Something Borrowed (18 page)

As I turned away from the happy couple, the crowd parted and I spotted Kwan, the hot guy from Teresa's barn. I hadn't seen him at all during the ceremony, and he must have skipped the receiving line. Now I felt a little jolt at the sight of him. If he'd been handsome in riding breeches, he was downright stunning in formalwear. He was
standing alone on the other side of the dance floor watching the swaying couples.

My bummed-out mood passed instantly. Andy who? Maybe this was fate working for me again. . . .

Just then Jason appeared at my shoulder. “Wow, that uncle of yours can talk.” He looked out at the dance floor and raised an eyebrow. “Hey, isn't that one of your many boyfriends out there slobbering all over that chick?”

“Is it? I hadn't noticed. Well, if you'll excuse me . . .” I hurried off in Kwan's direction.

I should have known I wouldn't get away that easily. Jason kept step beside me. “So what do you want to do now, my little datey-date?” he asked with a smirk.

I gritted my teeth. How could Teresa ever have fallen for someone so
obnoxious
?

Jason stuck to me like glue for the next hour and a half. Part of the time he had an excuse, since we were seated together for dinner. But there was no good reason he had to follow me to the bar in search of a lemon slice for my iced tea. Or stand there with a hand on my arm while Camille and Boring Bob cut the cake. Or insert himself into every conversation I had with a friend or relative.

Finally I had to resort to the ladies' room trick again to lose him. I excused myself, leaving Jason chatting with my aunt Hazel, and hurried off in search of Kwan.

I found him standing by himself near the bar. “Oh, hi, Kwan!” I said, feigning
surprise. “Remember me, Ava? We met at the barn last week.”

“Of course.” He smiled and seemed genuinely glad to see me. “You looked great up there earlier.” He waved vaguely at the Pink Horror to indicate my maid-of-honor role.

“Thanks. So are you having fun?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “It's a great party. I just wish I knew more people.” He laughed sheepishly. “My date ditched me to go line-dance with her friends, so here I am.”

I glanced over at the dance floor. Kwan's date, Ashley Weiss, was there among a giggling group of girls her age. The line dance they were doing didn't really match the song the band was playing, but they didn't seem to mind.

“Well, don't worry,” I told Kwan. “I'm here to rescue you from boredom and loneliness.”

He laughed. “That's nice of you,” he said. “I hope your boyfriend doesn't mind.”

“My boyfriend?” I shook my head quickly. “No, no. You mean the guy I'm here with? He's just a friend. Actually, he's Teresa's boyfriend.”

“Really?”

I swallowed back a sigh. Why did everyone look so surprised when I told them that? Hadn't a girl ever borrowed her friend's guy before?

“See, since Teresa is away, we decided—”

“Ava!”

I couldn't believe it. It was Jason—again.

He sauntered up to us, grinning. “Hey, I thought you were going to the little girls' room,” he said. “You weren't just trying to ditch me, were you?”

“Not at all,” I said through clenched teeth, doing my best to sound pleasant for Kwan's sake. “I just stopped to say hi to someone on the way.”

Jason turned and stuck out his hand to Kwan. “Hi,” he said. “I'm Jason.”

I left the two of them getting acquainted and dashed for the ladies' room—for real this time. I needed time to cool off. When was Jason going to get tired of this annoying little game?

When I emerged from the ladies' room a few minutes later, Jason was loitering around just outside. There was no sign of Kwan.

“Where'd he go?” I asked, glancing around.

“Who, you mean that dude Kwan?” Jason nodded toward the French doors a little way away. “He went outside.”

“Outside?”

“Yeah. Something about having a smoke.” Jason pursed his lips and took an imaginary toke. “And I don't think he's into cigarettes, if you know what I mean.”

I was surprised and a little disappointed. My mind immediately flashed to Andy and his crazy cannabis habit back in high school. What was it with me being attracted to guys who liked to get high?

Still, I reminded myself, just because Kwan might have a smoke once in a while, that didn't mean he was as into it as Andy had been back then. I would just have to get to know him better and see what was what.

