Page 22

Twenty-Two

Austin’s flight didn’t land until that evening, so Connor and I went to Little Sunflower Bakery with our overloaded backpacks.

But after ordering pumpkin spice lattes (the season was upon us!), we didn’t even crack a textbook.

I told Connor all I knew was that Austin’s groomsmen had surprised him by inviting Samira on the bachelor trip, which ended with her confessing unresolved feelings for him.

“Katie went out of town this weekend, too,” I added, “so Dad’s grabbing Austin and bringing him home. He doesn’t think this conversation is meant to happen outside Terminal B.”

“Where’s Katie?” Connor asked.

“She and Amanda went to visit their cousins in New York.” I thought for a moment.

“It’s funny how whenever one of them goes on a trip, the other leaves Philly, too. Austin came home when Katie went on all those bachelorette trips this summer, and when Austin’s gone, she goes to her parents’ or stays with friends. That’s strange, right?”

Connor shook his head.

“I don’t think so,” he said after a sip of his latte.

“I don’t think they like being apart. They did long distance for what? Five years?”

I shrugged.

“Yeah, so now that they’re finally living together, I bet it’s really tough when one of them is gone. They like being together together. Plus, it doesn’t seem like either person is a fan of being alone.”

Hmm , I thought, chewing some muffin.

Is that why Katie was rude the night before Austin left for Jackson Hole?

Because she was going to miss him so much?

Connor sighed. “I knew this thing with Samira was going to shatter at some point.”

My brows knitted together.

“You did?”

“Haven’t you noticed her staring at Austin when he isn’t looking? It’s like she’s always swallowing a secret when they’re together.”

“Then she should’ve spoken up sooner,” I said, finding myself frustrated with her.

“The wedding is only three months away. She’s had plenty of time.”

Connor was silent for a beat.

“Do you think Austin feels the same way?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t tell Dad much on the phone, but he’s definitely stunned.” I rose from my seat and pointed to the bakery case.

“I’m gonna buy some chocolate-peanut butter cupcakes to bring home.”

They were my brother’s favorite.

***

The vibe was most certainly not romantic when Connor dropped me off later.

Even though he hopped out of his Jeep and ran to open the passenger door for me, always chivalrous.

“Let me know how it goes,” he said as we hugged.

Dad’s Lexus cruised up the driveway around 6:00.

Da and I were ready and waiting in the kitchen.

“Hello!” Dad called when the mudroom door opened.

“We’re home!” He entered the kitchen and mouthed, Buckle up .

Austin looked rough .

He wore an inside-out sweatshirt with old jeans, and under his baseball cap, his hair was matted down with grease.

The stormy sea-colored bags under his eyes told me he hadn’t slept.

“Could I please have some tomato soup and grilled cheese?” he asked.

I opened the oven, where we’d been keeping his sandwiches warm, and Da popped the lid off the pot on the stove.

He ladled thick red soup into a big bowl.

“Thank you.” Austin took a seat at the island, and we watched him eat in silence.

After devouring three grilled cheeses and basically licking his soup bowl clean, he said he was going to take a shower.

“Then I’ll tell you everything,” he said.

Half an hour later, we congregated in the family room with the cupcakes.

“Okay, so what happened?” I not-so-delicately asked when no one said anything.

Dad and Da shot me sharp looks.

“You can’t let me enjoy my cupcake first?” Austin laughed, but it sounded hollow.

He took one final colossal bite, swallowed, then spoke.

“It started out great. No one’s flight was delayed, we hung out at the cabin until they surprised me with Sam, and then we hit some bars in town…”

He summarized their adventures on Saturday, right down to cooking the fish they’d caught for dinner.

It couldn’t have been more different than Katie’s Last Splash.

Until.

“Earlier in the day, Wit and Sam struck a deal that whoever caught the least fish had to camp out in a tent that night. And well…” He sighed.

