She wagged her champagne at me. “It could be a woman, according to your sister.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Leave her alone, honey,” Mom said. “Maybe it’s an ex and they want some privacy.”
“Julian?” I asked myself, shaking my head. “No. Not unless you had a lobotomy. Although, if he moved back from Peru or wherever—”
“Portugal, and no, it’s not him.” She tugged up her strapless dress as it sagged. “It’s not anyone.”
“It’s not?” I asked. “Swear on Gus Van Sant?”
“Do you even know who he is?”
“One of the directors you always talk about.”
“Don’t make me swear on genius filmmakers.” She sighed. “I don’t want to talk about this tonight.”
I got the acute feeling we were being watched, so I looked over Val’s shoulder. Ten feet away, Corbin ate cake, pretending not to listen. “Why are you spying?” I asked him.
Val looked over her shoulder, and muttered what sounded like “fuck” before she tipped back her head and finished off her champagne.
“I wasn’t,” he said, swaggering over in his normal Corbin way—confident but humble, a combination only he could pull off. “Just trying to enjoy my cake.”
Val’s jaw dropped. “How many slices have you had?”
“Only three.”
“You had a bag of M&M’s on the way over here.”
He raised his arms in exasperation. “Who are you, the dessert police?”
She laughed, shoving his arm. “If you think you’ll be tall and skinny forever, you’re in for a rude surprise.”
Their easy banter wasn’t unusual, but what tipped me off was the way Val blushed at Corbin’s flirtatious smile.
“You guys drove up here together?” I asked.
Her mirth vanished as if she’d just remembered I was standing there. “It made the most sense,” she said—or more like recited. “We both live in L.A., so Corbin picked me up on the way from Malibu. It really would’ve been silly to drive separately. With gas prices what they are these days—”
“Take it down a notch,” Corbin said out of the side of his mouth. “Overboard.”
I narrowed my eyes at them, recalling the way her expression had softened while smiling at Corbin during the ceremony. “Are you two sleeping together?”
“Lake,” Mom scolded.
“Are we—what?” Val scoffed. “Me? And Corbin? Who said that—what makes you think . . .?”
Though her squirming was a thing to see, and almost too good to put a stop to, I deadpanned, “Call it a hunch.”
Her entire face reddened and Corbin looked at the ground as everyone waited. Even Kara leaned in, seemingly interested in the answer.
“Corbin,” I said. He glanced up. I’d had a few minutes here and there with him throughout the night, but ever the gentleman, Corbin kept excusing himself to give other people more time with me. “What are you hiding from me? And you have frosting on your face.”
He wiped his mouth with the back of one hand as he threw his other arm around me. “I’m hiding lots from you.”
I elbowed him in the ribs, and he winced. “Christ, Kaplan. I fractured that rib on my board last month. You just set the healing process back another few weeks.”
“Sorry,” I said, grimacing.
“It’s Sutter now,” came my favorite deep voice from right outside our circle.
Corbin, along with the rest of us, turned. Manning had drifted over, still swaying the baby, his eyes trained on Corbin’s arm around me.
“Right, right,” Corbin said. “It’ll take me a while to see her as anything other than a Kaplan.”
“Answer the question,” I told Corbin, only slightly giddier to uncover the truth than I was to see Manning’s reaction to it. “Did you and Val have sex?”
“You need to ease up on the doobies,” Corbin said as he mimed sucking on a joint.
“Getting high on her wedding day.” Val shook her head. “So sad. No restraint.”
Manning had stopped rocking the baby to stare at Corbin and Val, only his eyes moving back and forth. “Sex?” he asked. “You two?”
Before I could fill him in, Abby’s face scrunched as she raised her fat little arms. Like a ticking time bomb getting ready to blow, she twitched. “Manning,” I warned, but it was too late. She let out a wail that made everyone jump.
His eyes widened as he jumpstarted into swaying again. “Sh—I’m sorry,” he said to Kara. “I didn’t—I forgot—”
“It’s not your fault,” she said with a small laugh, reaching for the baby. “We’re overdue for a tantrum.”
