Page 100 of Consummation

Thomas, Louise, and I trade a long, skeptical look, all of us nonverbally acknowledging this girl’s full of shit.

Louise throws up her hands. “Well, jeez. I’m sorry I mentioned it. I certainly didn’t know I was opening a big ol’ bottle of whoop-ass on myself.”

Kat laughs. “It’s a big ol’canof whoop-ass, Mom—not a bottle.”

“Well, you know what I meant—I’m just saying I didn’t mean to make you mad. Your father and I will never bring up the topic of marriage ever again. I swear. You two kids do whatever’s right for you and we’ll support you. Our lips are sealed. In fact, please don’t get married. Blech. Marriage. Ew. Horrible idea.” She mock-shudders.

Thomas touches his wife’s arm again, glaring at her.

“Sorry,” Lou says, giggling. “I’ve had a little bit to drink. I won’t bring up marriage again—that’s all I’m saying.” She locks her mouth and throws away the key.

Thomas glares at his wife for a long beat. “As your mother said, we support you kids, whatever you decide.”

Kat nods. “Thank you. Josh and I really appreciate that.” Kat smiles at me and my heart aches at the blatant expression of longing reflected in her eyes.

How, before tonight, did I not understand how much Kat wants the fairytale? And how the fuck did I not want to give it to her?

There’s a loud cheer from the dance floor.

“Let’s hear it forHannah!” the bandleader shouts into her microphone, and everyone on the dance floor cheers.

Kat glances over her shoulder toward the commotion behind us, and when she sees Hannah triumphantly holding up Sarah’s bouquet, her face falls for the briefest moment. “Like I said, all this hoopla just isn’t for us,” she says, her jaw setting with resignation.

Kat’s parents and I share another look.

“We completely understand,” Thomas says evenly.

Louise nods like a bobble head doll. “We sure do. We all know how much you hatehoopla, Kitty Kat.” She snorts.

“Louise.”

Kat’s mom laughs like a dude and clamps her hand over her mouth again. “Sorry.”

I put my arm around Kat’s shoulder, demonstrating my faux solidarity with her. “Thanks for understanding,” I say to Kat’s parents. “As Kat said, we’ve talked about it and marriage just isn’t for us.”

“We understand,” Thomas says.

“Good,” Kat says, jutting her chin. “Now enough about that. Let’s celebrate Jonas and Sarah’s happy day—and never speak of the whole marriage-thing again.”

Twenty-Nine

Josh

“Looks really good,” Jonas says, looking at the spreadsheet displayed on my laptop screen. “I’d like to get our costs down by two percent over the course of the first year, ideally—especially as we start funding our designated charities—but as initial operating costs, I think these numbers crunch pretty well.”

Sarah and Kat burst into a collective sob in the other room and Jonas and I exchange a smile. Just over an hour ago, the girls went into one of the bedrooms of our shared hotel suite to watch a chick flick on my iPad while Jonas and I got a little work done in the main room, and it seems the walls of this Venezuelan hotel are paper-thin.

“Anything else you need me to look at?” Jonas asks.

“No, I think Kelly and Colten have things well under control until we get back,” I say, referring to the two regional managers we’ve hired to manage day-to-day operations of our initial twenty gyms. “I’ll send them your notes and set up a meeting for the week we get back.”

“Good. Thank you. And how about the grand opening?”

“I’ve got T-Rod overseeing the final details with an event planner. We were originally gonna have a DJ, but the band at your wedding was so awesome, I hired them to play the event. Go big or go home, right?”

“Well, cost-wise, I’m not sure if we really need to—”

“Jonas, I’ll cover the band personally if you think the cost is excessive. I wanna kick things off with a bang—you know how much I love a good bang.”

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