Sky High (Three Contemporary Novella's) (13 page)

He cleared his throat to alert the girls to his presence. Sydney’s eyes flew to his and the lingering smile on her face faded. She turned away abruptly, fussing with the flowers in her bouquet.

“Mrs. Shapiro says we need to get started because of light or something?” Jesse said.

Marin rolled her eyes. “Sunset. This thing is timed out to the second so the sun sets right behind us as we say ‘I do.’ I’d be fine getting married in the pitch dark, but you know Mom.”

“Let’s not disappoint her,” Sydney said, pulling Marin to her feet and tugging her dress into place. “You’ll never hear the end of it otherwise, and you should be enjoying this day.”

Marin hugged her impulsively. “I’m so glad you’re here, Syd. I love you.”

Sydney hugged her back. “You’re my best friend, Marin. Of course I’m here.”

Marin released her and laughed. “Okay, I’m gonna go get married now.”

Jesse stood back as Marin and Caitlin filed past him, but he reached out and snagged Sydney’s arm when she tried to scoot past.

“We need to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Bullshit. You’re
afraid
to.”

She bristled and her eyes flashed. There was the Sydney he was familiar with, angry as hell and ready to rip him apart. “I’m not afraid of you!”

“Pure terror. You’re scared to
death
to face me.”

She blanched and glanced away, toward the beach. “We can’t do this now. The sunset… We have to go.”

“Okay, fine, run away now, but I’m finding you later and we’re dealing with this.”

“I told you, there’s nothing to deal with.”

“If there’s really nothing here, if you’re really completely unaffected by what happened, then why the hell are you so desperate to get away from me?”

She didn’t have a comeback for that. He knew she wouldn’t, which is why he called her out on it. She blinked at him, her expression stricken. Jesse decided to take a chance, to give her something to mull over during the ceremony. He reached out and pushed a strand of her silky dark hair back over her shoulder, letting his fingertips trail down her bare arm as he drew his hand away.

“You look so beautiful tonight, Sydney.”

She drew in a deep breath and he could tell from her face that she was marshaling her thoughts to come up with a stinging comeback, so he leaned in and kissed her cheek, stunning her into silence again.

“See you at the reception.”

He turned and walked away before she could say anything. Let her stew on that for the next hour.

Despite Mrs. Shapiro’s loudly expressed concerns, the wedding started right on time. It was a hybrid affair—a little Jewish, with a huppah set up at the water’s edge, draped in billowing white fabric, and Marin escorted to the altar by both of her parents, but it was taking place on a Saturday and conducted by a Mexican officiant. All eyes were supposed to be on Marin, radiantly happy, barefoot in her flowing white hippie dress, but Jesse couldn’t stop staring at Sydney. He hadn’t been lying when he told her she looked beautiful. He’d never seen a girl so beautiful in his life. Caitlin was first to amble down the beach, in between the loosely gathered onlookers. Sydney was right, her hair was much better up. Briana came next, swinging her hips and smiling at Jesse in a blatant and unmistakable come-on, all tight pink dress and overflowing cleavage. Sydney, following in her wake, was a breath of fresh air. Tall, willowy, simple, and breathtakingly sexy in that slip of black silk, with just a hint of a smile on her lips.

“Damn,” Max whispered at Jesse’s side. “That Sydney chick has always been hot as hell. Too bad she’s such a frigid bitch.”

Jesse’s blood pressure spiked and he fisted his hands at his side to keep from spinning around and planting one on Max’s jaw. “She’s not,” he muttered through clenched teeth. “Just because she doesn’t throw it in your face like Briana doesn’t mean she’s frigid.”

“I don’t know,” Max said with a shrug. “Looks like the chick could freeze your balls off with just her eyes.”

Jesse wanted to tell Max that no, as a matter of fact he’d had the hottest, best sex of his life with Sydney just the day before, but sharing that fact was absolutely off the table. Oddly, he didn’t even really want to. He wanted to defend Sydney, of course, but what had happened between them…that felt different. Personal. She wasn’t a conquest to be boasted about with a cretin like Max.