Manning looked so crestfallen as he handed her over, I couldn’t help laughing. “I’m sure you can have her back once she’s fed,” I reassured him.
My mom touched Kara’s back. “It’s Abby, right?” she asked, beaming at the baby. “Is she hungry? Tired? Maybe she needs a diaper change.”
“All of the above,” Kara said. “It’s always something.”
“Let me help.” Mom guided her away as she said, “Tiffany was the fussiest little thing . . .”
I turned back as Val tiptoed away. “Nice try,” I called after her. “If you don’t cop to whatever the story is, I’m going to make up my own version.”
Her shoulders slumped. She slowly rotated back around, as if operated by remote control. “Corbin and I did not have sex,” Val said loudly and coughed into her fist, “today.”
I blew out a laugh. “Liar. Why’d you keep this from me?”
Manning walked around the circle to stand behind me. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, placing his hands on my shoulders.
“Wait,” Corbin said to Val. “Are we doing this now?”
“I . . .” Val put her palm to her forehead. “I guess?”
“Thank God,” Corbin said, crossing the circle.
Val jumped back, pointing at him. “Don’t you dare pick me up. You know I hate it.”
“If by hate, you mean secretly love, then yes I know.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her.
“My boobs are going to pop out of this dress,” she said as she wiggled and squealed. “Put me down.”
“No. I’ve had to keep this to myself for too long.” Corbin set her on her feet and puffed out his chest. “Valerie Kristen Jameson is my best friend and my girlfriend,” he declared loudly enough for people to look over. “If you don’t like it, deal with it.”
With a dramatic dip, he kissed her. She pretended to push him off but laughed through all of it.
I stood there blinking, Manning’s hands warming my bare shoulders. I had no idea what to make of it. My two best friends were kissing, and it looked strange and awkward and wrong. I didn’t like it.
Did I?
When Corbin righted her, Val cried, “You know I hate PDA,” and started to run away.
He nabbed her by the waist and brought her back in front of him, hugging her middle. “Get over it. After months and months of torture, I’m displaying my affection publicly tonight.”
“How did this happen?” I blurted. “Why? Why didn’t you guys tell me?”
“We didn’t tell anyone,” Val said. “We weren’t sure what would happen, if it would go well . . . or if we’d make it.”
“That’s not true,” Corbin said. “This one wasn’t sure. This one didn’t want to jinx it. This one didn’t want to steal your spotlight.”
“Can you blame me?” she asked, glancing at the ground.
“No, but I want the record to show that even though I’m a blind idiot who took too long to realize what was right in front of me, I was on board with this relationship from the first kiss. I went along with your secrets because you’re good at the sex.”
“Oh my God,” I said, covering my eyes as a naked and horizontal Corbin and Val flashed across my imagination. “Mental images happening. I can’t.”
“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” Val said quietly. “
It’s weird.”
“Lake,” Manning murmured in my ear. “Why don’t you and Val go talk in the house?”
I slatted my fingers and peeked at the couple. Corbin grinned ear to ear, but Val looked like she was going to be sick.
“I don’t want to spoil your day,” she said.
“Nothing could spoil today for us,” Manning said, massaging my neck. “Especially not this news.”
Well, at least one person in the group didn’t think this was strange. Manning must’ve been over the moon to finally verify that Corbin had an actual love interest who wasn’t me. “Fine, but you—” I pointed at Corbin. “Stay out here. No spying.”
Corbin showed us his palms. “All I ever wanted was to eat cake in peace.”
Val followed me up the back steps and into the kitchen. She sat at the table as I switched on the overhead light, hiked up my dress, and took the seat across from her. “Let’s have it.”
“Are you mad?” she asked.
“Mad?” A host of emotions ran through me. I was confused. Weirded out. And somewhere between repulsed and curious. It hadn’t really entered my mind to be upset, though. I planted my elbow on the table and my chin in my palm. “No. Why would I be?”
