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“Setting it up this morning was like pulling teeth—”
“But you had Ben to help you. I saw the way he kept those other guys in line. Please tell me he’s not just some fling.”
I laugh, but the smile doesn’t reach my eyes as I try to reason away why she’s wrong. “His life is in Clover Creek. I still have another year here.”
As much as I want more and as much as I want to cut my ties here and run home, it’s not realistic. And what if I do that and he doesn’t want me? I’d be the laughingstock of Clover Creek. Maybe even all of Washington.
I made such a big deal of leaving home and never looking back, only to fall for one of the town’s favorite people.
I can’t tell Lani any of this, though. She comes from a standard two-parent family in an upper-middle class neighborhood in Vermont. She’s kind and sympathetic, but she’ll never understand exactly what I’m going through. And to be honest, I’m happy for her she doesn’t get it.
“Once your year is up, aren’t you going to move back home?”
“That’s the plan.” Translation: that’s the plan if I haven’t found somewhere better.
Lani opens her mouth, but I stop her. “Let’s focus on getting ready, okay? I am so tired today—”
“Ben keep you up all night?” She smirks with a knowing wink.
I can’t hide my smile as I reach for the hairspray, eliciting some whooping cheers from her.
“Damn, girl. He’s fine as hell.” She fans herself with a semi-authentic Regency-era fan. “Is that how all the guys in Clover Creek are?”
I snort and shake my head. “No—although we did just have an influx of hot guys return. Plus, my brother.”
She points to a picture on my vanity. “That’s your brother, right?”
I nod, not wasting any styling time looking at a picture I’ve seen a million times.
She lets out a low whistle and hands me a scoop of hair pins. “An influx of hot guys returned, including your brother.”
“Lani! No. Down.” I grab the bottle of hairspray and act like I’m going to get her.
She throws her arms over her face, barely breathing between laughter. She catches her breath and flops down on my bed. “All I’m saying—and don’t spray me—is that you could do me a solid and give him my number.”
I shake my head and her face falls.
“Is he single?”
“Chronically.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
I glance at the picture of him. It was taken outside of my mom’s house two weeks before I left for college. He stayed behind to keep my mom company for the first week and then came to North Grayslake for a few days to help me settle in and get acquainted with the town.
He’s been here a few times since then, but Lani doesn’t need to know she’s missed every one of his visits by a small margin.
Guilt—and a secret desire to handpick my future sister-in-law—wins out. “I’m not my brother’s wingman. But—”
Lani leans so far forward her breasts are about to pop out of the empire-waisted dress she’s wearing. I’m convinced whoever designed these things had a fetish for wardrobe malfunctions.
“But what, Pheebs?”
“But I could always invite you to come home with me for a few days and maybe set up a few chance encounters with him.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Of course.”
