Man Candy (30 page)

He’s here! He came!

A moment later, Alex and Nolan

were walking up the aisle hand in hand,

and I found myself completely choked

up. They looked so happy, so in love, so

sure of themselves. I thought about what

it had taken for them to get here—as a

gay couple, getting married wasn’t

something they took for granted—and I

felt lucky to witness it.

I peeked out at Quinn. He smiled at

me—not huge, but it made my heart

pound all the same. I started thinking

about what I was going to say to him and

realized I was totally unprepared.

Damn it! How dare he surprise me

like this! I wanted to get it right this

time, and I hadn’t practiced!

OK, no panicking. Maybe it will be

even better if it’s unrehearsed…just say

what you’re feeling without holding

back.

When the grooms kissed to seal their

union, my eyes filled, and my heart

thumped with joy. When they embraced

each other and I saw the tears on

Nolan’s face, I gave up trying to stem the

tide, and let mine fall too.

Love was real, and it was worth

celebrating.

I ONLY HAD a few minutes between

the ceremony and the elaborate photo

shoot Nolan had planned, and I had to

use most of it to repair my eye makeup,

but I was dying to get to Quinn. After I

touched up my face in the bathroom, I

hurried back into the reception room,

where guests were mingling with drinks

in their hands, talking and listening to

live jazz. My eyes skimmed the crowd,

but I didn’t see him right away.

A hand touched my shoulder.

“Jaime.”

I turned, and at the nearness of him,

my breath caught. Without thinking, I

threw my arms around his neck and

hugged him tight. “Oh my God! What are

you doing here?”

“I rearranged a few things. I actually

have to fly back to London tomorrow

night.”

Surprised, I stepped back. “You do?

When did you fly in?”

“Today.”

“You flew in for one night?”

“I wanted to be here.”

I smiled. “Alex will be so happy.”

“It wasn’t all for Alex,” he said

quietly. “I wanted to see you too. You

look gorgeous.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re wearing the necklace.”

“Of course I am.” As I touched the

circle pendant, I heard my name being

called and looked over to see the

coordinator gesturing for me to come

with her. “Crap. I have to go take

pictures. But I want to talk to you.”

“It’s OK. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good. I’m not either.” Impulsively,

I took his face in my hands and kissed

him full on the lips. “I mean it, Quinn.

I’m here, I’m yours, I love you, and I

want this for us.”

“You do?” Grinning, he looked

around. “All this?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe not the

two hundred people.”
Deep breath.
“But

lately I’ve been really inspired by Alex

and Nolan, and I’ve been thinking a lot

about what you said about falling in

love, and staying in it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. You were right—I didn't let

myself believe in love, because I was

scared to give someone else that kind of

power over me, and I’ve never been

very good at sharing myself with anyone.

It seemed so much easier to dismiss it as

fiction.”

“It is easier.”

“But I don’t want to do that anymore.

I need you in my life.” I heard my name

being called again. “Gah. Too much

going on at once.”

“It’s OK.” He kissed my forehead. “I

understand.”

“I have to go outside. Wait for me

here?”

“As long as it takes.”

I smiled at him before hurrying

toward the exit, my heart pounding as

quickly as my heels on the wood.

THIRTY

QUINN

WHILE JAIME WAS GONE, I had a

drink and chatted with a couple high

school friends, but my mind was

completely focused on her. She looked

and sounded so
different
. I mean, she

looked beautiful, like she always did,

but her expression when she told me she

loved me was so guileless and natural. I

heard nothing false in her voice, saw no

lie in her eyes. Prior to tonight, the only

other times I’d seen her look that open

and honest was during sex.

It was such a fucking relief.

While in London, I’d second-

guessed myself a thousand times for

walking away from her at Alex’s party.

You asshole, you love her! Why do you

have to be so hard on her?
I felt like I owed her an apology for that. But in the

end, I always came to the same

conclusion—if she was going to remain

closed off to the possibility of a future, if

she was truly only in this for the fun of it,

if she was the kind of person who would

leave whenever she felt threatened by

her feelings or mine…I couldn’t be with

her.

But I’d missed her. And every night,

I hoped what I’d said was getting

through to her, and she just needed time.

When she’d texted me that she

wanted to talk, I couldn’t wait to get

home and find out.

Thankfully, the photographer I was

shooting with in London felt bad enough

about the scheduling mix-up that she

agreed to finish up on Monday instead of

today, which was how I’d been able to

take the quick trip. It would be terrible

having to leave again tomorrow, but at

least this time, I’d know I was coming

home to something good.

Something beautiful
, I thought as

Jaime entered the room and walked

toward me.
Something that matters to

me.

“Hey,” she said as I kissed her

cheek.

“Hey. Have I told you how fucking

spectacular you look in that dress?”

She laughed. “Maybe. But you can

keep telling me.”

I slipped an arm around her waist

and spoke in her ear. “You look fucking

spectacular in that dress, but I think it

will look even
more
spectacular on my

new bedroom floor. Let’s go find out.”

“Mmm, I like the sound of that but I

think my brother would kill me if I left

before the big toast.”

“That’s right.” I let go of her and

studied her face. “Are you nervous?”

She tilted a hand side to side, fingers

stretched. “A bit. I mean, I know what I

want to say. I just hope I get through it.”

