The Party Boy's Guide to Dating a Geek (Clumsy Cupids) (32 page)

were just watching the Lions get slaughtered. As

usual."

Ash had absolutely zero interest in football. In

fact, if it were possible to have negative interest in

something, that would be the way he felt about

football and most sports in general. Still, with Fee

ignoring him and his hopes that Fee would show

up dwindling, he needed a distraction. At least his

brother and father would be entertaining as they

yelled at the TV screen.

After Ash popped into the kitchen to say hi to

Mari, he grabbed a beer and settled down on the

opposite end of the couch from Jack.

"Everything on schedule?" he whispered.

Jack took a quick peek over his shoulder to

make sure Mari wasn't around and nodded. "Yep.

Her parents and sister will be here for dinner.

They all know already."

Ash smiled to himself. Well, at least there was

one thing to look forward to, even if Fee didn't

show. He knew how much Jackson loved Mari,

and there was no way she'd refuse him. Ash was

excited to see her face. Mari could be a bit of a

hard ass, but he was betting there would be tears.

He was right.

When dinner had been cleared and they were all

sitting around the table, enjoying coffee along with

slices of the pies Carley had brought, Jackson

stood and announced he had a question for Mari.

Everyone hushed, and Mari stared at him wide-

eyed. Ash could tell the moment she figured out

what was coming. She gasped and covered her

mouth as Jackson walked over to her and got down

on one knee.

"Mari," he said, taking her left hand in his. "The

moment I met you, I knew my life would be forever

changed. My love for you snuck up on me in soft,

quiet moments, until one day I realized I could

never picture living my life with anyone else." He

paused to reach into his pocket, and Mari smiled

tearfully when he withdrew a black ring box. "I

love your strength. I love the way you give as good

as you get, the way you don't let me get away with

anything—ever."

A few people around the table laughed,

including Ash. He noticed his mom was already

crying and felt a little teary himself, overcome by

happiness for Jack and Mari, and pride in his

brother. Jack would do right by Mari. He wouldn't

fuck it up. Unlike Ash. He was pretty sure he'd

messed things up with Fee. Or maybe he and Fee

both had. Ash couldn't see any other reason for

Fee's not wanting to introduce Ash to his family, or

for his not being there sharing this moment with

Ash's family when Ash had all but begged him to

come.

Shame was the only thing Ash could think of,

and it made pain and humiliation burn in his gut.

As if sensing his sudden distraction, Carley

reached over and laid a hand on his thigh, bringing

Ash back to the present. He heard Mari say yes

and realized with a twinge of remorse that he'd

missed the end of his brother's proposal. Ash

cursed under his breath and forcibly put his angst

aside. Fee wasn't there, and that was his choice.

No sense worrying about it when he should have

been focused on his family and his brother, who

looked so thrilled it made Ash's chest ache.

He got up and went to congratulate Jack and hug

his future sister-in-law. Right then, that was the

most important thing. All other thoughts could

wait.

13.4

Ash was silent on the way home, and luckily,

Carley let him be, only reaching out to hold Ash's

hand as they rode the train together. It was still

somewhat early in the evening, as they had plans to

go shopping with Mari at some ungodly hour the

next day, but Ash doubted he would sleep, even if

he tried. How could he when every second that

passed led him further into the certainty that he and

Fee were over?

"You want to talk?" Carley asked once they'd

reached the apartment and put their coats and

leftovers away. "Or we could watch a movie."

Ash shook his head. "Not in the mood. I'm going

to try to go to sleep. Come get me half an hour

before you want to leave, okay?"

Carley pulled him into a quick hug and kissed

his cheek. "Okay, hon. You're going to hear from

him. I'm sure you will."

Ash returned the embrace and just clung to

Carley for a moment. "Thanks. Sorry for being a

drag the last few days."

"Don't worry about it. Believe me, I get it. I

know I kind of misjudged him at first, but Fee's a

great guy. Whatever is going on, I want you two to

work it out. You're good for each other."

Ash drew back and forced a shaky smile to his

mouth. "Good night."

"Night."

He left Carley in the living room and vanished

into his bedroom, where he flopped on the bed

without bothering to undress. Ash checked his

phone one last time, but still nothing—not an

email, voicemail, a text. It was like the beginning

of their relationship all over again.

Fitting, Ash guessed. He buried his head under

the pillows and dropped his cell over the edge of

the mattress.

It's going to be a long fucking night.

Chapter Fourteen

SYSTEM RECOVERY

How’s it going? Are you living happily ever after with

your geek, or has it all crashed? If you’ve hit a snag,

you're going to have to work together to recover your

systems. As long as you’re there with him and accepting

him for the lovable geek he is, there is no reason to

forfeit your hard work. Computer networks rely on

redundancy and backups. So should your relationship.

Keep reminding him you’re there for him and back that

up with your actions. Any glitch can be turned from a bug

into a feature.

