Taking Chances (Learning to Love) (3 page)

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 fine 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 deserve 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.

The valet eyed Kat from behind, letting his eyes trail slowly down her body. Matt smirked and turned away from the guy. He put his arm through mine and the three of us climbed up the front stairs into the lobby of The Grand.

It was spectacular. An elaborate chandelier hung from the ceiling with two curving staircases on either side. Our heels clicked on the marble floor as we walked past two matching columns that framed the room. My eyes hung on the massive stone fireplace with red velvet sofas and chairs that formed a cozy seating area. A cheery woman dressed in an expensive suit, holding a clipboard, ushered us to the banquet room.

"Oh finally, you're here!" Jamie hurried over to us, acting like we were hours late, even though she literally walked in two minutes before us.

She pulled Kat away to discuss some maid of honor details, leaving me alone with Matt. As soon as he turned to me, I knew what he was going to say.

"You think about going to Dad's wedding anymore?" He stared down at me with puppy dog eyes and a slight pout on his lips. He'd been spending too much time around Kat.

"Why is it so important to you? Dad's been married, what, four times? Why is this one so special?"

"Six," he nearly whispered.

"Six?" I was confused for a moment until it dawned on me that he was telling me our father was married six times. "Six?" I repeated, shocked.

Matt avoided eye contact. "You never want to talk about him, so I didn't mention the last few."

"I know, but six? He really does collect wives."

"It's different this time, Kitten." Matt sighed and he was using my childhood nickname, pulling out all the stops. Our father had started calling me Kitten when I was three. I didn't even remember why anymore, but it stuck.