Chapter 3
3
GRANT
The glasses were clinking again, and annoyance flared in my gut as I made each obligatory gesture—I clinked along, smiled widely, and clapped as Ethan and Nora kissed yet again—but I didn’t give a shit. Watching Ethan kiss Nora only made me think about kissing Tessa. Because I had most certainly kissed Tessa Davis. And while it had been entirely unexpected, I’d loved every second.
I glanced down the table and found Tessa looking back at me. Her eyes widened and a cute blush spread across her cheeks, then she turned away quickly to talk to Claire.
It was peculiar to discover such an intense desire for a woman I’d not given much consideration to before.
And why hadn’t I considered her up till now? Because she was younger than me? She was in her late twenties now, no longer the kid I’d thought of her as when we were both teens. And she was sexy as hell. I glanced in her direction again. She wasn’t looking at me this time, but she was laughing, and my eyes trailed over the curve of her lips and the length of her throat.
Definitely sexy.
I slipped out of my seat and walked to Tessa, who was looking down at her food. “Can we talk?” I asked, leaning into her ear. She jumped.
“Talk?” she whispered, her voice so low I could barely hear her. Next to her, Claire seemed preoccupied, but just beyond Claire, Emily frowned in our direction. “Sure, yeah,” Tess agreed, standing up next to me.
“Oh, you’re both here!” Janet exclaimed, startling me. I glowered at the wedding planner. “You’re just who I was looking for. It’s time for speeches.”
Tessa inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, clearly stressed, although over me or the speeches, I wasn’t sure.
“Who’s going first?” Janet asked, and I shrugged. I didn’t really care, and Tessa and I hadn’t exactly had time to discuss it.
Tessa, on the other hand, seemed to care immensely. “Do you want to go first?” she asked, her pitch rising.
“I don’t ca?—”
“I guess you could go first,” she said before I could get my words out, though she sounded wholly uncertain.
“Great,” Janet said, ignoring Tessa’s tone entirely. “I’ll announce Grant first.”
I touched Janet’s shoulder to pause her, and her shoulder pad dented under my fingers. “Wait, please. Tessa and I need to discuss this.”
Impatience was written in every line of Janet’s face. “We really need to get started,” she complained.
“Give us a minute, please,” I replied coolly. It was a tone I seldom used, the kind attendings used to speak to residents, a clear reminder that we were not equals.
“Quickly, please,” Janet replied curtly, but she walked away and left us alone.
“You’re going to make Janet angry,” Tessa hissed.
“That’s not my intention, but she works for us, not the other way around.”
Tessa rolled her eyes. “You still shouldn’t talk to people like that.”
“Tessa,” I said, cutting off what I worried was a longer lecture about my tone, “Would you rather do your speech first? Because I can do whatever you want.” My eyes darted down to her lips as I spoke and Tessa’s tongue darted out to wet them, pulling the bottom one between her teeth.
“Is your speech funny?” she asked, her brow pinching.
I squinted, visualizing the speech in my head, words neatly typed on the page. “I don’t think so, but I tend to be a bad judge of that,” I acknowledged.
Tessa groaned, and on impulse I reached out to cup her cheek. Her eyes widened and she pulled in a single, ragged breath that lifted her chest in my periphery. And then, just as quickly, the bubble seemed to pop, and she remembered where she was with a start, pulling away from my touch and eyeing her sisters’ backs furtively. She needn’t worry, though, because the entire wedding was preoccupied clinking their glasses once again. “I’ll talk first, because if yours is a heartfelt speech I’m not following it.”
I slipped the paper out of my inside pocket, frowning down at it, feeling nervous for the first time all evening. Tessa was a smart woman, and if she thought my speech was going to be bad, perhaps she was right. I had never been able to predict what other people would like.
A quiet chuckle drew my eyes back to hers. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look nervous. You okay?” she asked.
“Forgive me if I’m a little thrown after you said my speech was going to be terrible,” I replied dryly.
“I didn’t—” Tessa’s words were cut off by Janet, who’d stepped into our conversation once more.
“Did we decide?” Janet asked impatiently, as if we were problematic children to be dealt with. I was growing tired of Janet.
“I’m going first,” Tessa said firmly, then reached out and touched my wrist as she said, “because Grant will probably have a really good speech that will move people, and I don’t want to follow that.”
“I probably won’t,” I admitted, but Tessa was already being ushered away by Janet, who was handing her a microphone. Tess grinned at me wanly, looking rather like she wanted to throw up, even as she was trying to encourage me.
Dammit. Tessa wasn’t just beautiful. I liked the woman. She appeared quiet, but I could remember countless parties and barbecues where she stood on the outskirts, dropping tiny, whispered jokes. I hadn’t sought her out at those parties, but I’d always liked the moments I found myself in her company.
She was already speaking, I realized, when the first laugh came, and I followed Janet’s trail, looping around the table to get a better view. Whatever nerves Tessa had felt were gone from her face, replaced by a tilted grin as she shot loving barbs at her little sister. Next to her, Nora smiled widely.
Free-spirited Nora was undeniably beautiful, but at eight years younger than me, she’d always seemed like a child. She still did, if I were honest, just as Ethan did, and I wasn’t sure if that meant they’d make a lasting couple or divorce in a year’s time. I’d deftly avoided any sort of conjecture in my speech.
My eyes drifted back to Tessa. I’d always thought of her as young like Nora, but she wasn’t. Claire and Emily were close to my age, but Tess couldn’t have been too much younger than them. Nora and Ethan were only just graduating from college, but Tessa had been a teacher at the local elementary school since before I came home to work with Dad. That meant she was certainly in her late twenties. And although four or five years difference felt astronomical when you’re a kid, it wasn’t so different in your twenties and thirties, was it?
Tessa finished talking and I applauded, realizing I’d missed nearly everything she said, but she was smiling wide and genuine and beautiful, and I smiled in return as I was announced and her eyes met mine. Then I made my way to stand next to Ethan and pulled out my speech.