“I’m embarrassed to say that ended up being me.” He gave us a sad smile, as if the fish tally were the most important thing in the world.

“After dinner, I made a big show of setting up the tent while everyone else was around the campfire. We were playing Cards Against Humanity—Wit brought like every expansion pack in existence—and the s’mores stuff was long gone, so someone broke out the beer, bourbon, and even fucking Fireball.” He groaned.

“Full-on drinking.”

“Were you drinking?” Da asked.

Austin shook his head.

“I did a celebratory shot on Friday night, but no. I stuck to nonalcoholic beer on Saturday.”

We nodded.

Austin described nonalcoholic beer as “juiced bread,” but I knew it made him feel included among his friends.

“Things were rowdy,” he continued, “but not too rowdy. We were having a great time. Then Katie called around midnight, so I went up to the cabin to talk to her for about an hour.”

An hour?

They’d talked for an hour ?

Even though Austin was on his bachelor trip?

But then I remembered Katie disappearing for a while our first night on Seneca Lake, and realized she’d probably been in her room on the phone with Austin.

Connor’s right , I thought, shifting on the couch.

They really don’t like being apart.

“Wit was the only one who wasn’t plastered when I came back out,” Austin said.

“Sam was…” He trailed off.

“Sam was drinking the Fireball straight from the handle. Wit helped her inside when we called it a night. They went into the house while I retired to my tent.”

“Then what happened?” I gently prompted after he was quiet for a while.

Austin ran a hand through his hair.

“I texted Kates that I loved her, but before I fell asleep, I heard footsteps and someone say my name. It was Sam, so I unzipped my tent and saw that she’d brought out a sleeping bag. She didn’t want me to be alone.”

Dad, Da, and I all leaned forward in our seats.

Keep going , I thought, my heart pounding.

Keep going, keep going!

He did. He said that he’d welcomed Samira into his tent because she was still super drunk and he didn’t want her to hurt herself walking back up to the cabin in the dark.

And then they talked.

They talked about middle school field trips, being voted “Cutest Couple” in high school, and breaking up at Johns Hopkins.

They talked about their friendship…

and Samira talked about how she wanted it to be more .

“I didn’t get what she was saying at first,” Austin said.

“She just said, ‘I love you, Austin,’ and I thought she meant it in the normal best-friend way, so I told her I loved her, too.”

“Alright, that’s not terrible,” Da said.

“You can always—”

“Lee.” Dad put a hand on Da’s knee.

“Let him finish.”

My insides twisted as Austin took a breath.

“After I said I loved her, she asked me to run away with her. Leave Katie and be with her.”

“How did you respond?” Da asked carefully.

“I told her I loved her again,” he said, growing frazzled.

“I didn’t know what else to say! She was snoring ten seconds later, so I thought things would be okay. I thought she’d forget the whole conversation.” He groaned.

“But I knew I had to ask for the truth when she sobered up. Otherwise, it would eat me alive—it was already eating me alive. I didn’t sleep at all.”

He said he’d left the tent before Samira woke up to make breakfast, and he’d gotten her alone on the deck later.

She’d surprisingly remembered her confession and told him she meant every word.

Austin was the love of her life.

She wanted him to call off the wedding—

“And what did you say?!” I blurted.

“Nothing,” he answered.

“I said absolutely fucking nothing . I stood there, and when it was clear I didn’t have the guts to say anything, she avoided me the rest of the trip.” He held up his phone.

“She sent me a text at the airport, saying that she’d give me time to think, but asked me not to contact her until I had an answer.” He exhaled.

“That’s it. That’s all she wrote.”

Dad covered my mouth with his hand when I opened it again.

“Okay, now that we have all the information,” Da said, “let’s just sit here and breathe before we unpack it…”

The devious, diabolical, downright villainous part of me thought, If there’s ever a time to talk him out of marrying Katie, this is it.

But then the rest of me wondered: Is that what I really want?

