27. Stacey
CHAPTER 27
STACEY
THE NEXT DAY
W e’ve been in the mountains, holed up in a cabin for days, and while it’s been wonderful to have so much time with Cassie before her wedding, I’ve been itching to get her out on the town. She deserves to let loose like the guys are down in Puerto Rico. It looks like they’ve been having a blast from the photos Mitch has been sending me. I love Colorado and I love the mountains in the summer, but I would kill to be sitting on a beach drinking a pi?a colada all day like he has been. So when Cassie finally relented and said she’d be down for a low-key bar in a nearby town, I may have jumped at the chance.
We’re sitting at a booth in the corner of a quiet, somewhat dive-y bar on Main Street. I forced everyone to wear black aside from Cassie, who very begrudgingly wore a white dress and a tiara that says bride. My black jumpsuit is one of my favorite items of clothing, and it reminds me of the jumpsuit I wore the night Mitch and I hooked up for the first time. I reach into my purse to sneak a look at my phone. I’ve tried to be present for Cassie, but I keep finding myself glancing at it to see if I have a message. It’s very weird and very much not like me. Maybe I’m just worried about them being so far away and not being able to speak Spanish? That could be it, right?
I don’t have any messages, but I decide to snap a selfie to send to Mitch anyway. Fuck it, I look good tonight, and no one needs to know who I’m sending it to. My hair is pulled into a high bun and my eye makeup is extra smokey and sexy. It’s exactly the kind of look that I know drives Mitch crazy. I send the photo and follow it up with a text.
Stacey: Finally got Cassie to go out.
Three dots appear and disappear a few times before my phone buzzes.
Mitch: Fuck me, love. You look incredible.
Stacey: What are you guys up to?
A photo of Mitch in a summery button-up and his hat comes through.
Mitch: Gambling away my entire salary at the casino.
Mitch: Just kidding.
Stacey: I hope you’re kidding. I know how much you make. You’d have to be really bad to lose that much in one night.
Mitch: I’m actually doing pretty well tonight. Check your Venmo.
I swipe up to the cash-sharing app and find a two hundred dollar payment from Mitch.
Stacey: What on earth is that for?
Mitch: Drinks are on me tonight.
I can feel myself smiling, but I’ve already had a glass of wine so I can’t stop myself. I probably look like an idiot staring at my phone like some lovestruck teenager right now.
Mitch: I also won enough to take you out to dinner after the wedding’s over, love .
My mind scratches like a broken record. Mitch ... wants to take me out to dinner? Why would he want to do that? And why do I feel ... excited? No, no. That can’t be right. We’re just friends on our best days. What is going on?
Mitch: Only if you want to, of course. I just figured we should celebrate getting through planning the wedding once it’s over.
Well, that does sound nice. But planning the wedding hasn’t felt like something to get through. At least not to me. It’s been weirdly fun, actually. Still, we should celebrate a job well done.
Stacey: That sounds nice. Let’s do it.
Mitch: Great!
I can’t let him think this is a date, though. But what else is it? We’re already fucking, and now we’re going out to dinner.
I’m about to ask if he thinks it’s a date when I realize something. We were working on the seating charts the other day and we both just glazed over the wedding party’s table. The table where all of us, and our potential dates, will be sitting. What if Mitch is bringing someone? What if he’s been sleeping with other people? We never had that conversation, so I can’t be mad at him ... right? So why do I feel like I’m being gutted like a fish right now? I grab my wine and chug the remaining three-quarters of a glass down. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about his answer either way, but something in me needs to know.
Stacey: Also, speaking of the wedding ...
Mitch: What about it?
Stacey: Are you bringing a date?
The dots appear so I wait for another text to come through, my breath hitched in my chest.
Mitch: I didn’t think I needed one.
I type out a reply and start at my phone, finger hovering over the send button. Am I really doing this?
Stacey: Good .
Mitch: Good?
Stacey: Well, you’re already walking me down the aisle. We can just keep that going for the night.
Stacey: If you want.
Dammit. What is it about Mitch Greggs that makes me so goddamn awkward? If this were any other guy, I wouldn’t care. But the problem is, this is Mitch, and I’m not even sure what I want. All I know is that if he rolls up to this wedding with some gorgeous woman who isn’t me on his arm, I’m going to lose my ever-loving shit.
