Unexpected Gift(2)

“He remembers that?” she asks with a small grin stretching across her face.

“Are you kidding? He talks about you all the time, Amelia. I know everything within limits. I didn’t want to hear about…. Well, you know…” I wiggle my brows to emphasize what I mean. “Because that's gross. He is my brother, after all.” I shiver from the thought.

She cracks a smile through her watery gaze. “Yeah? Really?”

“He loves you so much. Remember, he is probably thinking the same things and wondering if he will be enough for you.”

“He will always be enough for me.”

“Then that is what you have to think about. Today is going to be a great day.” I pat her hand before letting go and standing up. “We need to get ready and dry those tears because we have two hours before walking down that aisle and no one has their makeup on yet. I also need tape.”

“Two hours! That’s impossible. Oh my god, I am nowhere near ready.” She spins around on the built-in stool that is connected to the vanity and fumbles with her makeup.

“I told you to hire a makeup artist,” I mumble, averting my eyes and sipping my drink. I don’t want to see the look she's probably giving me in response to my comment.

“That is ridiculous. They are too expensive. Plus, I know how to do my own makeup.”

I lift my hands in surrender. “Alright. Alright. But I need tape or else I’m not walking down the aisle in this dress.”

“I’m sure Caden would love that,” she snorts. She stands up and begins strolling to the bathroom. Her long robe floats behind her like a cape, looking oh-so-debonair.

“Wait... What did you just say?”

She dries her face, which I assume is an attempt to wash the tears away. Her eyes meet mine in the mirror and she glances away, wiping her hands on the towel. “Did Brandon not tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“You guys are walking down the aisle together.”

There is no way I heard that right. “Why? Jessica is the Maid of Honor. It only makes sense for the Best Man to walk with her.”

“I know, but you guys look better together. You know, it's for the pictures and stuff.”

I bang my head against the door, despising everyone involved for all of two minutes. “Why would you do that to me? You know how I feel about him. He is so arrogant.”

“And hot.”

I curl my upper lip in disgust. “He is far from hot. He is gross. I can’t believe you’re making me lock arms with a walking, talking, venereal disease.”

Caden Jackson went to medical school with my brother. The two ended up being as thick as thieves, and the stories Brandon would tell me about his friend made my skin itch. Is he good-looking? Absolutely. Smart? Yes. Arrogant? Yep—he knows he is hot. Will he screw anyone with a vagina? For sure. Can he charm the panties off any girl? You bet.

Any girl except for me. I can’t stand him, and I honestly have no idea what my brother sees in the guy. Luckily, I don’t have to see him all the time, so I’ll just hold my breath and hope he doesn’t have any airborne diseases.

“Oh, come on, Molls. He isn’t that bad. If you’d give him a chance, you’d see that.”

Amelia starts putting on her makeup and tosses tape at me for the sake of keeping my boobs covered. As I place the sticky side to my skin, I wonder if she is right. Maybe I’m not giving him a fair chance. Maybe I’m just jealous that some guy Brandon has known for all of four years has replaced me.

A knock at the door makes everyone squeal and hide, as if they are the bride or something. I roll my eyes, and when I open the door, my best friend is standing there with a twelve-pack in her hand. She is wearing a black dress as though she is about to attend a funeral. Well, in her eyes, I guess she does view a wedding as a funeral.

She lifts the case. “Who wants to shotgun a beer?”

I smile and set aside all of my negative emotions about Caden. The show must go on, right?





The reception has everything Amelia has always wanted. Lights are strung in the weeping willows, the bright bulbs hanging down against the long arms of the trees. Amelia has always dreamed of an enchanted forest as part of her wedding reception and Brandon made sure she got everything she has hoped for, and then some. He is a doctor, after all, so he can afford it.

They are dancing to their first song and staring at each other like they are the only ones in the world. Time doesn’t exist outside of their little bubble. They are as clueless to the outside world as more than one hundred people watch them fall even more in love with each other.

When the dancing between the parents ends, everyone takes a seat in their assigned chairs, and for some reason, the couple agrees to skip the speeches. Even so, Caden taps his glass, gaining everyone’s attention. Of course, he does, I think. He can never go a night without everyone’s eyes on him at least once. I chug my drink as I get ready to hear the crap that is about to come out of his mouth.

He stands up, towering over everyone with his six-five frame. His hair adds another few inches, too. It's brown, like the color of milk chocolate. His hair is incredibly wavy, too—kind of like the hair of Derek Shepherd from Grey’s Anatomy. Yeah, that’s who he reminds me of! I finally figured it out. Caden is also a neurosurgeon. His arrogance comes across as this need to be better than everyone around him, and this attitude is really what got him where he wanted to be—at the very top.