Never Enough Potatoes
NEVER ENOUGH POTATOES
RACHEL
Cam brushed droplets of his drink off his fresh suit. The crisp, tailored lines of its pressed navy threads hugged his frame perfectly.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, grabbing a cocktail napkin. “I promise I’m not this clumsy.”
“That’s okay, there’s always a chance I’d be wearing a drink by the end of the night anyway.”
His hand grazed mine as he took the napkin from me, and I felt like a spark had shot out of my fingertip.
He downed the rest of his drink, balled the napkin up, and dropped it in his plastic cocktail cup.
Why is the light catching his gorgeous eyes like that? And that suit. He looks damn good in that suit.
“Are you leaving?” I asked.
“Yes, shortly,” he replied.
“That’s a bummer.”
His eyebrows arched. “Oh?”
“I didn’t know if … Would you be up for a dance before you go?” A thrill raced through me at the thought of being closer to him.
“A dance?”
“Yeah,” I tilted my head toward the other couples on the dance floor. “You know … what they’re doing.”
A smile spread across his face. “Sure.”
“L-O-V-E” by Nat King Cole floated around the other dancers on the floor. When his hand wrapped around my waist and his other clasped mine, my entire body felt electrified, and I wasn’t sure if I liked it or was horrified by it. One thing was certain: I found Cameron Nash intriguing.
“I wasn’t sure if you were coming back.”
He glanced up from me and looked out into the crowd. “I wasn’t sure if I was either. Weddings make me grumpy.”
“Your last wedding that bad, huh?”
He swallowed and his eyes returned to mine. “It was.”
I couldn’t stop myself from prying. “What happened?”
“Ask Foster. He was there. Saves me from having to talk about it.”
My hand squeezed his shoulder. “I’m sorry for whatever happened.”
“Don’t be.”
The beat of the song ticked up, and Cam’s grip tightened around my waist. He pulled me closer to him and then dipped me back. Then, I gasped when he whipped me up and then into a twirl.
“You certainly know how to handle a pair of scissors, by the way,” he said, flashing a smile.
“Why, thank you. Just one on a long list of many useless skills I have.”
“It wasn’t useless today,” he said. “Saved me from injuring anyone else with a button.”
I laughed. “You know, you should really try working out less. Eat a donut or two once in a while. That way, if you ever perform groomsman duties last minute again, the suit might fit you better.”
“I’ll try to remember that.”
“At least this new suit fits you perfectly,” I said.
His cheeks reddened. “Thank you. I don’t live far, so I ran home to change since I hadn’t planned on wearing an ill-fitting suit or even attending a wedding today.”
The music didn’t slow, but we did, our bodies catching a different rhythm that only we could hear.
“You said we have that in common,” he said.
“What?”
“Not liking weddings?”
I shrugged. “I used to, but lately …” I faltered. How could I tell this man I felt painfully single when watching everyone else say ‘I do.’
Thankfully, the music stopped before I could explain further. The song switched to something more upbeat, and my phone vibrated in my clutch. Phil would be pulling up in a couple of minutes. It was then that a blonde woman sidled up to us. She flung herself at Cam, cleavage first, latching onto his arm.
“Cam! I wondered where you went. Ready to get outta here?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said, turning to me. “Sorry, I?—”
I waved him off. “It’s okay, my ride’s here.”
“Walk you out?” Cam asked while the drunk blonde giggled.
“I’m Amy,” she said, holding out an unsteady hand.
“Rachel.” I shook her floppy fish grip.
I scanned the room, and when I saw Laura, Emily, and Sarah wrapped around their men, I decided to text them goodbye. They knew me long enough that it wouldn’t be a surprise for me to dip out when the reception started to die down.
Cam held the door open to the lobby, and Amy returned to his side after we all passed through. He handed a ticket to the valet, and I took a step away from him while Amy tittered in his ear. The valet returned with a white Jeep Rubicon just as Phil rolled up in his 4Runner. Cam tipped the valet and helped Amy into the passenger side.
“Hey, beautiful!” Phil called from inside the car. Before he could pop out, a valet opened my door as well.
“Hey, handsome.” I said with a smile.
I scrunched up my dress and stepped in, taking one last look at Hot Pinterest Man as we both got in separate cars and drove off into the night.
“And? What happened?” Laura asked as she took a bite of omelet the next morning at the day-after-wedding brunch. Emily sat across from me, hanging on my every word while I recounted my hot and heavy sesh with Phil.
I rubbed my aching temples and pushed my sunglasses up my nose. “Well …”
“Did you two f?—”
Emily stuck her hand out, palm out, stopping Laura. “Let her tell it. Well? Did you?”
I glanced at my girlfriends, who were really hoping last night was the night. They were practically drooling on the table. I drew a clipped breath and said, “No.”
They both wilted.
“Oh, honey,” Laura said.
“What happened?” Emily asked.
After gulping my water, I gave them the blow by blow. The shedding of every thread touching our bodies, Phil gently guiding me to his bed and kissing my neck softly. Our bodies arching together, my legs wrapping around his waist, kisses becoming more urgent and …
“Yes???” Laura insisted.
