I didn’t ask her to come to the wedding with me though.
I couldn’t ask anyone else to endure being my plus-one at what was both a celebration and a funeral.
A week later, Tripp adjusted his bow tie in the hotel suite. “What do you think? Am I a handsome devil or what?”
I met his gaze in the mirror. “I’m not going to answer that.”
“C’mon, don’t I look good?”
“Yeah, jackass. Like a penguin.”
He smacked my back, laughing. “If I look like a penguin, what do you look like?”
I considered my tux, same as his except for the cummerbund. “Best man?”
“You’re like the runner-up penguin.”
I winced inside. He had no idea. “Let’s stick with best man.”
He smiled, a big, genuine one. “All right. Time to go marry the love of my fucking life.” He turned to me, tugging on his cuffs even though they were neat, his smile slipping away. “You know Lulu is the best thing that ever happened to me, right?”
My heart lurched. In moments like this, Tripp was my brother, shedding all his lightness, all his masks. “I know that, man.”
“I love her like crazy.”
“I know you do.”
“She’s the only thing in my life that’s made sense. Well, besides cooking. But you know what I mean?”
He was talking about his family. “I know what you mean.”
He stepped closer, emotion straining his voice. “I want to do right by her. My whole life.”
The guilt lassoed my waist, yanking tighter. But I’d done nothing wrong by loving her. I’d never acted on it. I shouldn’t feel so much damn guilt. Just be his friend, like you’ve always been, I told myself. “You will, Tripp. You will.”
“You really think I’m good enough for her?”
“She said yes to you. She loves you. Go make her happy.”
He exhaled deeply. “She makes me so happy.”
We left the suite and headed to the small ballroom where a justice of the peace waited.
I entered with him, the knot twisting and turning in me like a tornado.
Best man, best man.
I needed to behave like the best man.
And the best man should not be madly in love with the bride.
When Pachelbel’s Canon in D played, the attendees rose, all eyes on the woman in white as she walked down the aisle to marry my best friend.
I knew it would hurt.
I wasn’t prepared, though, for how sharply it would sting when I finally raised my gaze. It was like my insides were being excavated as I watched Lulu, radiant in a strapless dress that showed off delicate shoulders I wanted to kiss in another lifetime. She walked down the aisle beaming, her mother’s arm in hers, the way she had wanted.
Her eyes stayed on the groom. Never wavering.
He never wavered either.
Thank God all eyes were on them. No one was looking at the best man. In case anyone did, I schooled my expression so the emotions would read like pride and joy, rather than one last fleeting wish that she was walking to me.
When she joined him, he smiled and whispered, “You look so pretty.”
He was wrong though. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
And never more so than when she pledged to love him till death do us part.
I took my own vow that day. No matter what, I had to get over her. There were no runners-up in love.
12LULU
Present Day
The next evening I’m practically bouncing off the walls, prepping for the scavenger hunt. The level of fired up I feel might be off the charts. I text Leo.
Lulu: I’m stretching.
Leo: I’m listening to an audiobook on the wonders of Brazil. But I’ll bite. Why are you stretching?
Lulu: It’s prep work for the hunt. Did you know I’m completely determined to take home the prize?
Leo: I had a feeling you were. And so you anticipate needing to stay flexible while engaged in a team-building Easter-egg-of-sorts hunt?
Lulu: You never know what hoops we might need to jump through! My friend Mariana told me her law firm tried team building once, and the big boss threw all sorts of unexpected stuff their way.
Leo: Such as?
Lulu: He made them do things together. Like have meals. And discuss their feelings. Gag.
Leo: Sounds horrendous.
Lulu: They’re lawyers, so you can imagine how well that went.
Leo: As well as finding a parking place in the theater district on a Saturday night?