We weren’t on the best of terms now, but Austin looked heartsick, and I realized that deep down, I wanted to apologize to Katie for our bachelorette weekend blowup.

Maybe that meant something.

“First thing’s first.” Dad folded his hands together.

“What does Katie know?”

“Nothing,” Austin said.

“Just that my plane landed and I’m here. She’s on the train home from New York now.”

“Are you going to tell her?” I asked.

“Well, that depends on what he decides,” Da said before my brother could.

“If he wants to be with Samira, then he’ll have no choice but to tell Katie.”

Austin cocked his head, suddenly looking at us like we were strangers.

“I’m not choosing Sam,” he said, an edge to his voice.

“What makes you think I’d ever leave Katie for her?”

“Because you and Samira are best friends,” I answered.

“And for the last several months, all you and she have been saying is that best friends make for the best romance.” I quoted Samira.

“You should be with the person you never stop laughing with, the person who always has your back, the person who knows you inside and out.” I held up my hands.

“When I told you about my crush on Connor, you and Samira both thought it was amazing that my best friend might become my favorite person .”

I tried to ignore the ache in my rib cage, remembering Marco calling me his favorite person this summer.

Austin shook his head.

“Sam isn’t my favorite person, guys.” He shrugged.

“I thought she was once, but we are just best friends.” He paused.

“We share this unbreakable bond, and while it was romantic at times, it wasn’t meant to stay that way forever. Timing ideal or not ideal, we would’ve been together if it were written in the stars.” He paused.

“If I ever thought of Sam while Katie and I were long distance in college, it was because I missed Kates so much, not because I still had feelings for Sam.” He shook his head.

“There was nothing like picking up Katie from the airport when she visited for the weekend, with her overstuffed tote bag and pink rolling suitcase. Or when I went to Hamilton—she, Meredith, and Yasmin always met me outside baggage claim. They screamed my name and waved around the most obnoxious welcome sign. No matter where we were, Maryland or New York, I felt like I was coming home.” Austin made eye contact with me.

“Does that make more sense?”

Yes , I thought, feeling a tight twist of sadness.

But it doesn’t explain why Katie is so special.

I still don’t understand what makes her so special.

Special enough that he really wouldn’t give things with Samira a true shot.

Austin half read my mind.

“Mads, you know how I met Katie.”

“Yeah, you used your fake ID to get into Triumph and went up to her at the bar to work whatever magic I still don’t totally believe you have on her.”

Dad and Da chuckled before Austin spoke.

“We talked for a bit. She was quiet at first, so I couldn’t quite tell if she was interested, but after I made her laugh, I offered to buy her a drink. She nodded and told the bartender—who’d made me a soda with lime earlier—that she wanted exactly what I was drinking.” He let out a long breath, like he had disappeared into the memory.

“I got really nervous then, because I knew she was expecting vodka or tequila. It looked like I was drinking one or the other, and I thought she’d be turned off when she discovered it was neither . I’m not embarrassed by my sobriety, but I did get teased about it now and again.”

Da leaned forward in his chair.

“Who teased you?”

Austin shrugged, as if to say it didn’t matter.

“But Katie showed no surprise when the bartender raised the soda nozzle and filled her glass and added the lime. She just took a sip, smiled at me, and said, ‘This is really refreshing.’” He shrugged.

“I knew right then and there. I knew this girl was special, and that the clock had finally chimed—the timing was right. Nothing was in the way of me falling in love with her. I didn’t see how anything could get in the way of falling in love with her.” He smiled to himself.

“Katie has this irresistible quality of making me feel like I can take on the world, and she’s the best partner and teammate, always right there with me. I love how we build each other up.” He paused.

“Did I ever tell you about the time she surprised me at Hopkins junior year?”

I shook my head.

“She showed up at my door out of the blue, with tomato soup and grilled cheese, when she should’ve been leaving for the DR with Mer and Yasmin. She was on spring break, but knew I had midterms.” He laughed.

