Taking Chances (Learning to Love) Read online

  I nudged him back. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

  ***

  "You hear from Dad lately?" Matt scooped some meat and pasta mixture onto a plate and set it in front of me.

  I forked a bite into my mouth. "Mmmm." It didn't look pretty, but it sure tasted good. "You haven't made this for me in years."

  His eyes dropped down sadly. "I thought you might be sick of it. It was the only thing I could cook for years."

  I shook my head and forked another mouthful in. "No way. I love this shit." Dinner for our mother usually consisted of something at least eighty proof, so Matty was often the one feeding me when we were kids.

  Matt smiled as he watched me devour the food. He waited until I was nearly finished before he spoke again. "So, about Dad…"

  Larry, our father, had been leaving messages for me to call him all week. I guess he finally gave up hope that I was going to call him back because his last message was a five minute rant about how much he loved and missed me and oh, how he was getting married in a few weeks.

  "Yes, I've heard from our sperm donor."

  Matt was a lot more understanding of our father's indiscretions and lack of parenting. I however, was not about to go running back into the arms of a man who basically walked out on me when I was little, to start a new family. The years of cheating and never being around for us was bad enough, but when he left it was like he closed the door on being my father. He got remarried a couple times and had another daughter. I didn't even see him again for three years when he just showed up with a present on my birthday, pretending like nothing ever happened. It was just after that when I saw him with another woman, who was not his new wife, coming out of a sleazy motel. Within a year, he was divorced again. After that I insisted that Matt keep any information about the bastard to himself. It pissed me off that he still had a relationship with him but I loved my brother enough to keep my mouth shut.

  "And, he told you about the wedding?"

  "Yes, he left a message."

  "A message?" Matt raised an eyebrow at me.

  "Yes, a message. You didn't think I was going to answer the phone for him, did you?"

  Matt frowned. I knew it made him sad that I refused to let our father back into my life. He brushed his hair back with his fingers, moving it away from his sapphire blue eyes that matched mine exactly.

  "Are you going to go?"

  "Are you kidding? What would ever make you think I'd even consider it?" I pushed the plate away and shook my head.

  "Lex, Dad really wants you to be there. His fiancé, Greta, is really nice. I think you'd like her. Please consider it."

  "You of all people should know I wouldn't be going to another of Dad's weddings. It doesn't matter how great Greta is, because it doesn't have anything to do with her. In a few years it will just be someone else. The man collects wives. I don't want to be a part of it."

  "Please. Do it for me?" Matt looked down at me, his blue eyes normally so full of life, filled with sadness. There wasn't much my brother wouldn't do for me. He's never missed an opportunity to be there for me. He was the only man in my life I could ever count on. It was hard to say no to him when he asked so little in return from me for all he's done.

  "I'll think about it." I owed him at least that much. That didn't mean I would change my mind though.

  CHAPTER TWO

  "Is that really what you're going to wear to the rehearsal dinner?" Kat stood with her hands on her hips eyeing me critically, with one finger curled under her chin.

  "Yes, why?" I had on a pair of black pants, a simple white button up shirt and a pair of black flats.

  I glanced at my reflection in the full length mirror next to the closet. The clothes weren't overly dressy but they were good enough.

  Kat looked over me and snorted. "You can at least let me do something with your hair."

  My hair was refusing to cooperate, so I put it into a single braid that came around my right side and draped over my shoulder. It was getting long and I knew I should cut it but it just wasn't that high of a priority.

  "We can't all have perfect straight hair like some bitches I know." I stuck my tongue out at her playfully. I used to be so jealous of Kat's hair growing up. I wanted it straight and blonde. What I got was anything but either of those. Thankfully now it tamed into soft waves that even I could admit, wasn't half bad.

  "You did hear Jamie when she said every one of the guys in the wedding party was single, right?"

  Here we go again.

  Kat didn't care if I was single but she insisted I needed to at least hook up with someone once in a while.

  "You do realize that people can survive without sex, right?"