“I couldn’t do it.”
Again, their shoulders and faces sagged.
“What the hell happened?” Laura asked. “Was he upset?”
“That’s the thing. Phil is such a great guy. I asked if we could slow down, and he said of course. He held me for a while and then made me a sandwich.”
“That’s amazing,” Laura said.
“ Such a good guy,” Emily said.
I pushed eggs around on my plate and speared a breakfast potato. “Anyway, we still had fun, and he was still satisfied by the end of the night, if you know what I mean.”
“You’re such a prudie two-shoes, Rachel,” Laura said, waving at Sarah’s grandma, who sat down at a table across the way. “Just admit it. You gave him the best head of his life.”
Grandma Jane frowned at us.
Emily giggled. “I think I’m going to need another mimosa for this.”
“Me too,” I said. “And yes, yes I did, for your information. Hey, at least I wasn’t alone last night. That’s got to count for something.”
Laura touched my arm. “I’m proud of you, honey.”
“Why don’t you ask Phil to be your eternal plus one? Maybe if you actually tried to date him for real, you would, you know, get there,” Emily said. “Not that you have to, but it seems like you kind of shut down in that department after Andrew.”
Emily wasn’t wrong. Everything changed after Andrew, including my ability to let go in any new relationship. Phil was funny, handsome, respectful, and could actually take care of a houseplant. He was everything a boyfriend should be. What was wrong with me that I couldn’t see him as anything more than a friend that I sometimes made out with?
“Rache?” Laura asked. “Where’d you go?”
“Uh, nowhere. I mean, Phil’s the best, but if we started dating, things would get more complicated and there’d more pressure to have sex and be in a relationship and … it’s too much.” I wished I had hundreds more breakfast potatoes. Why are there never enough potatoes? “I want to live in the beginning of the romance, where everything feels good, and you haven’t wasted love on someone who’s going to sleep with his secretary.”
“Andrew screwed everything up for you,” Laura said. “Maybe you should go back to therapy to talk through this. That dam you’ve built around your heart finally needs to burst.”
“You need to find someone to challenge you and to awaken your passion,” Emily added.
“Dams bursting? Passion awakening? Are we in a romance novel?” I asked, secretly wishing a tawny-maned, shirtless alpha male was going to swoop in off a vine and whisk me away from the single life.
“Cameron Nash would do it for you,” Laura said, sweeping her long dark hair off her neck and into a ponytail. “He would be a challenge.”
I scoffed. “He’s almost too good-looking. I don’t think I could compete with the number of women who would be lining up for him. Yeah, I don’t want that type of challenge.”
“Honey. Other women can’t compete with you . I didn’t see him with anyone else when he came back to the wedding.”
“He went home with a hot blonde, so, that confirms my suspicions.”
“Okay, so maybe he’s not a long-term solution …” Laura said in between bites. “But he’s hot, he’s rugged, and he’s got an air of mystery.”
“That’s exactly what I said I was looking for in my Tinder profile. A ruggedly hot man of mystery.”
“Basically a handsome Austin Powers,” Emily added.
“Hey!” Laura said. “Austin Powers is smokin’ hot.”
I giggled and took a bite of bacon. “I’m going to forget I ever met Cameron Nash. He’s not for me. He’s too damn intimidating.”
“Rachel, you’ve never been intimidated by anyone,” Laura said.
“I know,” I said, pushing my plate away. “I don’t like it.”
Thankfully, the conversation finally moved to our favorite highlights of the wedding. Matt sauntered over and kissed Emily on the cheek, followed by Foster, Laura’s boyfriend, along with the new bride and groom and the rest of the bridal party. I leaned back in my seat and grinned, watching my friends giggle and gape around the table. My love life had flatlined a long time ago, but I was lucky to have amazing friends to get me through.
Emily and Matt were absolutely cut from the same cloth. They met in an art gallery. Both had the quintessential preppy style and good looks, her with flame-red hair and freckles and Matt with blue eyes for days.
Watching them eat a meal together was like watching a stunning ballet of birds in a mating dance. Each one gracefully removed things off the other’s plate so the other’s meal was perfect. Emily hates onions and when she forgets to ask the kitchen to hold them, Matt picks them off her salad. Matt can’t stand avocados, but Emily loves them and clears them away before his fork hits his food.
Then there’s Laura and Foster. They met in a bar last year when we were all out celebrating Galentine’s Day. If Laura ever took a 23andMe test, it would say she was the descendant of a mythological Greek goddess. In reality, she’s the daughter of Christos and Arianna Poulos and was gifted with luscious dark eyes and gobs of long wavy hair. She’s totally exotic looking and with the fiery attitude Foster knows how to both nurture and reign in.
Emily and Laura still made every effort to include me in the conversation, but my thoughts kept drifting to Cam. Why was he so intimidating? Because he’s too hot for this world? Because his eyes peered through my everlasting soul?
Cam was reserved and brooding, which were contributing factors, but there was something else there that made him hard for me to read. I shook my head, trying to clear out thoughts of him. The wedding was over, and I’d probably never see him again, so I told myself not to waste another moment trying to figure him out.