Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84322 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84322 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
We were only alone at that lunch table a few minutes before his sister swept in, taking a seat next to me at the cafeteria table and inspecting me so closely that I’d laughed nervously and tried to back away. But she wasn’t shy — not at all. She looked me over, smiled, and said, “Hi! I’m Morgan Wagner. This is my brother, Tyler.” I hadn’t even been able to tell her that we’d already introduced ourselves. “And we’re going to be best friends.”
She literally said those words — we’re going to be best friends.
And just like that, it was so.
I learned over the years that that was how Morgan worked. She didn’t make decisions based off logic or research or science. She believed, wholeheartedly and unfailingly, in feelings. She trusted her gut when it said not to do something, and trusted it even more when it said to do something. She decided who she was friends with and who she was not in a matter of minutes, and once her mind was made up, there was no changing it.
Which was why it was no surprise to me that the morning after my day of rest, with just ten days to go to the wedding, we had a completely packed schedule that was mostly comprised of planning the seating chart.
Because for Morgan, it wasn’t as simple as seat this family together, and seat that group of friends there, and make sure the grandparents can see the dance floor.
For Morgan, there was a synergy that would be created with that seating chart, a mood — one that would last all night and be the difference between a perfect wedding and a complete disaster.
Thankfully, I’d woken up with a voice that was still a little croaky, but much better than the day before. Therefore, I was prepped and ready to talk through all the reasons why someone should or shouldn’t sit somewhere.
Or rather, I was prepared to pose questions to Morgan, who would answer them and make up her own mind without input from me.
“What about Laurie and Chuck,” I suggested. “They’re so sweet, and not as rowdy as the others. They could carry conversation easy with people they don’t know without scaring them off.”
Morgan tapped her pencil to her lips, thinking. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea.” She penciled them into the table with Oliver’s cousins, and then sighed. “Now, what about the Brad and Olivia situation? They’re both such a huge part of the high school friend group, but since their break-up… I can’t put them together.”
“Separate the group in half. Give Brad half and Olivia half, and then fill the table with other odds and ends.”
“But Olivia will throw a fit that she’s not sitting with everyone.”
I grabbed Morgan’s arm in earnest. “Babe, everyone will be dancing. Aunt Laura and I will make sure of it. So, it’s only for dinner. She’ll survive.”
Morgan pouted, unsure.
“It’s your wedding day, remember?”
At that, she smiled and nodded, penciling in the new suggestions. “God, I’ve missed you. I swear, no one knows how to calm me and make me see reason the way you do.”
“Except Oliver.”
She smiled at that. “Yes. Except him.”
“You are one smitten kitten.”
“I really am. I disgust myself sometimes,” she admitted on a laugh. Then, her eyes were curious, and she bit her lip watching me. “How was hanging with my brother yesterday?”
I hadn’t expected the question, and I hoped like hell my face didn’t give anything away — like the fact that I’d spent half the night wondering what the hell had transpired between us. Here we hadn’t talked in seven years, we’d bickered nonstop for my first few days here, and then we’d somehow spent a day being… civil. I’d enjoyed talking to him, hearing a little about who he was now, the man instead of the boy.
But then he’d touched me, and he’d held me, and he’d whispered those same words he’d said all those years ago…
And I had no idea how I felt about it.
I shrugged. “It was alright. We didn’t really hang out, more like just existed in the same room. Watched some movies. Worked. You know,” I said, waving it off. “Just whatever.”
Morgan frowned, nodding. “Oh.”
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. I just… oh, never mind. Anyway, I can’t wait to meet Jacob! Is he as dreamy to look at in person as he is on Instagram and video chat?”
I chuckled, though I couldn’t help but be a little suspicious at the subject change. Had Tyler said something to her?
“Even more dreamy.”
She sighed, balancing her chin on her palm. “His abs should have their own Instagram. I mean, really. I’d follow.”
I shoved her playfully. “I bet you would, perv.”
We giggled, getting back to the pressing matter at hand of the seating chart as we continued catching up, talking about a little of this and that between making decisions.