In a flash of clarity, he realized he’d been making the same assumptions as Max all these years. So Sydney was a little reserved, almost shy sometimes. And yeah, that came across as aloof. But he knew she wasn’t. And yes, sometimes she was a little brusque when she was feeling defensive. But she wasn’t a bitch. He’d seen ample evidence over the years of her kindness to the people she cared about. Once upon a time, when he’d first met her, she’d shown it to him herself. At some point, they’d gotten out of step with each other and ended up as adversaries. Since then, he’d fallen into that same trap of assuming that what she showed the world was all she was.

“You don’t know Sydney like I do,” he said at last. “She’s not what you think.”

Max snorted in laughter. “Fine, you take her on. I’ll stick to Marin’s tasty little sister.”

“Come on, Max. She’s like, nineteen. And she’s Marin’s
sister
.”

“That girl is looking for fun, and I am happy to give it to her.”

“Behave yourself.”

Max chuckled. “You can behave yourself with the Ice Princess. I’m in Mexico and there’s a hot chick looking for action, so I know what I’m going to do.”

Jesse sighed. Did Sydney see him as just another player like Max? If so, no wonder she hated his guts.

The ceremony was nice, as weddings went. Jesse hadn’t been to all that many of them, but he suspected Marin and Wyatt’s was a little unusual. Things went awry, of course. The breeze off the ocean nearly carried away the floaty white fabric on top of the huppah, and he and Sydney had to grab hold of it and tie it down. And then Marin couldn’t smash the glass wrapped in a cloth because she was barefoot and the glass was on sand. There’d been a lot of good-natured scrambling to find a flat surface—the officiant’s notebook—then Sydney loaned Marin her shoes so the glass could get smashed properly. But everyone was laughing, Mrs. Shapiro and Wyatt’s mom were crying, and Marin and Wyatt looked blissful, so, all in all, it was a success.

After being pronounced husband and wife, Marin and Wyatt ran back up the sand to spend a few minutes alone in the bungalow, according to Jewish tradition. Jesse suspected that they were also going to get baked, but hey, it was their day. The wedding party filed out next, Andy with Caitlin, Max with Briana, and him with Sydney. He didn’t need to take her arm, but he did because he wanted to touch her. Her smile stayed in place, but there was panic around the edges, and a forced, glassy look to her expression. He didn’t press, not yet, anyway. They were still technically in the middle of the ceremony. But as they reached the top of the beach and he released her, he ran his hand down the inside of her arm, his fingers dragging along her palm before he pulled away. And he smiled, an intimate smile meant just for her, a promise for later. She was nearly in a frenzy to get away from him.

By the time the reception was underway, it was fully dark. It was at a beachside bar attached to the hotel they were all staying in. The bar was behind the pool, with a wooden dance floor strung with twinkle lights that opened directly onto the beach. The moon was full, so the rolling waves of the ocean were visible even from the dance floor. The hotel was at the innermost curve of the cove, the shoreline arcing forward in both directions and the white sand glowing in the moonlight.

“Isn’t this perfect, man?” Wyatt clapped him on the shoulder as he approached.

“It’s pretty fantastic. Congratulations. I can’t believe you guys did it.”

Wyatt shook his head, a huge, happy smile on his face. Yep, definitely baked. “Marin’s the one, man. Marin’s always been the one. I’m the luckiest guy alive.”

“Yes, you are. You guys are going to be great together.”

“What about you?”

“Me, what?”

“I know there’s always tension between you and Sydney. But it seemed to be a different kind today, and there seemed to be a lot more than usual.”

Jesse gripped the neck of his beer bottle tighter. “Yeah, we’ve got a few issues to work out.”

“No better time than a party on a beach in Mexico, my friend.”

“That’s sort of my plan.”

“Good luck, Jesse.”

“Thanks, I’ll need it. She’s a little…hostile.”

Wyatt shrugged and took a sip of his own beer. “Maybe not as much as you’d think.”

Jesse scowled at him. “What do you mean?”

Wyatt held up a hand in defense. “Nothing, really. Just a few things Marin has said over the years. I’m not sure she hates you as much as you think.”

