Which was exactly what I wanted.
“Fair. Is she coming over tonight?”
“No.” I scowled as a car cut me up. Xander flipped them off without missing a beat. “She’s in Manchester for work.”
“That sucks. When will I meet her?”
“You seem awfully keen,” I teased. “Do I need to be concerned?”
“Fuck no.” Xander laughed. “But I’ve got to make sure she’s good enough for my bestie.”
“Bestie,” I parroted back mockingly. “Are sailors known for talking like preteen girls?”
“Fuck off, you prick,” Xander said, demonstrating the speech sailors were truly known for. “You are my bestie, and anyone who has a problem with it can say it to my face.”
I turned to him briefly, deadpan. “I have a problem with it.”
“That’s not fair,” he protested. “I can’t smack you. It wouldn’t be right.”
I smirked. “Looks like those bestie privileges are coming in clutch.”
“Now who’s talking like a preteen girl?”
When our laughter faded away, Xander went back to our previous topic. “Seriously though, when do I get to meet her?”
“At the wedding.” I sighed. “It’s not how I wanted it to happen, but that’s how it’s worked out.”
“But that’s ages away.”
Something twanged in my chest at the reminder. “Yeah. Tell me about it.”
“Ah.” Xander caught on to something in my tone. “So I’m guessing you won’t be seeing her either…and you’re not happy about it.”
“It’s not that I’m annoyed or anything, it’s just…” I trailed off as I wrestled with how much to reveal.
“Hey.” A finger poked my cheek. “This is me. Safe space, remember? Spill your shit.”
Xander was right. There was no judgement here. “I feel like I’ve barely seen her the last few weeks. When I have seen her, it hasn’t been alone. And yeah, we’re both busy with work, but aren’t we meant towantto spend time together? It’s one thing to not sleep together before the wedding, but to not evenseeeach other? Isn’t that fucked up?”
“Does Kate see it that way? Is she bothered by it?”
“No.” I laughed bitterly. “The opposite. She thinks it’ll be ‘romantic.’ ‘A little break before we get married.’” Xander was silent. I glanced over at him to see him studying me closely. “It’s weird, right?”
“I mean, yeah. If I was about to get married to my soulmate, wild horses couldn’t keep me away from them.”
I winced as he said ‘soulmate.’Please don’t let him have noticed that.
Naturally, I wasn’t that lucky. “Ryan, please tell me she’s your soulmate.”
“Do people have soulmates?” I said vaguely. “I’m not sure I believe in those. One person for you out of the billions of people in the world? Nah. The odds suggest the opposite.”
“Ryan.” He poked me in the bicep this time. Hard. “Tell me you’re head over heels in love with Kate.”
“Of course I am,” I said, flustered.
“Do you love her like you loved Dominic?”
My fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “That’s irrelevant.”