reminds me of college, only I’m twenty-seven, and sober. What’s wrong with me?”

“Someone has to be the responsible, sober one.” Ginger laughed. “Don’t worry. We’ll get our turn one day.”

Would I? I closed my eyes, and a vision of Matt popped into my head. He wore a wedding ring and smiled at me in that same way he greeted me work, like I’d made his day just by being there. Only instead of the gym, we were at home in bed and he’d shine that smile, warming my heart, as he rolled over every morning to ask me what the word of the day would be.

“Mel?” Kaitlin waved a hand in front of my face. “I’ll go with you to get the drinks.”

Snapping out of it, I nodded. “Let’s go.”

Kaitlin held my hips as we squeezed through the crowd and made our way to the bar. I stiffened at the contact. Why was Kaitlin acting like we were best friends? Since the day she’d invaded my home, she’d shown me up time and time again. Now she was marrying my ex. Ten years living in Kaitlin’s shadow didn’t exactly give me the warm fuzzies toward her.

Still, when I turned and looked into her bright-eyed face, I knew I’d have to tell her about Paul and me. The question was when? When was a good time to tell your stepsister that you’d dated her fiancé not so long ago?

Ignoring my dilemma, I concentrated on the task at hand by squeezing onto the last empty barstool, and waving crisp green bills at the bartender. “I need blowjobs!”

Despite myself, I laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

“Actually, could you just get me a water?” Kaitlin adjusted the headband on her veil. “I haven’t had this many drinks since college, and I need to pace myself.”

I gaped at my stepsister, amazed that we were actually on the same page for once in our lives. As I was staring, her headband popped off, flew back through the air, and landed in front of some guy’s feet—the end of her veil beneath his coffee brown loafers. 

“Sorry about that.” The deep male voice sounded so familiar that I leaned back on the stool, and peered behind Kaitlin.

Warm brown eyes looked back at me, and my breath caught. Matt. 

I shook my head viciously, sure that the one drink I’d had earlier was making me hallucinate. It couldn’t be him. Why would he possibly come? I leaned back further in my seat, lost my balance, and fell backward off the stool. I landed on my side with an “oof,” then rolled over, and stared up at Matt and Kaitlin, who both hovered over me.

“You okay, Mel?” Kaitlin’s tone was filled with concern.

“If you can call thoroughly embarrassed okay.” I handed her the cash I still clutched. “Would you get the drinks I ordered from the bar?”

She took the money, and stood. “I’ll be right back.” 

Sprawled out on a barroom floor, I stared up at Matt. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping you up.” Matt reached for my hand, then pulled me to my feet. “I’m came with Steve and Erica. They wanted to take me out since today was my last day.”

Nostalgia washed over me with the gang all in the same place. “So you just happened to come to The Oasis?”

He shrugged. “You invited me, remember? Plus, it’s a public place. You don’t own it.”

“True.” Laughing, I took a step closer to Matt, who looked amazingly hot in slacks and a collared shirt. Major improvement from the sweats he wore to work at Totally Fit—well, when he used to work there. My heart sank, and I lifted my eyes from his chest to his face and squinted at him. “I can’t believe you don’t work at Totally Fit anymore.”

Matt drained his beer bottle, then reached for my hand. “Let’s dance.”

After avoiding my touch as if I had an easily transmitted skin condition, the feel of his hand around mine brought tears to my eyes. “I c-can’t. I’m here on a date.”

He squeezed my hand, let go, then made a big point of looking around the club in a three-hundred and sixty degree turn. “Funny. I don’t see Nick anywhere. One dance.”

It was a fast song, so what harm could there be? Feeling nervous in every cell of my body, I followed him to the dance floor, where we pushed our way through gyrating bodies, right to the center. He turned around and faced me.

I lost my breath.

Then he smiled, and started dancing.

With a range of emotions shooting through me, I decided to concentrate on what I knew best—dancing. Moving to the beat, I felt my body take over even though my mind kept slipping back to the fact that this guy moving in front of me, dancing in the sexiest way, was Matt. I swung my shoulders in time with the beat while simultaneously unable to stop staring at him.

Somehow the first song slipped into the next, then the next, and soon I was lost in the world of dancing—a place where I’d always been able to escape the reality of my life. The music flowed through me, creating a safe place from pain. Somehow, right now, Matt had slipped into that world.

The music died down, then switched into a slow beat. Matt took a step toward me.

I bit my lip, but didn’t pull away when his arms slipped around me slowly, one and then the other. His chin rested on the side of my head and I closed my eyes as we swayed with the song.

Feeling a hum by my ear, I tilted my head up slightly, and realized he was singing. Chills ran through me with each word about loss, regret, and love slipping away.

The song ended way too soon. We stayed where we were with his hands around me, and my hands on his chest. Fear swept over me, and my stomach knotted. “I should get back to Kaitlin.”