  She gave me a dramatic shocked look and brought her hand up to her mouth to hide her mock-horror.

  I rolled my eyes at her. "The last thing I need right now is random casual sex with strangers. I do know how to handle those needs myself if I have to."

  "Yes, so I've heard. You might want to think about investing in a quieter model." She looked over me once more and walked over to the closet. "What about this?" She pulled out a short black dress and held it up for inspection. I was pretty sure it was actually hers.

  "I think I wore that on my anniversary with Marcus."

  She raised one eyebrow. "That was the last time you got laid, wasn't it? Which was what, six months ago?"

  "Yeah. Then he got a call that he took in the bathroom and left. I wonder which whore he spent the rest of our anniversary with." I sorted. Frigging Marcus.

  "Okay, maybe not this one." She stuffed it back in my closet. She went through my clothes one by one, looking each over then shaking her head. "I'm sure there's something in my closet that would look fabulous on you."

  "Kat, I appreciate it but I'm wearing this. I'm not hooking up with anyone tonight anyway."

  She tried giving me the pout but I quickly walked out of the room to avoid getting suckered into wearing some low-cut, up the ass, dress from Kat's 'Look-at-me-I'm-half-naked' collection.

  She followed me out to the kitchen. "Are you planning on giving up men for good?" She tossed her hands up in frustration.

  "Of course not, but I'm not advertising either."

  "Why the hell not? How do you expect to get some action without a little attention getter?" She motioned to her boobs pushed up so high she could probably lick them if she wanted to.

  I shook my head and tried my hardest to hold back a laugh. She was trying to be funny. Mostly.

  Kat hopped up on the counter, her short skirt only barely covering her. "Look babe, it's been months. It's time to dust off the vag for a little one-on-one time."

  It was difficult not to roll your eyes at the things that girl said.

  "Seriously, Kat. You can put the feather duster away. I don't need any one-on-one time."

  "What about a little two-on-one time then?" she asked, tilting her head slightly, one eyebrow raised, the corner of her mouth tipped up in a smirk.

  If I didn't know her better, I'd think she was serious.

  "Sure, Kat. A threesome is fine. Wait, maybe a foursome would be better. You wanna get in on it too?"

  "Not if I can't bring Matty, otherwise I would totally do you." She winked and pursed her lips together.

  "Okay, that's not even funny."

  The doorbell rang, saving me from what may have resulted in more unwanted images burned into my mind. I took the opportunity to escape to the door, but Kat ran around the table, cutting me off and making it there first, opening it for Matt.

  "Hey beautiful," he cooed, taking Kat into his arms for a deep kiss and let his hand slide down her back to rest on her ass.

  I turned my head and cleared my throat loudly. After finally prying himself from her, he walked over to me and kissed me on the top of the head.

  "You look beautiful as well sweetheart," he said and looked over me approvingly. I was certain he would not have approved of anything Kat would have picked out. Simple and conservative was just fi
ne with him. I was sure he would prefer me in full convent garb, showing as little skin as possible. His girlfriend, on the other hand, could run around half naked and make all the guys jealous, and he loved every minute of it.

  "That's how you know it's time to change, Lex," Kat groaned and rolled her eyes.

  "She looks fine, Kat. She doesn't need to look like a slut."

  "What are you trying to say?" Kat pressed her lips into a straight line.

  "I only meant, that she's my baby sister. I don't want men looking at her like a piece of meat." The second the words left his mouth his eyes went wide.

  "So, you think I'm a piece of meat?" she snapped, one hand up on her hip.

  Matt paused, thinking over what he should say. A smart move after his last comment. He walked over to Kat and took her chin into his hand, lifting it up to look at him.

  "Baby, that isn't what I said. I love how you dress. You have a hot body and I love knowing that every guy out there wants it, but that you're going home with me." He ran his thumb over her bottom lip, pulling it down slightly so her lips were no longer hard together.

