Chapter 10Annie
Chapter 10
Annie
JULY | Balance: $52,623
The paper shook in my hands, the bubbles in my champagne flute rising faster from my jittery grip.
“Hi, everybody. I’m Annie Markham, the maid of honor and Kitty’s best friend since we both shared a mutual love of salt and vinegar chips in the second grade.”
A warm laugh rustled through the people gathered under the massive tent on the Greenbrier’s grounds.
“I’m a sports attorney, so you’d think I wouldn’t be nervous to talk in front of people. And if it were a matter of negotiating a Wheaties deal or a player’s salary, I wouldn’t be nervous. But when it comes to summing up almost twenty years of friendship and undying devotion, plus a decade of Guy and Kitty’s love, I want to make sure I do it justice.”
I folded my paper so I couldn’t see the words I’d already said. I briefly looked up, catching Nick’s eye. He gave me a warm smile and a nod. My stomach jumped with a different kind of nerves. I took a deep breath and huffed out the top part of it. You’ve got this.
“The day was June 7, 2013. The time, 12:37 p.m. My phone buzzed with three rapid-fire texts. This is a tell-tale sign that you are being contacted by Kitty Gatto.”
More laughs. I was doing good. I knew the speech was good. It was just a matter of getting through it.
“Fortunately, I took a screenshot of my home screen, feeling that these texts would one day be fun to look back on. DJ, would you mind changing the screen so everyone can see?”
The screenshot lit up the screen that had been showing photos of Kitty and Guy over the years.
“For those who don’t want to crane their necks or get out their eyeglasses, I’ll read them for you. ‘Two red alert emojis: a new boy is moving in next door.’ Next message: ‘From Canada? It looks like he plays hockey? Hockey stick emoji.’ And finally, the piece de resistance, ‘Anyway, dibs. Crazy face emoji.’”
The crowd laughed along with me.
“And while Guy might not have known that dibs were called that very first day, he certainly carved out a piece of his heart that would always be owned by Kitty Gatto.”
Tears pricked my eyes and I sucked in a sharp breath through my nose. If only someone would carve out their heart for me.
“Guy only lived with us in Charleston for a year before he and his mom had to go back to Quebec, but he left a lasting impression. I remember the beach trip when I pined for Kitty’s brother, Frank—hi, Frankie,” I did a flirty little wave to Frank at the head table as his face went beet red, “while Kitty was a mess over Guy. And I remember, too, the night that she snuck back into our room late and crawled into bed with me whispering, ‘He kissed me, Annie.’ I’ll spare the rest of those details because that’s confidential BFF stuff. And let’s not forget, this whole time, Guy was also claiming to be Kitty’s best friend. I’ve always taken some exception to that title for him. How dare he try to dethrone me!”
The crowd laughed as I flipped my hair over my shoulder and shot Guy a death stare.
“Then when Kitty and I went off to college, she fell right back into Guy’s arms, but not without some angst and drama. Once she found out that he picked Alden University because he thought she’d go there two years later, she was sold. And who could blame her? That big hunky hockey boy was an absolute hopeless romantic for her.
“Life’s path split them up not long after, but I think everyone in this tent who was around at that time knew it wasn’t the end of Guy and Kitty’s story.”
I took a breath, knowing the next part had the potential to make me cry. I met Nick’s gaze again. He wasn’t smiling, but watched me like he hung on every word.
“So a year ago, I got a different set of texts from Kitty. ‘Guy came back for me. He came to my show and surprised me. He wants to get back together. What should I do?’ We all know what happened there. He left his Seattle team for a trade to L.A. so they could finally live out their happily ever after. And here we are today, celebrating a love so epic that I once saw a tweet that said, ‘Find a man who looks at you like Guy Stelle looks at Kitty Gatto.’”
I raised my glass. “Kitty, you’re my best friend and I’m so happy to celebrate you and that other best friend of yours today. To many years of joy, friendship, health, and happiness for Kitty and Guy!”
Kitty smashed me into a tight hug. “Thank you, Annie,” she whispered in my ear. “Love you.”
“Love you, too. Congratulations.” I squeezed her hard, then moved to hug Guy, squishing his cheeks to his laugh before I did. “Be good to her,” I told him.
I sucked down a couple of relieved glasses of champagne after I sat, watching Kitty do a goofy dance with her dad while Guy danced with Kitty’s mom. I snuck off to sit with my dad and his wife while they cut the cake.
“Hey, Banannie! You did so good! I’m so proud of you. Made your old man tear up,” Dad said.
I smiled. “Thanks, Dad.” I leaned in to wave at his wife. “Hi, Sandy! Glad y’all could come.”
“We wouldn’t miss it. Your dad adores Kitty.”
“Did your boyfriend not make it?” Dad asked.