Mitch: Are you asking me to be your wedding date?
I type out three different snarky responses but none of them feel right.
Mitch: Love?
Shit.
Stacey: You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?
Mitch: You know how much I like it when you ask for what you want, love ...
Stacey: Yes, Mitch. I’m asking you to be my wedding date.
Mitch: I’d be honored.
Mitch: You know what this means though ...
Ugh. He’s right. We can’t just show up to Caleb and Cassie’s wedding together without telling them.
Stacey: Yeah. I’ll tell Cassie tonight. She’s drunk enough right now she’ll either not care or make a huge scene. I’ll keep you updated.
Mitch sends a laughing emoji followed by a thumbs up.
Mitch: I’ll tell Caleb too so they know at the same time. He’s been texting her nonstop this whole trip no matter what we say.
Sounds like us, I think.
I finally check back into the booth and try to figure out how to tell Cassie that Mitch is my wedding date. How am I supposed to explain this? She’s in the corner talking to Sarah. Meanwhile, Hazel is just staring at me.
“Who are you texting?” she whispers.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “Hey Cassie?”
She turns to me, a dopey smile on her face. She’s definitely been texting Caleb.
“Quick wedding thing ...” I start. “It’s about the seating arrangements,” I continue.
Come on, Stacey . Just tell her.
“You know I don’t care where people sit,” she says.
“So you won’t mind if Mitch and I sit together then?” I ask, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. But next to me, Hazel coughs up her wine and can’t seem to get control of herself while Cassie stares at me blankly.
“Why would you want to ...” Her eyes go wide. “Oh ... Oh!” She slams her drink down on the table. “Are you serious?!”
“Yes,” I say. I don’t elaborate because I don’t know how to explain how this happened. I barely know what this is yet.
“I can’t believe it worked,” Cassie says, seemingly to herself.
“What worked?” I ask.
“Caleb got this crazy idea that if we forced you guys to work together on the wedding you’d snap and finally go for it,” she says.
“I’d ... snap?” I ask.
“Well, isn’t that what happened?” Hazel says.
I think back to the night of Caleb’s gala. How something just fell over me and I couldn’t take it anymore. The tension was too much. At the time I’d thought that we’d get it out of our systems and that we’d be able to go back to whatever weird frenemies situation we had before. But now here I am, telling Cassie I’m bringing Mitch as my date to her wedding. I guess I did snap .
“I guess so, yeah,” I say. “But listen, this is weird and new and I don’t want anyone making a big thing out of it.”
“You know I won’t if you don’t want me to,” Cassie says. “My fiancé on the other hand ... I have no guarantees.”
She’s right, Caleb is such a romantic, he’s definitely going to make a thing out of this. I pull out my phone to text Mitch.
Stacey: Told Cassie. As expected she’s totally fine. How’d it go with Caleb?
Mitch: He’s ... fine? I mean he drunkenly did a whole monologue about love being beautiful just now but he’s not mad?
I ignore the word love in Mitch’s text as I type out my reply.
Stacey: Caleb’s drunk? Don’t let him do anything stupid, please.
Mitch: This is Caleb we’re talking about.
Mitch: Oh God. He just requested their first dance song in this club.
I let out a little laugh at the thought of Caleb dancing alone to some slow song in a Puerto Rican club. Of course that’s how he’d be when he’s drunk.
Stacey: Are they playing it??
Mitch: The DJ did a remix. It’s actually a bop.
This wine must be hitting me hard because I type out my reply and hit send without thinking.
Stacey: You’re sexy when you dance.
Mitch: Only when you’re around, love.
Stacey: What do you mean? You danced like a Magic Mike star in Miami
Mitch: Exactly.
But that was before we ... Oh. Oh my God.
Stacey: You wanted to fuck me in Miami?
Mitch: Honestly?
I’m not sure I want to know what Mitch is about to say, but the wine seems to, so I type out a quick reply and hit send.
Stacey: Yes, please.
Mitch: I’ve wanted to fuck you for a very long time, love.
This should be news to me. I should be shocked and scared about what it means. But I don’t think it’s actually news, and my heart might be beating a million miles a minute but it’s not because I’m scared. I type out a reply and hit send, this time feeling confident in my response.
Stacey: Me too, Mitch. Me too.