“I’m starting to suspect that, too. But why is she always so damned mad at me?”

“That one you’ll have to ask her.”

“All right. On that note, I’m going to go find her. Wyatt, congrats again. I hope you guys are happy for the long haul.”

They did an awkward one-armed hug, and Jesse left Wyatt to greet more guests as he wove through the crowd looking for Sydney. She’d been swept up with the other bridesmaids for some pictures right after the ceremony and he hadn’t seen her since. They must have been done, though, because Marin and Caitlin were talking to Mrs. Shapiro and Briana was with…

Aw, hell. Briana was with Max and she looked drunk off her ass. She had her arms hooked around his neck, and although part of that might have been sloppy flirtation, she also looked like she couldn’t stand up without support. Max had no problem helping her, with his hands firmly planted on the girl’s ass. Jesse told himself it was none of his business. Not his problem, right? But fuck… Briana might be legal, but only barely and Max was twenty-five. And she was Marin’s little sister. And she was drunk. Really, really drunk. No, it was not okay. He had to at least make an attempt to get Briana into the hands of a responsible adult.

Sighing, he wove through the milling crowd on the dance floor until he reached them. Max was leaning down and mumbling in her ear. Jesse caught the tail end of it.

“Why don’t we get out of here and go take a walk on the beach? Just you and me.”

“Um, I was gonna wait for…” Briana glanced up and saw him and her whole face lit up in bleary delight. “Jesse! You’re here!”

Max shot him a foul look.

“Hey, Briana, your mom is looking for you.”

“She can wait, baby,” Max crooned. “Let’s go for that walk.”

Jesse took Briana’s arm and pulled her away from Max. “No, it can’t wait.”

Briana fell heavily against him, twining her arms around his neck and breathing into his face. Very, very drunk.

“Jesse, man…”

“She’s a kid, Max. And too drunk.”

Max glared at him for a second then he huffed angrily and ran a hand through his hair. “Whatever. Plenty of other hot chicks here. I don’t need the hassle.” He turned and stormed back toward the bar. Asshole.

“I was hoping you’d come find me, Jesse,” Briana slurred, running her fingers through the hair on the back of his head.

“Let’s go find your mom,” he said with an awkward smile.

“You know, I’ve always thought you were soooo cute.” She ran one hand down his neck and began to loosen his tie. He slapped his hand over hers to stop her.

“Come on, Briana.” He threw a desperate glance over her shoulder, looking for Mr. and Mrs. Shapiro, Wyatt, anybody he could safely pass Briana to, but instead, he locked eyes with Sydney, just making her way onto the dance floor. She froze, her eyes raking over the scene—Briana was hanging on him, pressed against him, and his arms were around her, trying to hold her upright. Jesse groaned. No no no
no
. This was the one thing Sydney did
not
need to see, because he knew how it looked. Briana was now clumsily trying to strip his tie off. This was bad, really bad. And sure enough, Sydney’s eyes shot back to his and turned hard as granite. She sneered at him and turned, disappearing back into the crowd.

“Come on,” he muttered, slipping his arm under Briana’s and steering her awkwardly through the crowd. “Let’s find your mom.”

“I don’t wanna find Mom,” she whined. “She’s going to breathe down my neck all damned night.”

“And that’s exactly why we need her.”

Briana stumbled on her ridiculous shoes once or twice, but Jesse managed to keep her upright until he reached Mrs. Shapiro near the bar.

“Hey, Mrs. Shapiro, Briana’s not feeling well.”

“Jesse!”
Briana hissed.

He ignored her. “Maybe you’d better keep an eye on her.”

Mrs. Shapiro turned her concerned eyes on Briana and laid the back of her hand on her forehead. “Are you warm, Bri, sweetie? Is it a fever?”

“
God
, Mom, no, I’m not sick…”

Jesse quickly extricated himself, leaving Briana in the firm clutches of her mother, who would hopefully force her into bed to sleep it off. He circled the dance floor twice and didn’t catch a glimpse of Sydney. She was nowhere to be found. Finally, he made his way to Marin.