Page 79 of Sister of the Bride

“Oh my god,” I whisper.IsBilly Joel here? Is this all a dream? Am I dreamingright fucking now?

“I know. And I didn’t think you felt that way about me, so I put it away. I moved on. And that was fine until Jen said she wanted me to propose and I couldn’t because I didn’t feel about her the way I felt about you. And I knew I never would. It was you or nobody. So I moved back here to give it one last shot.”

“I thought you moved here for Mass General?” I whisper.

“Let’s just say that I got very lucky that the best Emergency Medicine program in the country happened to be down the street from you,” he says. He reaches up and grasps my cheeks, leveling me with a look. “I moved here for you, Pippin. It was always you.”

“But…when I kissed you on the bridge, you said it was a mistake,” I tell him, my brain whirring. And here I thought telling him thatIwas in love withhimwas going to be a big deal.

“No,yousaid the kiss was a mistake. And I didn’t want to pressure you and screw up our friendship, so I agreed with you. But let me assure you, from my perspective, no mistakes were made.”

I vaguely hear Billy Joel singing about British politician sex and the roar of the crowd singing along, but mostly that disappears into a dull buzz as I gaze at Toby. Who loves me.

“You lied?” I ask.

He nods. “Yes. I lied.”

“But you planned to have brunch with Jen today, and you didn’t say anything.”

Toby throws up his hands like he’s done with all these hurdles to our relationship. Like he’s ready to kick them to the ground and step right over them. “Because I forgot! I was so out-of-my-head ecstatic that I finally got to have you last night that I forgot about Jen and her interview and having brunch. Fuck, Pippin, I think I forgot my ownname. It just sort of flew out of my brain—all I could think about was how happy I was that maybe you felt about me the way I felt about you.”

“Feel,” I say. I reach up and brush back the curl that’s sprung free from his hair gel and fallen into his eye. “Present tense.”

“What?” He cocks his head.

“You said ‘felt.’ Past tense. But I have feelings for you in the present tense. Right fucking now, in fact.”

A slow grin spreads across his face. “You do?”

“I love you, Toby. I took me a little longer to figure out I had feelings for you, but maybe I’ve had them for a long time. Maybe I was just too overwhelmed and distracted to realize that I was—am—actually in love with my best friend.”

He breaks into a grin bright enough to light the entire city of Bostonandits outer suburbs, then tosses back his head in a hearty laugh before sweeping me up into his arms. “Fuck. I love you, Pippin. So much.”

“I love you too,” I tell him, wrapping my arms around his neck and never, ever wanting to let go. “Even when you’re texting me the world’s worst dad jokes.”

He laughs again. “Or maybebecauseof them?”

I step back and shake my head. “What did that judge say? In good times and bad? Well, the dad jokes are definitely bad. But that’s okay, because I love you anyway.” I rise up on my toes and plant a kiss on his lips that quickly deepens, his tongue swiping against mine, my teeth nipping at his full lower lip. Now that I know how good it feels to be with him, I’m finding it hard to stop, but soon I start worrying that we’re going to draw attention. We finally break apart, chests heaving, cheeks flushed.

Then Toby leans down and whispers in my ear, “I am never going to get tired of hearing you say that.”

Epilogue

EIGHT MONTHS LATER

Toby

What did one boat say to the other?

Pippin

Are you up for a little row-mance?

Toby

You’ve heard that one before?

Pippin

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