Matt opened his mouth to say something, but I scurried toward the group of tipsy girls surrounding my stepsister with her long, white veil draping perfectly over her red hair.

Kaitlin’s eyes flipped to mine. “Who was that?” 

She looked up at me with wide eyes, curious and…trusting. Something inside me flipped and I couldn’t stand not knowing a second longer. I pulled her aside from the girls to a few empty chairs by the windows. “I have to tell you something, and there’s no easy way to say it.”

Kaitlin lowered her chin, and blinked. “Okay.”

I sucked in a breath. “Paul DeWitt is my ex.”

She stared at me, as if waiting for the punch line. “Huh?”

“We went out a couple months ago for a few weeks, until he broke it off with me.” I hated the shocked look on her face, but she had to know before she married him.

Tears formed in her eyes. “Did you say I’m engaged to your ex?”

“This all happened so fast, and I didn’t know how to tell you.” My heart pounded like a drum against my ribcage. “I’m so sorry, Kaitlin.”

Her eyes narrowed. “He cheated on me. With
you
.”

I nodded, knowing I had to be the world’s words maid-of-honor. “I didn’t know you were seeing him. And there’s no way he knew I was your sister, because he looked shocked when I saw him the other night.”

Her eyes grew wide, and a tear spilled down her cheek. “You just called me your sister.”

That was the part she was focusing on? “Yeah . . .”

She held her cheeks, fat tears streaming down between her fingers. “Since we were fifteen-years-old, you’ve always called me your stepsister. Never your sister.”

Suddenly, my own vision blurred. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Kaitlin.”

“I know.” She reached for my hands, and held them. “I’m so dumping that cheating finkhead.”

“But not me?” The world around me swayed as I exposed my heart, and waited to see if Kaitlin would stomp on it.

“No way, Mel.” She shook her head, fervently. “We’re family.”

Tears spilled down my cheeks as I wrapped my arms around my sister, and held her to me.

****

Ginger decided to take Kaitlin home, since she’d planned to spend the night at her place anyway. They’d piled the three sorority sisters in Ginger’s backseat, then sped off with vows to never trust another man again.

I’d thrown the worst Bachelorette party ever. Worse than that, I’d hurt Kaitlin. But she was my sister, and she’d forgiven me since that’s what family did when one of us screwed up.

As I watched Ginger’s car speed way through the club’s window, Nick picked that exact moment to show up.

“Elliott Wittle and I scheduled a lunch for next week.” He said, apparently unaware that I couldn’t have cared less. “He’s interested in expanding to Arizona, and I have an ideal location in mind.”

“Great,” I said, flatly. I’d gone from the worst bachelorette party to the worst date. Could the guy ever talk about anything else besides work?

“Isn’t that . . . Steve?” He pointed to the dance floor where Steve, Erica, and Matt were dancing and laughing.

My entire body tensed when Erica, who’d been leaning toward Matt, glanced up at me. I’d make up with her, I knew, but her lie still stung—especially since it had changed things between Matt and me. So, I looked away.

Nick squeezed my shoulder, and nudged me forward. “Let’s go dance.”

“No, thanks.” I leaned back, breaking his grasp. “You go ahead. I’m going to head home.”

“See you Monday, then,” he said, then made his way to the dance floor.

And I didn’t even care.

It made me ache to watch the gang having fun without me, but we wouldn’t all be together anymore, and I needed to accept that.

Holding my evening bag, I hurried out the door, and the cool evening air washed over me. It was only two blocks to my car so it didn’t matter that I hadn’t brought a jacket. I unlocked Betty and was about to slip inside when I saw Matt striding up the sidewalk toward me.

“What happened to your date?” he said.

My pulse raced, as I wondered why he’d followed me out here. “It wasn’t much of a date, but it’s over.”

“Does this mean you’re single again?”

My heart started pounding and I leaned back against Betty, hugging myself from the cold. “I wasn’t
not
single. He was just a guy I went with once. Not The One, or even anyone special.”

He stood next to me, then leaned back against Betty. “Erica told me what she’d said to you.”

My head whipped toward him. “She did?”

His eyes were serious. “Last year, after she and I had gone out a couple times, she said she told you I was a player.”

I nodded, swallowing the lump rising in my throat. “I didn’t tell you about Erica, because I felt guilty for believing her. I
know
you, and you’re not that kind of person.”

He brushed my hair back from my face. “She apologized, too. She thinks what she said kept you from admitting how you felt about me.”

“She’s wrong,” I said, strongly.

He pulled away, wearing a confused look.

Turning to face him, I slipped my arms around his neck. “I kept myself from admitting how I felt about you. I think . . . I was scared.”

“Of?”

“You. Me.” I shook my head. “What if it doesn’t work?”

He cupped my face in his hands. “What if it does?”

I bit my lip, tears filling my eyes. “What if I fall in love with you, then ten years down the road you decide you don’t want me?”

He brushed his hand against my cheek. “That would never happen.”