It was a nice ceremony, but a part of her, a part that she felt extremely uncomfortable with, kept staring at Reese, wondering why she couldn’t find a guy like that. He seemed so devoted to the bride, so enamored with her.
Once the ceremony was over, Lake sat there, ready to drink, ready to meet someone, and ready to pretend she was someone who didn’t have the reputation of being the geeky virgin that had no friends.
Lake had no clue how long she’d been standing on the deck overlooking the mountains, or how many shots of liquor she’d snuck.
Her father was too busy dancing with Ginny to notice that Lake had been slowly getting drunk, and everyone else that had seen her didn’t know who she was or that she was only eighteen.
But it had also been easy to grab the drinks when she’d met a guy that was clearly twenty-one and willing to bring her shots.
Looking over her shoulder, she stared at him as he got them another round. She felt bad because she didn’t even know if his name was Alex or Alan, but that was mainly because she was getting too wasted to wrap her mind around anything. Turning back toward the mountains, she grabbed the glass of water she’d snagged before walking out here and stared at the scenery.
Although the sun was setting, and the lights from the country club they were at were intensely bright, the view was spectacular.
The sun was dipping below the horizon, painting the sky pinks and oranges, and when she closed her eyes, she wished she could stay in this moment for a little longer before reality came crashing back.
“You’re Lake, right?” The deep voice came from behind her, and she opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder. It was the groom, Reese, holding a bottle of beer, his tie loosened, his white tux shirt undone at the collar, and his dark hair even more wild.
“I am. You’re Ginny’s brother?” She knew this, of course, and although she had phrased it as a question, she mainly asked it to not have dead air between them.
“I am,” he said and smiled, walked toward her, and leaned on the stone banister. For several seconds they just stood there, her drinking her water, him nursing his beer.
“Pretty wild to know that your life has changed, and although you expected it, anticipated it, it doesn’t quite seem real.” He looked at her then, and she saw him out of the corner of her eye. Turning and facing him, he looked very thoughtful as if maybe he’d had too much to drink and was trying to be philosophical. But she had a feeling he wasn’t drunk, not at all, and that he didn’t have to try to be thoughtful or philosophical. “Know what I mean?”
She nodded. “I do, actually.” She thought about her mom, turned back to the mountain scene, and wished that she’d had more time with her. She wished a lot of things, but wishing didn’t make anything different, and didn’t change reality.
He turned and looked at the mountains, and the silence that stretched between them was nice, comfortable.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” he said and chuckled to himself. “But I look forward to seeing more of you guys since we’re moving closer to you all.” He stood to his full height, and she realized he had to be at least a foot taller than her five foot four. “Try not to drink so much,” he said softly this time. “I don’t want your old man getting mad at me because I didn’t stop you from making use of the open bar.” He smiled again and turned to leave her just as Alex/Alan showed up with another drink.
He handed her the shot. She took it and looked at it, but set it aside.
Looking at Reese again, she saw him pull his wife into an embrace, but the woman pushed him off, laughed a little tightly, and turned to finish speaking with the man she’d been talking with. Reese looked annoyed but went over to the bar for another drink.
“So how about we take this party to my hotel room?” Alex/Alan said, but by this point Lake had her thoughts on the past, and that made for one major situation changer, as in it was like she’d been doused with cold water.
She should have said no, but she was tired of always playing it safe. This was her chance to be wild, to just let go and not have to worry about what anyone thought or said. She was certainly feeling the buzz of the alcohol enough to not care.
“Lead the way,” she said softly, and by the expression on his face it was clear he thought she’d turn him down, not agree to go have a one-night stand with him.