Page 20 of Give Me a Reason

“You want us to dowhat?” Frederick said through clenched teeth, fighting the urge to bang his forehead against his desk.

“Um…” Joe gave him the side-eye from one of the guest chairs. “Nothing that should make you look like you want to put a fist through the wall.”

“I donotlook like—” He sighed. “Just explain what you meant.”

“Instead of doing a separate bachelor and bachelorette party, Coraline thought it might be fun for the whole wedding party to take a weekend trip together.”

“Thewholewedding party?” Frederick swallowed, cold sweat starting to dampen his hairline. “For awholeweekend?”

“Yeah, I’m kind of digging the idea,” Joe said with a broad grin. “What do you think?”

“It’s a great idea.” He choked on his own words. It was the worst ideaever.

After Thanksgiving dinner, Frederick had to accept that he lost his ever-loving mind every time Anne was near. His instinct to take care of her was like a muscle memory—it took over his body without his brain’s consent. The heartwasa muscle, he thought with a bemused twist of his lips.Wait, what?What the hell was he thinking? His heart had nothing to do with it.

Anyway, he’d decided that the only way to avoid the damnedinconvenience of caring about the woman who broke his heart was to stay far, far away from her. The bridesmaids and the groomsmen technically didn’t have to interact, right? If he was slippery enough, he wouldn’t have to see Anne until the rehearsal dinner.

Or so he’d thought until his lieutenant blew that brilliant plan to pieces. Frederick obviously couldn’t skip out on the bachelor party.Goddammit.But it wasn’t fair to blame his friend for his predicament. It wasn’t Joe’s fault that Frederick was the world’s biggest dumbass, who was downrightdesperateto take care of his ex.

“We just have to figure out when to go.” Joe rubbed his jaw. “Actually, we also have to decidewhereto go. But that’s the fun part.”

“Yes, so much fun.”Kill me now.

“We should rent a cabin or a vacation home for all of us,” his friend suggested with mounting excitement, too worked up to catch Frederick’s absolutelackof enthusiasm. “We’ll stay up late and get drunk. Who needs a bachelor party? This is going to be fucking awesome.”

Frederick raised his eyes to the ceiling, wondering what he’d done to deserve this. An entire weekend in the same house with Anne, staying up late and getting drunk, was his idea of medieval torture. A shuddering breath left his lips.

Anne used to hiccup when she drank, and every time she did, she would giggle with her nose all scrunched up. It drove him a little wild the first time he’d seen her make that face. She was standing at the opposite end of a crowded living room, a party raging on between them, but he saw no one but her. It felt as though someone had reached into his chest and gripped his heart in a fist. He didn’t even know her name, but he needed to kiss her like he needed his next breath—to imprint her smile against his lips, to sip her laughter into his lungs. He didn’t, ofcourse. He did nothing that first time except to let his fingertips graze the back of her hand as they parted after watching the sunrise together.

And once she became his and he got to kiss her smiling lips every time she laughed, it drove him wild for a whole different set of reasons. Her ever-present serenity burned away when she caught fire in his arms, and she became…sin. He could never get enough of her. In the end, he didn’t get enough. Not even close. And he ached to have her in his arms for years after she left him.

Live your life, Frederick.

He dragged a hand down his face. Did she still hiccup when she drank? Did she still crinkle her nose when she giggled? He suddenly wanted to watch every single K-drama she’d been in, every interview she’d done, to find out. But it wouldn’t be real.

The world only saw what Anne chose to show them, keeping parts of herself well-hidden. She was too shy, too private, to open herself up to everyone. But she’d shown all of herself to him. No one knew her the way he did. And… he shouldn’t dwell on that weirdly possessive thought.

“We could go skiing in Mammoth,” Joe went on.

Blowing out a long breath, Frederick forcibly turned his thoughts away from Anne. Enduring her company here and there was not going to kill him. Besides, it was only until the wedding. Once Joe tied the knot with Coraline, Frederick would have no reason to see Anne again.

She would be a part of Joe’s family, and they might occasionally be invited to the same get-togethers, but Frederick could always find excuses to avoid her. The only reason he couldn’t back out of this weekend trip was because it was for Joe’s wedding. He couldn’t spoil this once-in-a-lifetime experience for his friend.

“Pete doesn’t do cold. Remember?” Frederick rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

“Damn him and his delicate sensibilities.” Joe pounded the desk with his fist but ruined the effect by laughing fondly. “Okay, no skiing. I’ll brainstorm with Coraline tonight. Maybe you, Pete, and Aiden could come up with some suggestions. We’ll ask the bridesmaids to do the same.”

“Isn’t Aiden neck-deep in finals?” He arched a brow at his friend.

Joe’s younger brother was a first-year medical student at Johns Hopkins. That was why he and Coraline set the wedding date for July, so Aiden would be home for the summer. An idea sparked in Frederick’s head. This could be his ticket out.

“And how is he going to manage a weekend trip?” He tried not to sound too excited about it. “It’ll take him five hours just to fly out to LA. Not to mention the time it’ll take him to get to the airport and go through security. Hell, he’s going to end up spending his whole weekend getting to LA, then back to Baltimore.”

“Hmm, you’re right.” Joe nodded, and Frederick’s heart jumped. Or did it drop? “We need to plan for a long weekend. But winter break is coming up too soon, so maybe we could take the trip during Presidents’ Day weekend. I’ll have to check with Aiden. Anyway, that should give everyone plenty of time to coordinate their schedules. And we can plan our shifts so our off days fall on that weekend.”

Shit.

The blare of alarms sounding through the station saved Frederick from feigning enthusiasm about the trip, but he didn’t feel an ounce of relief. The cadence of the tones indicated this was a residential fire. There was no such thing as a small fire—fire was a beast with a mind of its own, unpredictable as it was powerful. They had to treat every fire with fear and respect.

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