“You will. I have faith.” People had

begun sitting down for dinner, but there

were some things I wanted to say to her

before I went to my table. “Listen, I want

to apologize for the way I treated you at

Alex’s that night. I was hard on you.”

“You were,” she agreed. “But those

were things I needed to hear, so no

apology necessary. If you’d been sweet

about it, I probably wouldn’t have taken

them to heart. I needed the hard words.”

I gave her my best smolder. “I have

lots of hard things for you. Not just

words.”

“So thoughtful,” she said before

slapping my arm. “Now stop trying to

distract me with your dick when I’m

supposed to be composing myself to

speak in front of this crowd. You’re

riling me up.”

“Sorry not sorry. And you were the

one who brought up hard things, not me.

I was just trying to apologize. But if you

won’t let me do that, then let me do

this.” I wrapped her up in my arms and

pulled her close. “I know you don’t love

hugging in public and I’ll let you go in a

moment, but I need to hold you and tell

you how much it means to me that you

changed your mind about us.”

“Quinn, don’t.”

I froze. “Don’t?”

Her arms tightened around my waist.

“Don’t let me go.”

LUCKY FOR ME, there was an empty

seat at the table where Jaime was sitting

with Alex and Nolan, Sean and his wife,

and another couple I recognized from

Alex’s birthday. The staff set a place for

me, and Jaime held my hand under the

table as the champagne was poured and

someone handed a microphone to Nolan.

He stood, and the room hushed.

“Thank you all for being here with us

tonight. It means so much to Alex and me

to see so many friends and family here

celebrating together. One of the first

things Alex told me about himself was

how close he was to his sister, and I’m

proud to call her
my
sister now, too.” He looked at Jaime, and she smiled back,

touching her hand to her heart. “She’s

agreed to kick off tonight’s reception by

saying a few words, so I’ll turn the mic

over to her for a toast.”

I squeezed Jaime’s hand before

letting it go, and she stood up, smoothed

her dress, and took the mic from Nolan.

“Thank you, Nolan, for the sweet

introduction. Some girls might grow up

wishing they had a sister, but not me.

I’ve always thought another brother

would be awesome, and I’m glad it’s

you. I love you both.”

The crowd awwww’d collectively,

and she smiled again at the grooms

before turning toward the guests.

“For the last year, ever since Alex

and Nolan asked me to make this toast,

I’ve been panicking about it. What could

I say about love and life that would

mean something to them…” She glanced

at the grooms. “And to you? Should I

quote The Bard? The Bible? The

Beatles?”

I grinned and she gave me a quick

wink.

“I hunted around for the perfect

lines, hoping to unearth something

brilliant and beautiful, words that would

unlock the mystery of love to a skeptic

like me. Surely there was a secret to be

discovered and shared.” She paused.

“But I couldn’t find it. Nothing

resonated. Nothing rang true. Love was

just as mysterious as ever. So mysterious

that I finally broke down and asked my

big brother, ‘
What’s the secret
?’

Because when you look at these two…”

She gestured toward Alex and Nolan.

“You know that they know it.”

After a pause, she went on. “And my

brother said to me, ‘Jaime, there is no

secret. There is no magic. There is no

way to know what the future holds. The

point is that you’re willing to take a

chance.’” She took a breath. “I thought a

lot about that in the following days. And

I realized he was right—love isn’t a

secret to be unlocked, or a mystery to be

solved. And marriage isn’t the mystical

union of two souls whose fate is written

in the stars.” Her voice got stronger.

“It’s a feeling, followed by a choice

made in the face of chaos and

uncertainty: I don’t know where this

road will take me, but I want you by my

side on the journey.” She glanced at me

briefly, and my body warmed. “It’s a

leap of faith, and what a privilege it was

to be here today and watch these two

make it.”

Smiling, she went on. “I
am
going to

disagree slightly, though—what kind of

kid sister would I be if I didn’t?” She

waited until the chuckling died down

and turned to Alex and Nolan. “There
is

magic in a love like yours. Not the kind

that can be seen or touched or explained,

but the kind a person can feel when they

look at you together. The kind that makes

a person believe.” She paused for a

moment, glanced at me, and then turned

back to the crowd. “To Alex and Nolan

—may the rest of their journey be as

beautiful as their leap was today, and

may we all be there to witness it!”

“To Alex and Nolan!” someone

echoed, followed by a chorus of well

wishes throughout the room.

I picked up my champagne and

drank, so proud of Jaime I was bursting

with it, and so in love with her I could

hardly sit still. I watched as she went

around the table to the grooms, hugging

and kissing each of them, lingering a

long time in Alex’s arms. After giving

the mic back to the band’s vocalist, she

returned to her chair, which I pulled out

for her. Once I sat down again, I took her

face in my hands and kissed her hard on

the lips.

She looked relieved. “Oh my God,

I’m glad that’s over. How did I do? Too

much Cheez Whiz?”

“Not nearly. You were great. It was

beautiful and heartfelt.”

“Thanks.”

“So you’re really a believer now,

huh?”

That earned me a coy smile and

playful lift of her shoulders. “Maybe.”

“I’ll take it.” I planted a kiss on her

nose. “Love bug.”

She gave me a horrified look and

scooted her chair away from me, making

me grin from ear to ear.

She might believe in love, but she

was still my Jaime—fire and ice all at