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would ve fogged his glasses had he been wearing them.
Feeling a bit like a fifth wheel, Vaughn took another swig of water while catching his breath. He
stood in the grass along the sidelines, alone, as thousands of people hugged, kissed, and high-fived
their loves ones all around him.
Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.
 I d give you a hug in congratulations, but, man, you are sweaty and kind of funky-looking right
now.
Vaughn grinned at the sound of the voice. Turning around, he was touched to see Simon.  Aren t
you supposed to be in wedding-planning lockdown right now? Although he d told his brother that he
was training for the Chicago Triathlon, he hadn t asked him to come watch the race. Frankly, he d
assumed that Simon would be too busy since the wedding was only six days away.
 Well, apparently, one can apply for a brief furlough from wedding-planning lockdown when
one s brother is racing in a triathlon, Simon said.  How are you feeling?
 A little pissed that I owe Morgan lunch, but otherwise pretty good.
 Mind if I join you guys? Simon asked.
 That d be great, Vaughn said.  Brooke and Addison are coming, too the more the merrier.
Simon followed him back to his place, where Vaughn quickly showered and changed. When they
arrived at O Malley s, Brooke and Cade were already seated at a table for six.
 Let s see . . . what s the most expensive item here? Cade mused, perusing the menu.  I need to
make the most of my free lunch.
Vaughn ignored the jab. He introduced Brooke to Simon, and then gestured to the ring on her
finger.  I hear you re finally going to make an honest man out of Morgan.
She looked at Cade, feigning surprise.  Oh, is that what I agreed to? I just saw a diamond and
shouted  Yes! to having a new piece of jewelry. She turned back to Vaughn.  Oops.
 That s cute, Cade told her.
 So what s your version of the story, Morgan? You never said how you popped the question,
Vaughn said.
 Nothing too crazy. I just made Brooke breakfast that morning. Cade looked at his fiancée, and
they shared an inside smile.  A Denver omelette.
 He had everything all set out when I walked into the kitchen the omelette, coffee, and orange
juice, Brooke explained.  And when I flipped over my coffee cup, there was the ring box, sitting on
the saucer.
From the private way the couple was looking at each other, Vaughn gathered there was more to
this Denver omelette story. But neither of them said anything further.
Huxley and Addison arrived shortly thereafter. Simon asked Vaughn, Cade, and Huxley which part
of the race had been the toughest, and that spawned a long, testosterone-fueled conversation about
how they all could ve kept going for several more miles, that maybe they needed a bigger challenge,
like an Iron Man triathlon, or maybe they needed to try something even more adventurous. Like
climbing Mount Rainier.
 Now you want to climb a mountain? Brooke asked.  Why, exactly?
 Because we can, Cade said, matter-of-factly.
 Oh my God, you are such men, Addison said.
Simon pointed.  Hold on if you three are doing this, I want in, too.
Huxley already had his phone out, Googling what time of year was the best to climb. The
discussion went on from there, with everyone joking and kidding around long after they d finished
their food.
As the rest of the group was leaving the pub, Simon pulled Vaughn aside.  Let s stay for a beer.
Vaughn was instantly suspicious presumably, his brother was supposed to be making a seating
chart right then, or practicing his first dance, or doing something else wedding-related.  Why?
 Do I need a reason to grab a beer with my brother? Simon asked, looking offended.  I m getting
married in six days. I m going to have a baby soon. Who knows how many chances we ll get to hang
out after this, just the two of us?
Hmm. Vaughn remained suspicious, but nevertheless followed his brother to the bar.
They grabbed two seats, and Simon waited all of about five seconds after the bartender slid a
couple of bottles of beer in front of them before getting down to it.
 So. This thing with Sidney, he led in.
Christ. Vaughn shook his head.  I knew it.
Simon tapped his finger emphatically on the bar.  Hey, I m your brother. Something s obviously
been bothering you these past couple weeks, so we re going to talk about it. That s what we do.
 Oh, right. That s what we do. Vaughn feigned confusion.  Remind me how long did it take you
to tell me Isabelle was pregnant?
 Okay, that s what we do now. Simon studied him, as if debating where to begin.  I saw the way
you were looking at Sidney that night at Rosebud, when we had dinner with Mom and Dad.
Vaughn simply took a sip of his beer.
 See, it s called a dialogue. That means you speak, too, Simon explained.
Vaughn merely gave him a look.
 Well, I don t know about you, but I think this is great brotherly heart-to-heart, Simon said.
Knowing that his brother wasn t going to give in, Vaughn finally acquiesced.  What do you want
me to say? That I ve been thinking about Sidney? Tell me something: what would be the point in
admitting that? He gestured with his beer bottle.  She s dating that Tyler guy now.
 Speaking of that, she came over to Isabelle s the other day to talk. They banished me to the living
room, but when I walked by the bedroom to get something out of the office, I caught a few words.
 I don t want to know, Vaughn said.
Simon gave him a knowing side-eye.
 All right, Vaughn acquiesced.  What d you hear?
 I heard Sidney say that she kissed him.
Vaughn said nothing at first, then turned back to his beer.  Well, now I feel so much better. Thanks
for the pep talk, bro. We really should do this more often.
 So that s it? You re going to just give up? Simon snorted.  That s a real bad-ass move.
Now that got Vaughn a little worked up.  Hold on I think you skipped about five steps in the
dialogue here. Take this Tyler guy out of the equation for a minute. By saying I m  giving up, you re
assuming that I want to pursue a relationship with Sidney. And there s one problem with that I like
my life. It s easy, it s fun, and I don t have to deal with any of this . . . confusion and this . . .
restlessness and this pit in my stomach every time I think about her being with another guy.  Cuz let
me tell you something I ve figured out about those feelings: they suck.
He saw Simon open his mouth, and held up his hand.  Nope, not finished. You wanted me to share,
so that s what I m doing. And let me share something else. If we take the Tyler guy out of the
equation, and we assume hypothetically that I d want to give up my nice, easy, fun life for the
confusion and the restlessness and the suck, we still have the small problem that Sidney doesn t want
to be with me.
 You don t know that, Simon said.
 I heard her say it pretty clearly when you and I were standing outside her window.
 What she said was that she was smart enough not to fall for a guy like you.
Vaughn held out his hands. Hello?  Exactly.
 Then maybe what you need to do is convince her that you aren t you anymore.
Vaughn leaned in.  And if I m not me, then who am I supposed to be? he quipped dryly.
Simon stared him in the eyes.  The man she deserves. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]