Just then Kwan himself appeared in the doorway. “Hey,” he greeted me and Jason with a smile. “Nice gardens. Those big red roses just outside smell great.”

“Really?” I said with what I hoped was a cool, playful smirk. “Great enough to cover a certain—you know—smell?” I mimed a toke, just as Jason had a moment earlier.

“Huh?” Kwan blinked at me.

“It's okay.” I shrugged. “I'm not going
to, like, narc you out to my sister or anything. I know this wedding is probably kind of a drag if you don't know anyone—I don't blame you for wanting to take the edge off, you know?” I took another imaginary drag and winked at him.

He scowled. “Wait a minute,” he said. “Are you accusing me of something?”

“Accusing? No!” I said quickly. He looked kind of insulted. “Like I said, it's no big deal. I mean, I'm not into that stuff myself, but I know lots of people who get stoned once in a—”

“Stoned?” he exclaimed, interrupting me. “Are you kidding? I don't touch that stuff!”

“Okay, okay,” I said. “Sorry, I was just joking around.”

“Who do you think I am, anyway?” he cried, his face darkening with anger. “I'm a serious athlete, you know—I don't do
anything
that might jeopardize my fitness or my focus, not to mention my horse. I mean, I want to make it to the Olympics someday!”

“I'm sorry,” I said when he paused for breath. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Jason was smirking, and I realized I'd been had. When would I ever learn? “Kwan, really, I didn't mean . . .”

But it was too late. He was already stalking off without a backward glance.

I rounded on Jason. “Gee, thanks a lot!” I cried. “Thanks to you, he'll probably never speak to me again, now that I practically accused him of sneaking out to get high!”

“Oops!” Jason said mildly. “Guess your sense of humor is a little off tonight.” He shrugged and glanced after Kwan. “And obviously that poor guy doesn't have one at all.”

He shoved both hands into his pants pockets, then turned and wandered off toward the bar. Feeling red-hot anger flushing my cheeks, I stomped after him.

“Hey!” I yelled, more furious with him than I'd ever been. I grabbed his arm, digging my fingers into his flesh through his jacket sleeve. “What's your problem, anyway?”

He yanked his arm away and turned to face me. “What's
my
problem?
You're
the one who's yelling.” He glanced at the people around us. “How about keeping your voice down?”

“How about
not
telling me what to do, you immature jerk?” I clenched my fists at my side, not caring who was listening. “You
make me crazy, you know that, Jason? I mean, every time I start thinking that maybe, just
maybe
there might be a nice guy in there behind that smirk somewhere, you go and do something like this.”

“Easy . . . ,” he murmured, glancing around again.

So he was embarrassed? Good!

“How can you be such a jerk?” I exclaimed. “First you make fun of me for wanting a nice date for this wedding, and now this. I always figured you were just kidding around all those times you'd tease me or whatever. But now? Well, now I'm starting to think you're just a mean person.”

By now, people nearby were definitely staring, but I didn't care. Jason had embarrassed me enough times—let him get a taste of his own medicine for once!

His smirk was totally gone by now. “Look, let's take this outside,” he mumbled. He grabbed my hand and yanked me toward the nearest door. I tried to drag my heels, but ended up stumbling over them instead. Stupid three-inch pumps . . .

A moment later we were out in the garden, standing on the little cobblestone walk that looped around through the roses. We
were beneath the arbor that framed the French doors. Big, poufy dark-red blossoms drooped overhead, releasing their musky scent into the breezy evening air.

But I hardly noticed any of that. I was still totally focused on hating Jason.

“Fine,” I said. “I guess you don't want witnesses when I tell you exactly what I think of you, huh? No wonder—if I was a huge jerkwad like you, I wouldn't want anyone to know it either.”

“Look, Ava,” he said. “I was just kidding around. You know me, I—”

“Yes, unfortunately, I
do
know you,” I broke in, ready to let him have it. I'd been holding it in for six months, but enough was enough. “I know you're obnoxious, and self-centered, and vain, and probably care more about your stupid hair than you do about anyone, and—”

“You know what?” he interrupted. In the moonlight I could see that he was starting to look kind of annoyed.