“No, he, um.” Fuck, I didn’t want this to be my reaction. I wanted to be able to make a little white lie, but my dad made me weak. When you’ve weathered as much shit as we have, it’s easy for him to see through me and get me to fold.
“Oh, Annie. I’m sorry,” Dad said, understanding in an instant. He put his arm around my shoulders and kissed my cheek. “It’s his loss, kiddo. He doesn’t know what he missed.”
I nodded, pulling myself together. “Y’all gonna dance? Will I see you out there?”
“You’d better save me one,” Dad said. “Chin up, kiddo. We’ll get that Markham smile back on you. There’ll be someone else.”
I squeezed his shoulder as I stood, heading to get a cup of coffee. It was hot out, but a long night was ahead and Diet Coke alone wasn’t going to cut it. Who knew what other maid of honor duties I’d be needed for?
As I poured cream in my cup, a voice came from beside me.
“Beautiful speech!”
I turned, meeting some warm brown eyes and a big smile. “I’m Marcie, Guy’s agent. Did I catch that you’re a sports agent?”
I grabbed a saucer for my coffee cup and stepped so we could hear each other. “I am! So nice to meet you. I’m Annie Markham.”
“Where are you based, Annie?”
“I’m in Nashville. I’m on the team to rep some Titans and Preds and consult on some of the legal stuff for other clients.”
“Pity,” she said. “I’m going to be out on maternity leave in a few months.” She patted her belly.
“Oh, congratulations!”
“Thanks! Guy mentioned that you’re a smart cookie, and I’ve been hoping to find someone to fill my role while I’m gone.”
The implication took a second to set in. “Oh, yeah. I’m barred in Tennessee, and I’m just in my first few months of practice. Are you in Los Angeles?”
“I am, but you wouldn’t have to be barred at our firm. Your law degree and status in another state is good enough for us. And I’d mentor you.” She touched my forearm. “Not that I’d expect you to up and move or anything. I guess I’d just rather a woman held down the fort while I was gone than split it between my male colleagues.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s fair.”
“And who knows? If you liked it, maybe we could make room for another partner.”
My head swam as I took a sip of coffee. “I . . . I don’t know if I could leave Nashville,” I said, fully knowing that I very well could leave Nashville for the right opportunity. And with the garbage fire I’d be walking back into at the firm, it’d be nice to have an exit plan.
“I’m sure. Anyway, humor me. Come with me and take my card so you can think about it.”
I walked with Marcie back to her table where she fished in her purse. “I’m a big believer in signs, Annie. I’m planning to take a year off when the baby comes. I’ve been trying to find my replacement, and here you are, making this precious toast at Guy’s wedding. You’d also get to be close to your best friend.” She pressed her card into my hand. “Give it some thought and send me your resume. I’ll be waiting for your call.”
I stood, stunned and freaking out a little, but strangely encouraged. I rushed back to stuff her card in my purse, then reported to the dance floor where things were heating up.
I danced with everyone I knew: random friends from high school, Kitty’s cousins, the other bridesmaids. Frank wiggled his way over to me at one point, and we yelled over the music.
“Hey, hope I didn’t make you feel weird with the high school crush remark,” I said.
He waved it off. “I’m flattered. I don’t know what I was thinking, not going for it back then.”
I cackled. “Kitty would have had a fit.”
He bristled. “She was dating my best friend behind my back and now they’re married.”
“True.” While we danced, I felt the telltale squelch of my period arriving. Surely it was just a fluke. I’d had my period a week before. I was on birth control. It simply wasn’t time. Perhaps just a mutant queef combined with sweat?
It was quickly forgotten as Nick shimmied over to us, doing some silly dance poking his fingers out from his hips. He held out his hand. “Dance with me, maid of honor?”
The song shifted to a slow dance. I wound my arms around Nick’s neck, adopting the sway we had at the wedding the night before.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he said, then gnawed his lip.
“At a wedding, no less,” I added.
“Maybe we should find a Sunday wedding for tomorrow.”
We looked over at Guy and Kitty. They, however, paid no attention to us, completely heart-eyed and absorbed in each other.
“They’re so good together,” I cooed.
“They really are.” Nick swallowed. “I saw you tearing up during their vows.”
I nodded. “They’ve had a rough road getting there, but the way they love each other is really the goal.”
Nick took a moment to just . . . gaze into my eyes? No major plans. No sense of urgency. Just studying me. A soft smirk curled his lips. “Do you know what you want your dream vows to say? What you’d want your partner to say someday?”
I blew out a breath, raising my eyebrows. That’s what was going through his head while he looked at me? “Do you have an answer for that?”
Nick stared off somewhere over my head for a moment. “I’d want to hear that I was the only one for them. That I make their life magical. That they trust me and love me. That being near me is comforting. That they want me beside them for the hard things, and the good things. That they’ll hold my hand if I die first, and want me to hold theirs if they die first. That they want babies with me. That no matter what, they’ll work to figure it out with me, because what we have is special and worthwhile. That I’m worth the effort.”
