“You like Luna.” Paige barely waits for the door to shut behind the siblings before she gets straight to the sensitive, secret center. “This is not the normal path of a relationship. Just in case you got confused. The marriage usually comes later.”
I grin. “Oh damn. Knew I got something mixed up. Well, guess I’m in it now.”
Paige snickers. “Let me get you a beer. I don’t know how long that’s going to go on for.” She waves at the back door where we can hear muffled tense voices.
Paige returns a minute later, carrying a Hefeweizen. I appreciate the wheat beer. One thing I miss about Germany is the beer selection. They know how to brew a delicious wheat over there. Beer might as well be a religion for them.
As I pop the top off the bottle and pour the amber liquid into a glass, Luna and Dash’s voices rise to a volume that carries through the back door.
“How’s Nashville?” Paige asks, attempting to start a conversation in opposition to the hollering.
“Like what I’ve seen so far. Luna took me—”
“I care about you and Leo, and the rest of the world can go fuck themselves!” My wife’s shout sounds as clear as if she were in the room with us.
Paige and I stare at each other, eyes wide. Then my friend leans forward to squeeze my hand. “I’m sure she cares about you too.”
“And you,” I add.
“She just wanted a nice dramatic effect for her words.”
We nod in agreement, both seeming to have grasped at least a basic understanding of Luna’s personality.
Her loyalty.
Abandoning her attempt at small talk, Paige reverts to her original subject. “You like her. What are you going to do about it?”
I shrug and offer a playful smirk. “Marry her?”
Paige just stares at me, waiting for my defense technique to wither and die under her scrutiny.
I sigh. “I’m not sure. But I’ve got more than a year to figure it out, right?”
“I guess.” Paige’s lack of confidence has a sharp panic stabbing inside my chest.
“Well, what do you suggest?”
My best friend chews on her lower lip before answering. “Seems like you need to woo your wife.”
That’s a nice thought, if I could actually make it work.
“Okay. And how exactly do I do that?”
Paige turns her bewildered gaze to me. “I don’t know. Why would I know?”
“Maybe because she’s your sister-in-law, and you’re also a woman?”
Paige fiddles with the end of her ponytail. “We haven’t spent too much time together. Not enough for me to know how to attract her at least.” She gives me a helpless shrug. “Dash likes when I cook for him. Maybe try that? It could be a family trait. Maybe all the Lamonts are constantly hungry.”
“But Luna is a nutritionist. And she makes all her own meals.” And makes a lot of mine too. Better than anything I could ever hope to make.
My friend piles cheese on a cracker as she thinks. “Maybe make her snacks then. Or cook on a night she seems busy and it would help her out.”
“That could work.” We’ve only been living together a couple of weeks, and her schedule seems to shift based on which clients she’s working with. I could probably find a time to take control of the kitchen.
“But there has to be other things. Wooing things that are specific to Luna. You need to keep an eye out for them. What does she like? What does she do for fun?” Paige sits up straight, a triumphant smile curving her mouth. “Give her those things or fill her time with that, and then you’ll be an expert wooer.”
“I can do that.” I think.
Paige gives my knee a friendly squeeze. “You got this. I believe in you.” She reaches for her beer, her sip leaving a thin line of foam on her top lip.
Objectively, the sight is adorable. There were plenty of times over the years I tried to convince myself that Paige was the one for me. But that changing our relationship into something romantic never felt right. Then she met Dash, and I knew it would have been a mistake. Paige never looks at me the way she looks at him. And I’m betting I never look at her that way either.
Pretty sure I’ve stared like a lovesick puppy at Luna more than once.
“I’ll ask Dash. He might know the quickest way to her heart.”
“I don’t think Dash is the best source for wooing his sister,” I mutter.
“Why not? He’s the person she’s closest to in the world, far as I can tell.”
“But they’re sibling-close.”
Paige collapses back onto the couch. “I guess. Being an only child sucks. I don’t know what brothers and sisters talk about.”
“I guess what we talk about?”
She shakes her head. “But we talk about relationships. You could give a guy some good pointers on how to woo me.”
I shrug, not so sure about that. Though it shames me to admit, I was judgmental of Dash when he first came into my friend’s life.
Paige had just gotten out of a bad relationship, and I thought she needed to hook up with some random dudes. Not go all gooey-eyed after one with an aloof personality and a criminal record. Seemed to me like she was setting herself up to get hurt.
Couldn’t have been more wrong.
Dash is a stand-up guy.
But that still doesn’t mean I’m going to approach him for advice about romantically pursuing his sister.
The back door opens, and two dogs charge in, tongues lolling and tails wagging. The Lamont siblings follow the hounds. Both brother and sister have flushed faces and rueful expressions.
“Did you work it all out?” Paige asks.
“Sort of.” Dash turns his attention to me, and I suddenly worry he overheard me and is going to start doling out brotherly advice. But no. “You don’t have to do this, Charlie. Seriously.”
Luna rolls her eyes behind his back.
Does he really think she forced me into this? I guess she could have, but no threats were needed for me to attach myself to Luna Lamont.
“I’m happy to help. And it’s not like I’m getting nothing out of the deal.” I get to spend an entire year around this captivating woman. “I have a living place, rent-free.”
Dash snorts and rubs a hand over his face. “Okay. Fine. You’re adults and all that.”
“Exactly,” Luna adds, probably just to piss her brother off, and by his renewed scowl, it works.
“Right,” Paige agrees. “What Charlie and Luna do in their marriage bed is their business.”
Luna balks. “What? No! We’re just partners. That’s all.”
“Oh, yes. Duh. You said that already. Guess I forgot. Who wants to order pizza?”
Paige pulls her phone out of her back pocket, presumably to call up the food menu. She may seem unaware of the way she shocked the room, but my guess is my awkward friend knew exactly what she was doing.
Planting a few thoughts. Letting the seeds grow.
Acting as the wing woman to help me woo my wife.