Jem
I was actually quite nervous about turning up at Ethan’s wedding even though Benny insists that it was Ethan’s suggestion for me to come along. Apparently Ally wants to meet me too, so here I am at my ex-best friend’s wedding.
We’re waiting for the bride who’s conveniently late; there are murmurs among the guests about pushing ‘fashionably late’ too far.
Ethan’s starting to look really panicked and his gaze lingers on the door for far too long. He hasn’t changed much, his facial features have become more defined and he has definitely bulked up a little more. I’m genuinely proud of him, he looks very handsome.
I’m about to stand up and resume my position as his best friend by muttering a few reassuring words to him but then the doors he had been staring at burst open and to everyone’s amusement and horror, the bride comes hurtling through… in the arms of another man.
I don’t see his face but note her broken heel and stifle a laugh at the situation; this was definitely something I’d never seen before, not even in the soap operas. I sit back down and smooth down my dress as I do so.
Mitch raises a brow at me questioningly, ‘I’m almost glad you dragged me along,’ he smirks into my hair.
We hear a woman behind us rasp the words, ‘Damn that was hot,’ and Mitch cleverly disguises his laughter as a cough.
‘Mitch don’t you dare get me started,’ I say, smiling.
The ceremony has already started and I look around at the other guests, trying to find Sam among them.
‘Didn’t your brother come?’ I ask Mitch, he simply shrugs in response.
I catch the eye of the man who brought the bride in, his cheeks are red from the effort and his tie is loose around his neck. He’s staring at Mitch and me with a look of both disbelief and relief on his face.
‘Dear God, I think that guy likes me, he’s been looking at me far too long,’ Mitch mutters as he watches the man from his peripheral vision, ‘why do I always attract men?’
I don’t tell Mitch that in my opinion, the man is far too good looking to be gay or that no gay man who wear that tie with that shirt, I let him flatter himself by letting him believe that even men wanted him.
‘Put your arm around me,’ I whisper, even I was starting to feel uncomfortable.
Mitch raises an eyebrow at me again, and I nudge him with my knee, ‘so he knows you’re off limits,’ I suggest, hoping that the man would look away. He does, his face burns red again when he realises that he was caught staring.
‘He is kind of cute,’ Mitch whispers a while later and I smile.
Mitch has changed a lot since we were in school together. We wound up in the same classes at university and at first I was disgusted, I didn’t want to have to talk to him but one day he approached me after seminars.
‘You’re Jem, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, you’re Sam’s bully brother.’
He looked slightly taken aback by my bitter tone, ‘hard not to be with a saint like Sam for a brother, but hey, give a guy a chance, I’m a changed man,’
At first I didn’t believe him but one day, a few months into the academic year, an older student had been hassling me for my number and Mitch had stepped in to defend my honour.
He’s not as bad as I first thought he was, he’s much nicer, he is now anyway.
Hours later, the after-party is still going strong and my ride home has disappeared.
The guy from earlier keeps looking at me every few seconds, I feel like wandering over to him and telling him to keep his eyes to himself but I can’t. He’s not looking at me in a perverse way, and he looks more nervous than I feel. He’s tall, clean shaven and judging by the looks I was getting from one of the bridesmaids, a total chick magnet.
I keep my eyes to myself but I know the bridesmaid is watching me as she gorges on cake, I wouldn’t even be surprised if some of that cake was pelted in my direction.
He’s holding a baby in his arms, an adorable little girl. I wonder if she’s his, they share the same good looks but she’s got a different nose, probably her mother’s.
Suddenly the baby gives a small squeal and bursts into tears; he tries tickling the child, stands up and walks around to no avail. She doesn’t stop crying.
I watch for a while until she becomes near hysterical and find myself interrupting as he tries to silence her.
I offer to take her off him and he’s more than willing, I take her to the garden and hope the fresh air will work as well as I hope.
He follows me and watches as I try calming her and soon enough, she quietens down.
‘She was probably too hot inside,’ I tell him as I smile at the child.
She smiles back and then gives a small giggle when I blow a raspberry on her cheek. She looks at him as if asking for approval before turning back to me and touching my face carefully.
