Page 64 of Last First Love
At any rate, he clears his throat and tries again to get me to talk about my feelings, this time via sneak attack. "I heard Lily's new job starts next Monday."
The words send a rush of coldness trickling down my neck. It can't end like this. Not this soon.
But those words have to come from Lily's lips, not mine. I've made myself clear to her over and over again since the night she showed up at my place. And if she doesn't know by now that I love her, then she's never going to believe it.
Instead of answering, I make a non-committal humming sound. It might be a yes and it might be a no. It also might be a plea for him to postpone his wedding just long enough for me to make things work with Lily, but I suppose that's difficult for an untrained listener to readily discern.
Abernathy shrugs. "Well look. Just don't make a scene tomorrow, or else I'll have to kill you. Or Darcy will. Or maybe she'll have K.T. do it." He's listing all the potential suspects for my upcoming murder, but I know the only person who's likely to hurt me is Lily.
And even knowing that, I wouldn't trade my time with her for anything.
"Would you please quit making a scene? You asked me to stand up with you at your wedding. I'm not going to embarrass you tomorrow, no matter what you think of me."
He pauses, mid-rant, and turns to me. "I know you're not. Underneath all the bullshit, you're a really good guy. I wouldn't be marrying Darcy without your help, and I wouldn't be half the firefighter I am without everything you taught me."
I force a smile onto my mouth. "Damn right. Now please quit freaking out over there. The tailor and I are having a moment.”
Everyone laughs except for me, and instead I go home to lose myself in Lily all over again, praying that the wedding day never arrives.
Lily
When the morning of the wedding comes, I feel a sick knot of dread in my stomach. How am I supposed to stand up next to Darcy and listen to her tell Thomas Abernathy how much she loves him when I can't bring myself to say those very same words to Ken Daniels, even though the feeling is practically choking me right now.
Every night since I showed up at his place, he's told me over and over again that he loves me. At first, I figured it was the hormones talking. Then I thought maybe he was trying to get me to stay with him and give up on New York. But whenever I try to talk to him about my job or moving, he simply tells me it's my decision to make and then changes the subject.
For a man with a lot of opinions, he's suddenly really quiet about what he's actually looking for from me. It's unsettling, and I can't help but feel like he's up to something, like there's a trap that I'm about to stumble into.
When I wake up this particular morning, I make some excuses about having to get ready and slip out of his place super extra early. I text K.T. and head straight to Riddles, and wriggle around until she finally unlocks the door.
"It's not even nine in the fucking morning," she grumbles, looking as rumpled as I feel. "Also, I'm supposed to be having extra hot sex with my very favorite politician right now, so this better be good."
And right as I'm getting settled and in the middle of telling K.T. that I'm in love with Ken Daniels and that I don't want to leave town, the bell at the door jingles and K.T. looks over and lets out a groan.
"Don't you have a home to go to?" She crosses her arms and juts her chin out. "We're not even really open."
Opal Marie Hopf, our resident dirty old lady, sits on the barstool next to mine and reaches over to pat me on the hand. "Well now, it seems you are open for relationship business, and you and I both know I'm the best matchmaker in town." She turns her attention to me and gives me a sweet smile that makes me think of cookies and milk and my own grandma, if my grandma owned a preserved whale penis and occasionally hosted sex toy parties. "Now tell me pretty girl, what's the problem that's got you rushing over here so early and still looking like you've been sexed up?"
I flush hot, but then sigh. "I'm in love with a man and I think I'm going to have to give up the job of my dreams in order to be with him."
K.T. folds her arms and gives me a mutinous glare. "Absolutely fucking not. There is no way I'm going to let you give up your dreams just so you can let Daniels bang you like a screen door in a hurricane."
Aunt Opal's bright laugh fills up the entire darkened bar. "I knew it. I absolutely knew that you and Daniels were exactly right for one another." She gives my hand a little squeeze. "He seems like the type to start a fire rather than put one out, if you know what I mean."
I tuck my head against my opposite shoulder. "I do know what you mean."
K.T. gives me a flat eyed glare. "Yuck. We are not discussing your sex life at this unseasonable hour of the morning."
My face crinkles into a small frown. "What exactly are we discussing then?"
Aunt Opal smacks the bar top. "Your love life, pretty girl. And that's an entirely different issue."
I sigh. "Oh, that."
K.T. gives me one of her death glares. "Don't sound so excited. I mean, it's not like you begged me to open early and figure out how to help you."
I whine a little bit about it, but she's right. I've been avoiding the problem until it's so big that I can't figure out any way around it. That's how I ended up calling her even though it's the morning of Darcy's wedding and I'm probably supposed to be doing some sort of bridesmaid ritual with Darcy somewhere.
Aunt Opal nods. "We're going to fix all your problems in plenty of time for you to get ready for the wedding. You see, this is actually a really easy one."