“Corbin was in love with you for so long, and you guys had a thing I never understood.” She picked at nothing on the table. “I feel like I should’ve asked your permission or something, but it happened kind of fast.”
“You don’t need my permission. Who am I?” I deflated in my chair with a sigh, running my hands down the lace of my dress. “I don’t really know how to feel. Just start from the beginning.”
“It’s a short story, but it goes back a long time. I’ve always . . .” She laced her hands on the table, then opened one, as if trying to find the words. “I’ve had a crush on him since high school,” she rushed out. “I actually noticed him my first day, but as soon as you introduced us, I could see he liked you, so I sort of ignored how I felt.”
“Jesus, Val. I didn’t have feelings for him.” I remembered back to that first year in high school when Corbin and I had become friends. I couldn’t even really pinpoint why we’d gotten so close, except for his romantic interest in me. “You could’ve gone out with him.”
“Not knowing how he felt about you.”
Back then, I’d thought Corbin’s crush wasn’t a big deal. It’d been easier to ignore it than squash it, but that’d ended up costing all of us in the end, it seemed. “How long have you been together?”
“A few months. Six or eight.” She cleared her throat, glancing at the fridge. “Maybe ten. When I say it happened fast, I mean suddenly we were in it and the more time that passed, the harder it got to tell you.”
My stomach dropped—not because they’d kept it a secret, but because Val and Corbin were only finding each other now—after over a decade and a half of knowing each other. Could they have been together all this time? Was it my fault they hadn’t been? “Why not years ago, when I moved in with Manning?” I asked. “Why not in college?”
“So many reasons.” She lifted her bare shoulder. “Mostly, after everything you’d been through with Tiffany, I didn’t want you to feel like I was betraying you by going after Corbin. So I kept it to myself.”
“I wouldn’t have thought that.” It’d been so long since I’d had any inkling of interest in Corbin, but I had to admit at one time, I’d wanted to love him. I’d wanted to forget Manning and take the easy way out with Corbin. Would I have been upset if he and Val had fallen in love while my heart was broken? I couldn’t know for sure, and Val knew me as well as anyone, so maybe she was right. “I’m sorry,” I said.
“Don’t be. It didn’t matter anyway.” She bent to remove one of her heels, massaging her foot. “It was so obvious he still had feelings for you.”
“But if you’d spoken up, he would’ve realized sooner.”
“I don’t think so. Back then I’d wished he’d see me, you know, really see me. But looking back, it wasn’t our time. He needed to get you out of his system.” She smirked as she replaced her shoe. “You, then lots of other girls.”
Manning entered the kitchen and set two coffee mugs and a pitcher of creamer in front of us. “I wasn’t sure how you take it,” he told Val, handing me some sugar packets from his pocket and leaving the rest on the table.
“Thank you,” she said, ripping one open. “This wedding crap is exhausting. You read my mind.”
“He’s good at that.” My face warmed as I remembered his earlier comment about drinking coffee to prepare for our night ahead.
He winked. Yep—definitely a mind reader. “Drink up, wife,” he ordered.
“I really love the wedding arch,” Val said, balling up an empty packet. “Did you make it?”
“With help from Charles.” Manning turned to leave. “Let me know if you girls need a refill.”
“How about the food?” she asked. “Was it your idea?”
He paused, looking back. “What?”
“Manning planned almost everything,” I said. “Barbeque was his idea. I picked the color scheme, and he designed the ceremony and reception. He made all the arrangements for our honeymoon to the South of France, too.”
“Wow. You’re a machine, Manning.”
“A machine in love,” he agreed.
“Ah . . .” Val shifted in her seat, adjusting the top of her dress. “I’m sorry I ever, you know, doubted you.”
“I’m not,” he said. “You were looking out for her when nobody else was.”
“Except Corbin.” Val straightened in her seat. “He was always good to her. I feel like you should acknowledge that.”