This gorgeous, sweet man. It really was a shame that he was in L.A. and I was in Nashville, because what a wonderful person he was. Either he was being sincere and was truly the sweetest human alive, or he had really good game and this was all some ploy. Though seemingly from the crotch-biting incident, he wasn’t that experienced and was just being sincere.
“That’s beautiful, Nick.”
He shrugged. “It’s how I feel. Your turn. What do you want to hear, Annie?”
“That,” I said. “You hit the nail on the head. No notes.”
He shook his head. “I want to hear your version.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “I want to be first choice. The only choice. I want to hear that I’m enough even on my worst days. That they’d always want to hear how I feel, and they’d tell me how they feel. That they want me to be the mother of their children. I’d tell them that they were the center of my world, and I’m just a hopeless planet circling around their sun. That I won’t accept any less than them being completely, stupidly in love with me and I with them because we owe that to each other.”
Nick raised his arm, where his dress shirt was cuffed to the elbow, showing his arm hair raised. “Look what you did,” he said with a chuckle.
“Well, same,” I said. “I think I’m going to sit. These heels are killing me.”
“Want some company?”
“Sure.”
Nick led me to the head table to sit. My low back throbbed as I sat. I’m not the athlete I once was, and even though I wore heels at work, I wasn’t usually on my feet so much.
“Come on. Feet up,” Nick said, stooping to reach for my feet and pulling them into his lap. “Jesus, Markham, these things are cutting into your toes.”
“I know,” I groaned. “Flats just don’t look as good.”
Nick messed with the strap at my ankle, his long fingers fumbling over the tiny bit of leather.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking them off,” he said. “I want to dance with you and you won’t dance if your feet hurt.”
“Oh, so it’s about you,” I teased.
“Exactly, yes. It’s about me and what I want.”
“No barefoot hillbilly jokes if that’s what you’re doing,” I said, pointing at him.
“I would never. I’m from Indiana anyway. We’re half redneck,” he joked.
“Fair.”
His thumb pressed into the arch of my foot and I swear, I could have orgasmed on the spot. I let out a loud moan, melting into my chair. I caught my dad’s eye, who was dancing with his wife, smiling broadly when he saw me sitting with my feet in Nick’s lap. I knew what he was thinking: I was moving on. And really, I hadn’t thought of Roger since I got done with my speech. I gave a quick wave.
“Is that your dad?” Nick asked.
“How could you tell?”
“Your smiles are freakishly identical.” He continued kneading the bottoms of my feet. “You did a really good job on the speech, by the way. You could feel how much you love them. Really touching.”
I puffed out my bottom lip. “Thanks. We did it. We got ‘em married.”
The song changed to a One Direction song and Kitty’s signature scream could be heard from the dance floor. “Annie!”
“Looks like I’m back on duty,” I sighed. “Shall we?”
“I think we must.”
I lost Nick quickly once I got to the dance floor, the photographer getting some shots of Kitty, Violet, and me shouting the words of Harry, Zayn, Liam, Niall, and Louis with our sweaty arms around each other.
But not for long. Two arms slid around my waist from behind at the end of the first chorus, making me almost jump out of my skin.
“Don’t freak out,” Nick said low in my ear. “Pretend you’re in love with me. But I think you’re bleeding.”
He’d removed his jacket, tying the sleeves around my waist.
“Bleeding?” I whispered in his ear, leaning back into him as instructed.
“Like . . . menstruating? Your period?”
“Okay, you two!” Kitty shouted, pointing to Nick and me as we did this overly intimate charade, dancing together as he held me from behind, whispering in my ear.
Violet and Tania started in with some cat calls and howls.
“I know what my period is, Nick,” I hissed, trying to school my expression to stay pleasant. “It’s not time.”
“Well, there’s blood on your butt, angel.”
My brain worked at a breakneck pace. The scheme it hatched up was convoluted at best. I whipped around in his arms and pressed myself into him. “Kiss me, Nick.”
“Yeah, okay.” His head dipped as his lips met mine, the shouts from the others on the dance floor only getting louder. I’d kissed Nick before, less than twenty-four hours before even. So why did heat flood my body? Why did his hand cupping my neck and my waist feel so safe? Why were his lips so sweet and his tongue so wild and all of it just so him?
After I determined we’d made a convincing enough show, I pulled back. “Let’s get out of here.”
Kitty gave me a shocked and thrilled look when I turned to her.
I put my arms around Kitty’s neck, whispering in her ear. “Congratulations, babe. I apparently just got my period. I need to leave. Kissing Nick was a coverup.”
Kitty made a variety of expressions. “Sure, it was a coverup,” she laughed, then hugged me back. “You’re fine. Go. Thanks for everything. Sorry about your period.”
And turning back to Nick, who already had my heels in his hand, we headed back for the resort.