  Kat's face softened and a small half smile curved in the corner of her mouth. Matt saw his opportunity and dipped his head down to kiss her. Her hands went up into his hair and tangled it around her fingers. I knew from past experience, if I didn't find a way to break this up, they'd end up in the bedroom and we'd be late.

  "If you two are done sucking face, we better get going. Jamie will freak if we are even five minutes late." I pulled Kat's arm to get her attention long enough to break the kiss and start her brain functioning again.

  Kat begrudgingly pulled away from him and nodded. He smiled triumphantly. He certainly was a charmer. We grabbed our purses and headed down to Matt's truck. He opened the door and extended a hand to help each of us climb up into his oversized man-toy.

  Matt started the truck and Disturbed's Down with the Sickness blared from the stereo. Kat immediately pressed the last preset to change to her station. Normally, Matt was a hands-off-my-radio kind of guy. Even I didn't get to change the station. With Kat though, he let it slide, but I could tell he didn't appreciate it.

  As I listened to Kat go on about the bachelorette party, I wondered how long their relationship was going to last. She was crazy about Matt, but I had seen her fall in and out of love more times than I could count. Matt was the complete opposite. I had never once seen him with a girl this long before. I was pretty sure he had never been in love, but the way he was with Kat sure looked like love.

  ***

  Before the rehearsal dinner we had to go to the church and do a walk through to make sure everyone knew what they were doing. Jamie was in a bad mood and snapped at anyone who spoke to her. She was still grumbling about Justin's bachelor party tomorrow. The poor guy even offered to cancel the thing but she insisted he have it. Justin was about ready to pull his hair out in frustration. I really did feel bad for the guy.

  Kat and I stood halfway down the aisle, and watched the guys up on the alter being put in their places by the pastor.

  "My god, did you see the best man, Owen?" Kat asked leaning in close to my ear.

  "Sure, he's standing next to Justin."

  "You know what I mean!" She jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow.

  I glanced over at Owen. He was tall, at least several inches above the other guys. His overgrown, wavy blonde hair, was pushed across his forehead, surfer style, with a few tattoos peeking out the top of his shirt. His muscles were so big, I was pretty sure he could lift all the bridesmaids at once. He was totally hot.

  I shrugged. "Not my type."

  "Oh please. You don't even know what your type is." She rolled her eyes.

  I eyed the guy next to Owen for a second. He was on the short side, slightly overweight, and on the path to male patterned baldness. "Maybe not, but I think maybe the one next to him is more my style. I think I'm gonna take him home tonight. I don't even know if I can make it through the dinner. Can you make an excuse for me so I can leave with him?"

  Kat's mouth dropped open and her eyes were as wide as saucers. She was speechless. It took all the composure I had not to burst out laughing.

  "I... of course I can," she stammered, finally finding her voice.

  "Good because I can't wait to get his clothes off. Something about that mole on the side of his face just makes me wanna jump in his arms and lick it."

  That was too much. She caught on to me.

  "Lexi James! You stop teasing me right now. I'm only trying to help, you know," she said, and gave me the signature Katarina Kaverin pout.

  "Look Kat, just give it a rest. I'm not interested."

  She let out a long dramatic sigh and walked away to sit in one of the pews and sulk. When the guys finished, Matt joined her, shooting me a curious look. I knew she wasn't about to fill him in. Unfortunately, my teasing backfired because mole guy must have caught on to us looking at him and started walking over in my direction.

  Great.

  "Hi. You're Lexi, right?" mole guy asked, wiping his sweaty hand on his pants before extending it out to me.

  I gave him a small nod and a quick shake, trying not to make eye contact. The last thing I needed was for him to think I was interested in him.

  "I'm Gary. Gary Walker. I played football with your brother." Sweat beaded across his forehead and he nodded in Matt's direction.

  I glanced over at Matt, who was looking at me amused. Kat must have told him what was going on.

  "Good to meet you, Gary. I thought you looked familiar." I tried to turn and walk away before he could initiate any further conversation, but he grabbed my hand to stop me.

  "I uh... I noticed you looking over here and uh, I..." he stuttered, still gripping my arm in his sweaty hand.

