“Mrs. Dalal.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for coming.”
“Yes.” She inclined her head. “Very well done on a week’s notice.”
The rare compliment made his chest expand. “I appreciate you saying that.” In silence, they both watched Jiya entertain a group of Jamie’s professor friends with a story across the candlelit room. “Look at her hand gestures. She’s telling them about that customer who rubbed vindaloo sauce in his eye on accident. Instead of using water to soothe the sting, he accidentally dipped his napkin in hot tea and made it worse.” He smiled. “It’s a good story.”
When Mrs. Dalal cleared her throat, Andrew realized he’d been staring at Jiya.
What else was new?
“Yes, my daughter is a good storyteller.” She sighed. “Perhaps you can convince her to display some of that charm next week when our friends bring their son to meet her.”
Dizziness hit, the walls of the room looming closer. Mrs. Dalal continued, sounding like she spoke to him from another time zone. All the while, his head burned.
“We’re trying to find someone who interests her. Though she’ll need to put in some effort as well. Much more than she did on her first date. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was being less charming on purpose. Maybe she doesn’t even realize she’s doing it.” Jiya’s mother sipped from her small glass of white wine. “Maybe she doesn’t truly feel free to let herself find someone.”
What did she mean? That Jiya was giving dating less of an effort because of him? No. But the words he’d spoken to her last night echoed in his ears and he admitted…there was a chance Mrs. Dalal could be right.
You’ve always been my best friend.
We won’t have this if you start dating someone seriously.
Was their friendship holding Jiya back?
Was his secret love bogging her down, even though he couldn’t express it? Christ, it was possible. They shared a brain. He could barely keep his feelings for Jiya at bay and some of them might have escaped. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe she didn’t even realize she was putting in less of an effort into dating because Andrew had a hold on her.
A hold he couldn’t maintain. A hold he had no right to keep.
“I promised her we’d stay friends,” he murmured to himself.
Andrew didn’t realize he’d said the words out loud until Jiya’s mother patted his arm. “And you should. Friends who want what’s best for each other.”
CHAPTER SIX
A bonfire on the beach was the perfect cap on the wedding day.
They made it through the reception with only one teeny fist fight—between a personal trainer and a math teacher who disagreed about the best Avengers movie. Andrew had intervened, bought them a round of drinks, and they’d ended up shaking hands. Jiya had been firmly on the side of the math teacher—the best film of the franchise was clearly Thor: Ragnarok and anyone who said different could suck it.
Some revelers bailed and went home to await their eventual hangovers, others made their way back to the beach. A bonfire billowed and snapped against the black nighttime sky, the tips of the flames kissing the stars like lovers. Olive sat in Rory’s lap, lazily roasting a marshmallow while he whispered in her ear, giving the bonfire competition in heating her cheeks. Jamie and Marcus had told everyone they were going for a walk an hour ago and never come back. Alcohol had done its job and melded several different crowds into one, leaving teachers, trainers, sanitation workers and lifeguards strewn about the beach, staring out at the white caps that lapped at the cooling sand.
A perfect end to a beautiful day.
Jiya was the kind of tipsy that made her think she was capable of writing poetry. The kind of tipsy that made her truly believe a conversation with a stranger could lead to the discovery of the meaning of life. With the amount of hours she worked at Spice, she rarely had time to get her drink on, so she’d decided after her third one that she’d earned a fourth.
With a relaxed sigh, Jiya slid her bare toes into the sand and swept the crowd for Andrew.
They’d both stayed behind at the restaurant to clean up and wish everyone a safe journey home while Rory and Olive had gone ahead and started the bonfire. She’d hoped with Andrew’s hosting duties out of the way, he’d take some time to relax, but he was still watching the proceedings like he might need to save the day at a moment’s notice.
He’d been kind of quiet since the reception. Nothing new there. But after recapturing her weightless mood with the help of her fourth drink, she became determined to poke Andrew until he loosened up.
With that plan in mind, Jiya rose to her feet and crossed the beach to where he stood. Any red-blooded female would take a moment to appreciate the outline of his strong body braced against the star-studded sky. The night breeze tousled his dark hair and plastered the white T-shirt to his thick rolls of muscle. His five o’clock shadow made him look kind of dangerous, but the rolled up jeans and sandy calves made him the guy she’d known forever.