Bad Boy's Bridesmaid by Sosie Frost Page B

isn’t about relationships. It’s about fun and simplicity.”
    “I won’t say
he’s wrong, but I don’t think his life is the one you want.” Rick
pointed an onion ring at me. “I know you, Mandy. You’re like me. You wanted to
find that right person and settle down and have the life that…a life people are
supposed to have.”
    “Is it a real
thing?”
    “Hell if I know
anymore.” He shrugged. “I sure as fuck hope so.”
    “I’m just
worried what I want doesn’t actually exist. I see my parents, I see you, and
it’s like…everyone’s family is so fragile. I thought you were all in love.”
    He stopped me
with a frown. “I’ll tell you right now, I loved Jada. I still do, even if she fell
out of love with me.”
    That didn’t make
sense. “How can someone fall out of love?”
    “Easy. They fell
into it. You can’t control how and when you fall in love. It just happens. No
one says it has to last forever. You can hope, but sometimes it doesn’t work
that way.”
    “You’re not
helping.”
    “Well, sometimes
it does last forever.”
    “Nice save.”
    Rick laughed.
“Mandy, if I understood marriage and love and women, I’d still be married. As
it stands, I’m thirty. Divorced. Eating fast food between eighteen hour shifts.
I’m no expert.”
    “Neither am I.”
    “No one is.
That’s the way of the world. You aren’t dealing with anything logical or
rational. It’s all passion—it’s why your parents were together for decades and
now fight like they’re going for blood. That’s just a natural progression of
something that volatile.”
    I leaned
forward, resisting the urge to plunk my head down on the table. How the hell
could Rick talk about these things so easily? Like he had it all figured out
and saw the world for what it was?
    “Is it stupid to
want that perfect life?” I played with his pager. He slapped my hand away
before I set it off again.
    “Nope. You won’t
find it with Nate though.”
    I looked up, my
voice shrill. “Nate? Who said anything about Nate?”
    He drank the
rest of his soda, slurping what was left in the ice. “He’s been chasing you.”
    “Nate chases
after any girl he sees.”
    “Well, he’s focused
on you and only you lately.” Rick pointed the straw at me. “I’m good
friends with him, but I’ll be the first to tell you he’s a dog.”
    “I’m well
aware.”
    “But if you’re
interested in him…”
    I shook my head.
“I think it’s pretty obvious I don’t know what I want. The only certainty is
that Nate Kensington doesn’t fit into my life.”
    “But?”
    I met his eyes.
Rick was always the smartest of the group. He was two years older than Bryce,
Lindsey, and Nate, and he had a different perspective than us. He saw more than
we did.
    “But what?” I
asked.
    “What’s really
going on, Mandy? You’re not acting right.”
    Probably because
I was acting for two people. “I’m fine. Just…thinking about a lot of things.
The wedding and my parents going insane is kinda shaking my world a bit.”
    He crumpled up
the burger wrapper and bag. His stethoscope wove over his neck, and he clipped
his ID and pager to his belt. He smiled, but it wasn’t patronizing.
    “When you want to
talk about what’s really bothering you, I’ll be here. Bring me a taco
next time.”
    “You got it.”
    He stood, though
he rapped his knuckles on the table. “And do yourself a favor? You’re my best
friend, and I love you like you’re my little sister. Forgive me for going
big-brother at the moment?”
    “Always.”
    “Don’t let Nate
get too close. He’s only after one thing. Okay?”
    Rick’s pager
beeped, and he thanked me for the lunch with a wave as he jogged away.
    Nate was only
after one thing—and he got it. So why was he still chasing?
    I had six weeks
until the wedding. Six more weeks to keep the secret before I could sit him
down and tell him what had happened.
    I could last six
weeks.
    The smell of the
cafeteria food twisted my