  "You what, Gary?" I looked him in the eyes with my lips tight together, knowing this was all my fault for trying to tease Kat. I glanced over at her as she held her hand over her mouth trying not to laugh at me.

  "I just, I thought maybe you, uh would like to..." He trailed off, his confidence gone.

  I felt bad for him. It probably took every ounce of courage he had to walk over here and talk to me. I didn't want to crush the guy and I could tell from the look in his eyes, that's what he was expecting.

  "Gary," I said gently, trying to let him down easy. "You're the kind of guy I could see myself going home with."

  Gary's gray-blue eyes lit up as he snatched up the tiny shred of hope. I glanced down at my arm, which he was still holding on to, and looked back up.

  "The only problem with that, Gary," I said pausing, giving him a moment to grasp the idea that nothing was going to happen between the two of us. Ever. "I've decided that maybe men aren't for me."

  He let go of my arm and frowned apologetically. "Maybe you haven't met the right one yet."

  I swallowed uncomfortably. "No, I don't think that's quite it. I was thinking I should just give women a try instead."

  He gave me a smirk. "Oh?"

  I was digging my own grave, but I couldn't stop myself. "Yeah, I'm giving up on men altogether. They aren't worth the trouble."

  His eyes lit up. "Well, then you're in luck. I'm nothing like those other guys." He shot me a wink that could only be described as creepy.

  I tried to think fast, but I was in over my head. I looked over at Kat and mouthed 'Help me', while Gary was looking the other way, but she just laughed into Matt's shoulder. Bitch.

  "Look Gary, I appreciate the offer, but I'm just going to stick with girls right now."

  A devious smile spread across his face. "I'd love to see that. Maybe you'd like a little Gary-sandwich?"

  I might have thrown up a little in my mouth. "It's not going to happen, Gary," I said and rolled my eyes.

  He started to speak, but I held my hand up and shook my head to stop him. Thankfully, he took the hint, and closed his mouth. I took the opportunity to walk away and sit in the pew across from Kat and my brother to sulk alone. I guess I did de
serve the skin-crawling exchange with Gary, but I was still going to be pissy with Kat for finding it so amusing.

  We did about three walk-throughs, which included a loud argument between Jamie's parents over which side the photographer should stand on. Their squabble was followed by a complete melt-down by Jamie. That led to her locking herself in the back room for twenty minutes crying while Justin begged her to open the door in desperation. After all that, we were finally finished with the rehearsal and could take our chances with the dinner. I couldn't believe anyone would go through that torture on purpose.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The whole ride from the church to the restaurant Kat went on about her own perfect wedding. Matt wasn't paying attention to her, but she didn't seem to notice. If she thought that all of that wedding talk was going to give Matt any ideas, she was crazy. He may have forgiven our father for being a tramp but he wasn't about to follow in his footsteps of wife collection.

  At least I hope he wasn't.

  The rehearsal dinner was in the banquet hall at the Grand Ophelia hotel, or 'The Grand' as the locals called it. The Grand was an amazingly beautiful and outrageously expensive hotel. It came complete with a golf course, country club and price tag far outside the reach of anyone I knew.

  We pulled up to the valet and Matt hopped out of the truck. He took a ticket from the attendant, then walked around to open the door for us with a smile. Kat beamed, and I rolled my eyes. Our father taught him more than a few tricks to win him points with the ladies.

  Matt turned to face the Grand and whistled. "Wow. I've never seen this place up close before."

  "I was here once with a date. It's amazing." Kat looped her arm into Matt's as he helped her down from the truck. Her heel caught in the pavement and she almost lost balance, but he caught her, keeping her upright.

  "Who did Jamie's parents have to kill to get this place? Why didn't they just do it at Sammy's?" I asked.

  "Justin is related to someone she said. I don't know exactly. Sammy's wasn't good enough for Jamie anyway. She went on a rant about how she deserved some place nicer than the same place everyone went for everything in this town," Kat said.