‘She’s beautiful, is she yours?’ I ask and wonder where her mother is.
He shakes his head, ‘nope, she’s my niece actually.’
‘Oh, I see. No wonder you’re so clueless,’ I laugh and he joins in.
‘She’s… nappy… sleep…’ he mumbles and I wonder what he just said. I nod and pretend I understood and turn my attention back to the baby.
‘I’ve got no idea what I just said,’ he admits and I stifle a laugh.
‘What’s her name?’
‘Lilia, but we call her Lily. She’s named after my mum actually,’
‘A pretty name for a pretty baby,’ I coo as I tickle her chin.
‘What’s your name?’ He asks awkwardly, I didn’t even think you could ask someone’s name and be awkward about it.
‘Jem, not a very interesting name,’
‘I beg to differ,’
I’ve got no idea how to reply to that so I ask him his name instead.
‘I’m T-’
Someone calls from inside, bellowing his name from somewhere in the house, ‘Cole! Your sister’s here to take Lily home!’
He looks from the garden door to me and says, ‘Cole, my name is Cole.’
I tell him it’s nice to meet him and he tells me the honour is all his, charming.
He reaches for Lily and we find that she’s asleep in my arms, her own arms wrapped around my neck.
He comes uncomfortably close to me and even seems sorry for it, he’s close enough to smell my perfume. He doesn’t make eye contact with me and focuses on Lily instead. His hands brush mine and I pray that he doesn’t notice that I’m getting all flustered. I’m attracted to him, I already knew that, but I didn’t want him to know too.
As soon as he’s got Lily back in his arms, she wakes up and stares sadly at me.
‘Pity she has to go, I was just getting attached,’ I say, as I wave goodbye.
He smiles politely and whispers, ‘you’re not the only one.’
I look up sharply but his gaze has been averted and he’s looking at Lily again and gently nuzzling her forehead.
‘C’mon then, let’s get you back to your mum before she gets hysterical.’
I laugh and follow him back into the house where Mitch bounds down the stairs, gasping for breath.
‘That bridesmaid, she’s psychotic. Let’s get out of here!’ He grabs my arm and yanks me out towards the exit. I almost don’t want to go; the party was just getting interesting.
Cole glances back at the two of us and his gaze drops down to Mitch’s hand on my arm.
‘Where’s Sam? Doesn’t he need a ride too?’ I ask, stalling for time, acting like those precious few seconds would even matter.
Mitch claps his hand to his forehead, ‘you look for him inside, and I’ll be waiting outside!’
I nod and walk into the living room in search of Sam. He’s nowhere in sight but the groom steps away from the mass of people dancing in the middle of the room.
‘Jem, wait up!’ He calls before bounding towards me, he takes the last few steps tentatively as though I were a deer he was afraid of scaring away.
‘Got time for a dance?’ he asks, pointing his thumb towards the middle of the room.
‘Mitch wants to leave actually,’ I shrug and smile at the same time to show Ethan that there are no hard feelings, ‘some other time.’
'Before I go,' I say slowly, before pulling out a small package from my bag, I hand it over to him, 'it's your stupid football scarf. The one you left behind all those years ago, when you moved away.' I lean in and give him a hug, 'I'll see you soon.'
‘I thought I lost that, but thank you. Can’t you stay, Jem?’
‘I…’ I’m sure he’s just asking to be polite. Someone pats me on the back and I turn to see Benny, he asks me if I’ve seen someone called Brenda. She stole his tie.
‘Ben, tell Jem to stay over, just for the one night.’
‘I can’t, my ride goes home tonight.’ I say to Ethan, my head facing Benny.
‘I’ll drop you off tomorrow, I’m heading down to mums anyway,’ Benny says before leaving to find Brenda.
‘That’s great!’ Ethan says a little too enthusiastically, ‘we’ve got so much to catch up on and I’ll introduce you to my friends… and Ally too!’
‘Some of us have already been introduced actually,’ a voice calls from behind me and I know its Cole.
My heart starts fluttering before I can stop it, I almost feel stupid for having such a strong reaction to his voice.
We barely know each other.