Page 101 of Love Lessons
“A stylist!” Mrs. Crikey’s eyes light up. “That sounds fascinating.”
“Honestly, there are flaps that go down over my ears when she talks about fabric.” Ian shrugs and then takes a big bite of bread. He chews. “And somehow she’s still perfect for me.”
He smiles at me, and it’sexactlythe kind of smile that Neil gives Charli when he’s happy to see her. The real kind.
And I know for sure I made the right choice.
THIRTY-FOUR
Category Five Kisses
IAN
I’m dancingat my ex’s wedding. And I think I like it. I have Vera in my arms as the band plays an Ed Sheeran cover, so nothing else matters.
“Your parents are sweet,” she says, smiling up at me. “They obviously love you.”
“Oh yeah. In their own, irritating way.” I kiss her on the temple. “You got the whole meet-the-parents thing over with in a splashy way, didn’t you?”
“Crashing a wedding is a pretty hardcore way to do it.”
“You were invited, badass. You just didn’t RSVP. Mom is big on RSVPing, so I guess that’ll be points off your score.”
Vera’s eyes widen, and I have to laugh. “Kidding, contessa. My mother could not be happier to meet you. She’ll go home tomorrow and start bragging to her friends—‘Ian is dating someone who knows designers.’”
She smiles. “We are, right? Dating?”
“If I have anything to say about it.” I pull her a little closer.
“But you told me you don’t date.” Her big brown eyes are full of questions.
“I was too grumpy to date. But then I met this chick who doesn’t put up with my bullshit. She doesn’t seem to care if I hate shopping or if I can’t read my emails very fast. She wants to solve problems instead of telling me I don’t fit the mold. And I really dig her.”
Vera turns her face away suddenly, and I wonder if I fucked up.
“Hey, honey. Look at me. What’s wrong?” She turns, and her eyes look wet. “Oh shit, what did I say?”
“Nothing. Gosh. I’m sorry. I’m being silly. But you’re right about some things that took me too long to figure out. I think you might be the genius in this relationship.”
“What?” I laugh. “Nobody ever accused me of being smart.”
“No, you are.” She puts her head on my shoulder. “When my ex broke up with me, he did me a favor. But I was so mad, I spent three years wanting him to admit he was wrong about us. But he wasn’t. He thought we weren’t a good fit, and he was right.”
“He didn’t have to be mean about it, though,” I point out. “He didn’t have to take your self-esteem with him when he moved away.”
“True, but I amplified it. I was so fixated on that one failure, I couldn’t move forward. And you came along and reminded me what it meant to have fun.”
“Baby, we will haveallthe fun—although not all the time. My season starts tomorrow, and my schedule is a drag. It’s one of the reasons I gave up on dating. Hockey complicates things.”
“Don’t worry about that,” she says softly. “We can make it work. I’m not as high maintenance as my makeup kit makes me look.”
“Wow, good thing.” The pace of the music picks up, and I turn her around to the beat. “Look, I want to take you home soon, but I drove up here with one of my cousins. We might have to bribe an Uber driver to take us all the way back to the city.”
She gives me a slightly confused look. “We don’t need Uber. Neil left the limousine with me.”
I stop dancing. “You’re kidding me right now. It’s just out there, waiting for us? Then what are we doing here?”
“We’redancing.” With a smile, she takes my hand and starts to boogie.
