Page 19 of His Curvy Obsession

“What are you laughing about?” I ask her flatly.

“Just…this is so…”

She gestures towards me and begins laughing even harder.

I glance at the table in front of us, the half empty wine glass in the center of it.

“Have you been drinking again?” I ask, picking up the glass and sniffing it.

“Oh for the love of god,” she says, her laughter dying down. “You really think I’d forget a lesson like that so soon? I still have a headache from last night’s hell. That’s my mom’s drink, not mine.”

I put it back down on the table and then look at Rebecca.

“Last night you said your sister is getting married next weekend,” I say. “Is that accurate?”

“Yes,” she says. “I’m the Maid of Honor. The whole bridal party is wearing watermelon pink. But in case you’re concerned that people won’t be able to tell us apart, don’t worry. My sister’s taken care of that. Not only am I the fattest woman in the bridal party, I also have theuniqueprivilege of getting to wear a matching feathered hairpiece. So I’ll definitely stand out.”

“You’d stand out anywhere, Rebecca,” I reply. “You’re beautiful.”

“Ha. That’s very flattering, Eric.”

“I don’t do flattery,” I say. “You know this. I’m telling you the truth. You are unusually beautiful.”

Rebecca watches me.

“You…you confuse me, Eric,” she admits.

“I confuse everyone,” I reply quietly. “Story of my life. I’m an asshole.”

“You’re not an asshole.”

“Nowyou’relying to me,” I say.

“Okay, you’re sort of an asshole,” Rebecca shrugs and smiles. “But it’s…it’s never on purpose. You know? You’re an asshole by accident. Which is kind of the same thing as not being an asshole at all. Because assholes are the way that they are on purpose. You’re just…oblivious.”

I look away from her.

“You might get on my last nerve,” she continues, reaching for my hand. “But I’m learning that you’re also incredibly sweet. In your own misunderstood kind of way.”

“Sweet enough for you to reconsider my proposal this morning?” I ask her.

She frowns, shaking her head.

“No,” she says. “Sorry. But I’m still holding out for true love.”

“I understand,” I reply.

Because I do. I understand that she wants more than an arrangement. That to most, marriage is going to mean more than a mutually beneficial transaction.

“But…” she continues. “Since you’ve gotten me into a bit of a situation now with this lie you told my mom…I wouldn’t say no to a wedding date,” she says. “Are you free next weekend?”

8

Rebecca

“Oh, you all look so beautiful!”

Beautiful is the last word that I would use to describe the pink monstrosities that the bridesmaids and I are all wearing right now. But I bite my tongue.

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