Page 18 of So Wrong, It's Wright
“Hey,” I squeak, gulping because, shit, I think she just heard that. Her eyes are a little wider than I remember and her face is a lot sterner. So yeah, she just heard me call her ‘a friend at most’. Fuck.
"I'm just letting everyone know it's time to go inside," she says in a rush.
“OK. Should we—”
"Maybe I'll see you after." She gives me a pointed look, and I just nod.
“Sure thing.”
Then she’s gone and I’m turning back to Darren and Theo, who both look like they just witnessed a train wreck and don’t know what to say.
“We…we’re supposed to be having dinner tonight,” I say, trying not to hyperventilate.Did I just fuck that up?
“I know,” Darren says, his tone much steadier now. “She was actually really excited about it.”
“She doesn’t look excited now,” Theo points out unhelpfully, and I follow his line of sight to where Tahlia is looking agitated while saying something to Ruby.I definitely fucked that up.
“Maybe it’s for the best,” I say, feeling my shoulders droop as all of my hopes and dreams for a girl as beautiful and magnetic and waaaaay out of my league as Tahlia could ever truly look twice at me.
“Oh, bull crap,” Darren says. “She likes you. You like her, and me and Theo are going to be your fairy godparents and talk you through this, you giant man with a tender heart. Right, baby?” He nudges Theo in the arm. Theo frowns in confusion.
“Wait. What are we doing?”
“We’re going to help our man, Ash, get the girl.”
Theo nods. “Yes, we are. But if you hurt the girl, I’ll hurt you. I don’t care if you’re bigger than me.”
“I don’t want to hurt her,” I say quickly. “I just…I want her. But I seem to be messing that up right now.”
“Well, that’s easy to fix. All you have to do istalkto her and reassure her you want more than friendship. She needs to know that she’s the only woman in the world you want to see.”
“That easy, huh?”
“It really is,” Darren says before linking arms with both me and Theo, then marching us toward to the church.
TAHLIA
"Are you OK?" Ruby asks while I make myself busy arranging food on trays in her kitchen after the church service. There's catering staff here to do this but I'm kind of avoiding the fact that I'm still reeling a little over hearing Ash say he considers me as a friendat best. Afriend?Atbest?What the fuck? I don't know about Ash, but I don't tend to go down on my ‘friends’, rock their world and then ask them on a date the next time we see each other.
“I’m itchy.”
“Itchy?” She steps toward me.
“Because of this lace,” I gripe, pulling at the top of my fancy, overly expensive bra that I really couldn’t afford but splurged on for the occasion because I wanted to see that heat of desperation in Ash’s eyes again. “And I’m pretty sure I got the wrong sized thong. This thing is seriously threatening to cut my hoo-hah in half.” I quickly glance around and adjust myself when I notice the coast is clear.
Ruby chuckles and hands me a glass of wine. “To help numb the pain.”
I take it from her gratefully, holding it to my nose and inhaling the plummy bouquet. Once upon a time, Ruby and I shared our taste in wine with the homeless guy who lived behind the dumpster next to our building—anything under five dollars. Now that she’s married to a millionaire, her taste has vastly improved. Mine is still the same, however, but I’m more aware of how horrible cheap wine tastes than I was before. “God. I needed that. Thank you,” I say after my first mouthful, abandoning my tiny quiche arranging and leaning against the counter, sipping wine instead.
“You’ll probably need a bunch of it in the near future. It’s the curse of falling for these Wright men. They kind of make you crazy.”
“Am I that obviously pining?”
Ruby holds her thumb and forefinger close together. “A little. Anything I can do to help? Want me to get Tanner or Theo to rough him up?”
“I doubt Theo would dare. Darren seems completely enamored and they’ve become his gay cheerleaders, from what I can see. Did you see them out there? They flank him wherever he goes.”
Ruby’s lips quirk in amusement. “Well, if you’ve already got the Coco seal of approval, then Ash must be even better than I thought. They both gave Tanner a hard time for ages before they came to love him,” she points out, taking a mouthful of wine.