14.1

It was still dark out when Carley dragged Ash

out of the apartment. Mari would be joining them

for their traditional after-Thanksgiving sale shop-

a-thon that year. Freshly engaged, Mari was

looking forward to browsing wedding dresses, and

Carley was bouncing with excitement for her. But

after being stood up by Fee, Ash just couldn't share

their happiness. They stopped for breakfast shortly

after dawn, but Ash wasn't hungry. He sipped his

coffee while Carley and Mari planned the second

half of their expedition.

"Why are you trying to find a dress already?"

Ash asked. Jack and Mari hadn't been engaged

even twenty-four hours yet, so her rush to find a

dress was a little puzzling.

"We're looking at a February or March

wedding."

"That

soon?

You

don't

have

another

announcement to make, do you?" Ash was looking

forward to becoming an uncle, but he doubted

Mari would have said yes to Jack's proposal

simply because she was expecting.

Mari chuckled. "No, but you know Jack. Spring

training starts at the end of March, then it's

baseball season, and that goes straight into football

season. That leaves February or March if I don't

want to compete with the Cubs or the Bears for

every anniversary."

"He does get a little obsessed sometimes. Him

and Dad." Ash shook his head. He grew up

watching Jack and their father huddled in front of

the TV, cheering their teams on. "He is better than

he used to be."

"That's true, but still. Planning around it isn't that

big of a deal. So we have it in a few months, or we

wait a year."

"Then let's go get you a dress," Carley said with

a wide smile. He guided them from store to store

until Ash was ready to scream. He was thrilled for

Mari, but he couldn't hide his frustration over what

was going on between him and Fee. Or not going

on, if that was what Fee had decided.

"Why don't we break for lunch?" Carley said

after the fourth store. "Leroy's is around the

corner."

"Sounds great," Mari said.

Ash followed them to their booth, and Mari and

Carley sat down on either side of him. They were

taking pity on him, he knew, and he appreciated

them all the more for it.

"Sorry I'm such a downer today."

"Yes, you are completely insufferable," Carley

said.

"Intolerable." Mari sniffed, smoothed her hair

down, and turned her nose up before giggling.

Ash sighed, and Carley cut him off before he

could apologize again. "Have you called him?"

"No answer. Goes to voicemail." The fact that

Fee was avoiding him killed Ash. Even if he was

blowing Ash off, Fee could at least let him know

why.

"Jack and I were talking last night," Mari said

after their drinks arrived.

"I would think you talk about something every

night," Ash replied. Mari shot him a look and Ash

covered his smile by taking a sip of coffee. "Sorry.

You were saying?"

Mari bit her bottom lip and glanced at her cup.

"Well, you know that we're already settled in our

apartment."

"Yeah?" It seemed like forever ago Ash had

helped them move, lugging boxes all day long. The

day he met Fee. His heart lurched when he thought

of the way Fee had walked into his life, so far out

of his reach, it wasn't funny. And now Fee was

slipping away from him.

"Since we don't really need anything, we were

thinking of not registering anywhere."

"But that's half the fun of a wedding," Carley

said. "You should see the brides that come into our

shop and scan everything on the shelves. Mostly

crap they never needed or will ever use. And

people buy it for them." He shook his head.

"That's the point. Why should people buy us a

new set of dishes when our cabinets are already

full of stuff?"

"That makes sense," Ash said. His mind was

still on losing Fee.

"So we were thinking of encouraging people to

make a donation instead."

"To what?" Carley asked.

Mari plucked at her napkin and looked from

Carley to Ash. "Equality Illinois."

"I think that's a great idea." Ash reached over to

squeeze her hand.

Carley leaned across the table to give Mari a

hug. "Yeah. That's really cool of you guys."

She shrugged and looked at Ash. "We know how

you and Fee feel about each other. It doesn't seem

fair that it's all right for us to marry, but not you

guys."

Ash snorted and jabbed his spoon into his cup.

"It's not like my feelings matter."

"What?" Mari asked.

"He's ashamed of me."

"Ash, that's a crock of shit and you know it,"

Carley said.

"He couldn't even be bothered to show up last

night. What does that tell you?" Ash stirred his

coffee forcefully, making it splash over the rim and

onto his hand.

"Why don't you let him tell you what it means?"

Mari asked.

"Because I know what it means. It means I'm

getting dumped."

Mari put her hand on top of Ash's and squeezed.

"You know that's not true. He's crazy about you."

"Sure he is." Ash rolled his eyes. He really had

thought Fee was as head over heels for him as he

was for Fee, but that didn't seem to be true. After

Halloween, Ash thought he had something special.

What his parents had, what Jack had found with

Mari. His eyes burned and his heart ached, but he

wasn't going to lose it there at Leroy's. He shook it

off. "Anyway. Where to next?"

"We're going shopping, and you're going to

Fee's," Mari said.

"I don't think so. If he wants to break up with

me, he's going to have to come find me."

"Dumbass," Carley said.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, was that out loud?" Carley asked,

pretending to be innocent. "I said you are a

dumbass."

"Look, he didn't want to introduce me to his

parents. Which, by the way, I've already met his

mother," Ash pointed out. "He's embarrassed to be

seen with me. Then he never showed up yesterday,

and he knew it was a big deal to me." Ash leaned