Page 38 of Next in Line
“So Meg, I have one more little tiny thing to say to you, and then I’ll drop it and let you go back to living in la-la land.”
I roll my eyes and exhale heavily as I wait to hear what craziness comes out of her mouth next. “Let’s hear it.”
“Okay, so let’s say your plan to win your ex back works. You end up married with babies and a crazy football player’s wife lifestyle that you’re convinced you will love. That’s all fine and good, and I hope that for you, you know? But right now, this moment, this weekend…you are a gorgeous twenty-two-year-old single woman with a hot, bearded ginger who’s bending over backward to help you out. Why not make your time with Sam really count? Why not make him your last fling before the ring? Sam is the perfect no-strings kind of guy. He doesn’t do relationships. Ever. No exceptions. You’re going to be locked up in a cozy cabin with him for two days, and I really don’t want your muscles to only be sore from snowboarding if you catch my drift.”
“Oh my god!” I exclaim and whack her on the arm because this is all so embarrassing. It’s one thing to read Kate’s dirty books, but it’s another thing entirely to have her basically coaching me about sex. “You are so not giving me permission to bone Miles’s best friend. You are completely unhinged.”
“I’m not unhinged, Meg. I’m a realist. And you’re an idealist, which gives you tunnel vision and causes you to miss therealadventure opportunity here.”
Kate’s voice goes quiet as Sam comes striding into the comfort center with his niece skipping alongside him. Kinsley reaches up and holds his hand like it’s completely natural and she does it all the time. They head over to the cookie case, and she picks out a treat and then gives him puppy dog eyes when she asks for two. He gives her a firm no and then turns his back to grab her a napkin.
She quickly grabs a second cookie when he’s not looking and stashes it behind her back. He looks over at her with a frown, and her angelic smile turns devilish as he turns her around and busts her with cookie number two. With a bemused smile, he shoves her toward the door, and she goes skipping away merrily with her two cookies.
Before Sam walks out the door, he swerves his eyes to where Kate and I sit watching him. He shoots us a sexy sheepish smile, and then with a wink, he’s gone.
Oh my heck, another wink.
Leaning in close, Kate whispers, “Admit it, Meg, you’ve got it bad.”
I realize that my chin is propped in my hands and my mouth is curved up into a swoony smile as I watch Sam disappear around the corner. Covering my face with my hands, I mumble against my palms, “Are you sure he’s a no-strings guy?”
“Absolutely positive,” Kate responds.
I turn to look at her. “I don’t even know him that super well yet.”
Kate shrugs and grabs my phone up off the table. “You have a week to get to know him.”
I stare at it in confusion.
“Text him, Megan.” She laughs at my denseness. “You’d be surprised by how powerful the written word is.”
I bite my lip and pull Sam’s number up on my phone. “What should I say?”
Kate shrugs. “What difference does it make? Tell him a stupid joke or something. Whatever it takes to get the ball rolling.”
As my finger hovers over the screen, I eye Kate and say, “You know if my brother knew about any of this, he would murder all three of us, right?”
“You leave your brother to me.” She winks and sinks her teeth into a cookie before cracking open her laptop and most likely taking notes about this insane love story that is currently my messed-up life.
A Reel Expert Can Tackle Anything
My cell phone rings, and I assume it’s Maggie because it’s Friday and she’s supposed to be here any minute now to ride out in my truck to the ski chalet, but when I look at the screen, I see Miles’s name illuminated.
My shoulders tense as I answer the call. “Hello?”
“Hey, man, how’s it going?”
“All right,” I say slowly, feeling nervous for why he’s calling.
“Listen, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Kate and I are headed to Longmont this weekend to visit her folks.” The phone muffles as Miles whispers into the line. “I was hoping to ask Kate’s father for permission to marry her this weekend. Kate has no clue.”
“Okaaay,” I reply with a soft laugh. I knew the minute Miles bought that ring it would burn a hole in his pocket.
“Anyway, I assumed Megan would come with us, but she says she isn’t feeling well. I feel kinda bad leaving her here all alone since this isn’t her town and shit…but I really do need to see Kate’s dad in person to do this, ya know?”