“Funnily enough, I’d arranged for flowers and champagne in her hotel room…” He trailed off.

“She’s my favorite person who has also become my best friend.”

A lump formed in my throat.

I hadn’t known any of this.

We knew that Katie was supportive of Austin’s drinking habits (or lack thereof), and despite the fact that she could drink a bottle of rosé with a straw, I remembered she and Austin didn’t keep any alcohol in their apartment.

And she skipped her vacation?

!

“I think Samira is the coolest person on the planet,” I said.

“If I didn’t have all these totally unbiased people”—I gestured around the room—“telling me I was an icon, I’d aspire to be her when I grew up.”

My family laughed.

“If I’m being honest, I still don’t know Katie as well yet,” I continued.

“But I do know you, and if you say she’s your favorite person…” I shrugged.

“There’s no contest. I understand, and I support you to the moon and back.”

Because I did.

Austin loved Katie; he wanted to marry Katie.

I just wish I’d known these stories earlier.

Maybe then I wouldn’t have misjudged Katie so badly.

She was deeply in love with my brother, and with such unconditional support, I could see why Austin loved her back.

“And she’s really cute,” Austin added, starry-eyed.

“You should see her in—”

“Okay!” Dad interrupted, smiling.

“We get the picture, kid.”

***

“He’s not going to tell her,” I told Connor.

We were waiting in the Chick-fil-A drive-through line after football and field hockey practice.

It was a gridlock, packed with soccer moms in loaded SUVs and minivans.

“He doesn’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Interesting,” Connor said.

“Because, from my extensive movie-watching experience, when this type of thing happens, the secrecy almost always sets off a bomb, and we learn that honesty is the best policy.”

“I know, I know,” I agreed.

“But Austin wants to try to save his friendship with Samira, and the chances of that are pretty low if Katie knows all.”

“Katie still hates Samira, huh?”

“Technically, yes,” I said.

“Though I have a theory she’s actually intimidated by Samira; she doesn’t hate her.” I paused.

“Although she would definitely hate her if she found out what happened this weekend…”

We pulled up to the drive-through window, and while Connor placed our massive order, I snapped a photo of him; he looked cute in profile, with his postpractice unkempt hair and flushed face.

I loved that he was wearing a PENN FIELD HOCKEY T-shirt.

It had warmed my heart after he’d first shown it to me.

I smiled at the picture before posting it on my Instagram story.

By the time we’d rounded the curve to the pickup window, the bridesmaid chat had blown up with messages.

Aww!!! Yasmin had texted with a screenshot of my story.

He’s hot and cute at the same time , Reese texted.

You guys… Amanda wrote with heart-eye emojis.

Childhood-friends-to-lovers trope for the win!

Paige said.

Katie hearted the screenshot, and then so did Meredith.

They weren’t remotely in the same place, but I pictured them sitting together at a coffee shop.

I wondered if Meredith knew Katie had dispatched Marco to chaperone my dates.

She couldn’t have, right?

Too hungry to wait until we got home, Connor parked and we ate our food in the car.

“I’m not convinced it’s the right call,” Connor said through a mouthful of fries.

“Katie should know.”

“Well, I trust Austin,” I replied.

“He said if his gut tells him to change his mind, he’ll follow it. I think it’s valid for him to keep it close to the vest for a bit.” I glanced at Connor and laughed.

There was a smear of Polynesian sauce above his upper lip.

“Hold on, you’ve got…” I reached over to wipe away the red sauce.

Connor stared at me as I licked its sweetness off my fingertip.

“Mads…”

I snorted.

“What?”

An odd expression crossed his face, but a blink later, he was laughing with me.

“Maybe honey mustard is more my color?”

It wasn’t until he dropped me home that I realized that might’ve been a perfect moment for our first kiss.

It also didn’t strike me until I sent him a good-night text later that neither of us had lingered after our hug goodbye.

“See ya!” we’d said simultaneously, so in sync.

When is the romance coming? I wondered.