Manning’s eyes dropped to mine. Corbin had no longer become a touchy subject between us, but that didn’t mean Manning had completely conquered those feelings of jealousy. He wasn’t about to concede in that department.
“He knows,” I answered for him.
“You and I have spent enough time together now,” she told Manning, “but I think a small part of me always worried you’d hurt her again.”
“I won’t,” he said simply.
“Then I guess I can relax.”
He turned to face her. “Are we good?”
Val knew all of Manning’s and my darkest secrets. She’d been there for most of our relationship, an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on every time he’d devastated me. But they’d each wanted the same thing for me from the start—happiness. There was no denying I’d found it, and no more reason to fight.
“Just don’t give Corbin a hard time.”
Manning showed her his palms. “He keeps his hands to himself and there’s no problem.”
She grinned. “I’ll make sure his hands are on me at all times.”
He nodded at me. “Need anything?”
“I’m fine. I won’t be long.”
Once he’d pushed out of the screen door and disappeared down the steps, I said, “You have no idea how happy you’ve made him with this news.”
“He doesn’t still get jealous over Corbin, does he?”
“No, not truly.” I grinned. “But he gets his hackles up when they’re in the same vicinity.”
“Dogs,” she said, shaking her head. “All of them. They’re literally reduced to their animal instincts.”
Val had no idea how true that was for Manning—and how much I relished his primal behavior. Or that I planned to encourage it tonight. I shivered, trying to mentally cool down so I could focus on the conversation at hand. “What were we talking about?”
“Nothing. We should probably leave things for now.” She stood. “We can get into more detail another time.”
At the thought of her ending the story of her and Corbin already, before we’d gotten to any of the juicy details, I was suddenly ravenous for more. Lots more. I must’ve been pretty okay with it after all. “Where are you going?” I cried.
“Nowhere,” she said, grabbing a dishtowel from the oven handle. She held it out to me. “You’re ma
king me nervous as fuck with that coffee.”
I glanced down. I’d completely forgotten I was wearing cream, but fortunately, I’d avoided disaster so far. I took the towel and tucked it into the neckline of my dress, smoothing it down to my lap. “Better?”
“Much.”
“Then sit,” I demanded.
“We don’t have to talk about this today. You should be out there with your guests.”
“If you don’t tell me everything right now, I’ll be forced to torture you.”
She leaned her hands on the back of her chair, leveling me with a look. “You’re a vet, Lake. You wouldn’t harm a fly.”
“I’m not talking about physical pain.” I smiled sweetly. “I’ll just describe all the ways Manning and I plan to consummate our marriage.”
“Oh my God—gross,” she said, covering her ears. “Fine! I’ll talk.”
I laughed, sipping my coffee. “So did Corbin have any idea how you felt?”
“None.” She plopped back into the dining chair. “In New York, I thought Julian was ‘the one’ and that I’d moved on from Corbin, but the thing was, he was always there when Julian was a dick. It made my feelings for him really confusing.”
“And let me guess—Corbin never even suspected.”
“He lives in his own world,” she said, and we each bobbed our heads in agreement. “He was too concerned with what you were doing—and all his side-ass. But when everything went down with the Twin Towers . . .”
I sucked in a breath. Val had been a different person after the terrorist attacks. The news had turned her into a complete mess. “Was that the real reason you left New York?”
“It was awful, Lake. You know; you were there. Forget the fact that it felt like a personal attack on a city we loved, when I realized Corbin could’ve been there, could’ve died on some random Tuesday, it terrified me.” The tip of her nose reddened. She stood and went to a drawer, most likely to hide that she was getting emotional. “My feelings for him terrified me,” she said with her back to me. “I had to face the fact we’d never be together, and I needed to move on. So I left.”
I twisted in my seat, following her with my eyes. “And then he moved to Los Angeles, too.”
“Yes, but by the time Corbin bought his place in Malibu, I’d given up hope on us, not that I ever really had any.” She picked out a spoon and turned to lean against the counter. “He had girlfriends. I was busy with work. I stopped pining for him.”
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