“What?” I asked.

He just glared at me for a second. I glared right back at him.

Then he grabbed me by both shoulders—and kissed me!

I was so surprised that it was a moment or two before I realized that I was just standing there kissing him back. Whoa! What was up with that?

My brain finally kicked back into gear and ordered my body to push him away and slap him across the face. Somehow, though, my body didn't seem to be obeying. In fact, it was totally rebelling. My eyes were fluttering shut. My arms were creeping up around his neck. My lips remained locked on his. And what was that? Could it be my heart . . . letting out a
thumpity-thump
?

That finally startled me out of my fog. This was all wrong. I yanked myself loose of his embrace.

“Hey!” I blurted out.

Then I just stared at him for a moment, wondering what exactly had just happened. He stared back at me. His face looked kind of red in the moonlight, and his hair, formerly perfect as usual, was a bit tousled. Somehow, both of those things made him look even cuter than normal.

He was the first to speak. “I've wanted to do that for a long time,” he said.

“Wha-huh?” I replied. I was definitely having trouble taking all this in. “I, uh, you—what?”

He didn't seem to notice I was babbling like an idiot. “I thought you were cute the first time we met,” he said. “More than cute, actually. But I was with Teresa then, so I just ignored those feelings.”

I stared at him. By the way he was looking back at me, I could tell he expected me to say something now. But my brain seemed to be stuck in neutral.

He shrugged and went on. “Anyway, I figured it wasn't meant to be, you know? But then these past couple of weeks, spending so much time with you, I realized that what I was feeling might be too important to ignore, no matter how—you know,
complicated
it might be.” He reached over and took one of my hands in both of his. “I only hope you'll give me a chance . . .”

My head was spinning, and for once I was completely speechless. Staring down at my hand lying limply in his, I tried to figure out what exactly was going on here. Was this another of his weird jokes, like the thing with Kwan?

One look at his face gave me the answer: No way. There was no trace of the Smirk. Only sincerity shining out from his eyes. Could this earnest, adorable guy—who just happened to be an amazing kisser, by the way—really be the same obnoxious Jason I'd loathed for so long?

Or had I really loathed him? Sure, I'd always complained about all his teasing, his little jokes and stupid nicknames. But at the same time, was it possible that I'd enjoyed the attention, even just a teensy little bit? Was I really that junior high?

“Um . . .” I had no idea what to say. I didn't even have any idea how to
feel
. All this time I'd been dismissing Jason as just another Boring Bob type. But now that I thought about it—
really
thought about it—I wasn't sure that was fair. Maybe Jason
didn't have an overwhelming single passion like Lance and his cars, Rocco and his sports, Oliver and his music—whatever. But unlike Bob, who got the sweats if he had to go anywhere more exotic than the mailbox, Jason did seem willing to go out and do things. Lots of things, actually. Like going to see Oliver's band, or that comedy troupe. Going to the beach on impulse all by himself. A last-minute trip through the city on a search for olives and cheesesteaks. Or even taking me to this wedding with pretty much no notice.

I blinked, suddenly realizing that all that made Jason kind of an adventurous, open-minded, impulsive person. Sort of like . . . me.

I realized he was watching me carefully. “What are you thinking?” he asked.

“Just that we have a lot in common,” I managed to choke out. “Or more than I thought we did, anyway.”

He smiled. Squeezing my hand more tightly, he pulled me toward him. Before I quite knew what was happening, we were kissing again.

This time I didn't bother to fight it. Melting into his embrace, I closed my eyes
and just let myself enjoy it. Maybe it was the moonlight, the scent of the roses surrounding us, or the aftereffects of the romantic wedding ceremony, but the moment felt so right that I couldn't help wondering if this was where fate had been leading me all along. All this time I'd been searching for something, for some
one
. . . but maybe the one I was looking for had been right under my nose the whole time. After all, hadn't we ended up here together on this big day, thanks mostly to luck, along with the generosity of . . .