A Wedding for Christmas: A Twilight, Texas Novel by Lori Wilde

Author:Lori Wilde [Wilde, Lori]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-10-24T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

“Tell me everything that happened in LA.”

It was seven p.m. that same evening and Gabi was standing on Katie’s front porch, a bottle of vodka in one hand, and a carafe of grapefruit juice in the other, and her overnight bag thrown over her shoulder.

“And don’t even try to pretend that you and Mr. Pure Sex Walking didn’t hook up last Christmas,” Gabi went on. “I picked up on the innuendo over trivia.”

Katie arched an eyebrow. “Am I to assume you’re spending the night?”

“Yes. Drinking will be done.” Gabi jutted out her chin, and stood her ground. “Slumber party!”

“No sleeping ever gets done at slumber parties.” Katie could tell her friend was not going to be dissuaded. “I have to get up early tomorrow and wade through Jax Southerland’s shambles of a life.”

“You’re not punching a time clock. You’re the boss.”

“My crew arrives at eight. I need to be there to let them in.”

“We’ll be in bed by midnight,” Gabi vowed. “I promise.”

Katie held the door open wide, feeling grateful, despite a sigh rising up in her. Gabi was such a good friend. She was so glad she’d responded to Gabi’s Pinterest post those fifteen months ago. “C’mon in.”

Gabi trooped over the threshold, and headed straight for the kitchen to mix up the cocktails. Resigned to talking about Ryder, Katie trailed after her.

“So . . .” Gabi had to stand on tiptoes to reach the glasses on the top cabinet shelf. “Start from the beginning . . .”

“It’s kind of a long story.”

Gabi dumped sea salt in a saucer, dampened the rims of the glasses, and rotated them in the sea salt. She measured out a shot of vodka in each glass, filled it with grapefruit juice, bitters, stirred vigorously to mix and served it over ice. “We’re drinking. You’re dishing. Spill it.”

“Where’s Joe?” Katie asked, stalling.

“Joe and Ryder are cutting down trees at the farm as we speak. Bonding. Doing guy things. Probably talking about us.”

“But it’s dark.”

“You know how well the Christmas tree farm is lit, and I think they just needed to work off some stream. We invited Ryder to spend the night with us instead of wasting money at the KOA. I’ve got nowhere else to be but here.”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope.” Gabi pushed the salty dog into Katie’s hand. “A toast.”

“To what?”

“Our hot guys.”

“Ryder’s not my guy.”

Gabi rolled her eyes. “Okay, to hot guys in general.”

“To hot guys.” Katie clinked her glass with Gabi’s, and then took a long swallow of the tangy citrus drink.

“Now, back to Ryder. Details. I want details. When did the attraction begin?”

“Ryder lived with our family during his last year of high school, after his dad kicked him out.”

“I know. Joe told me . . . Continue.”

“I had a secret crush on him.” Katie mumbled, staring into her glass at the grapefruit pulp clinging to the ice cubes.

“Well of course you did. What red-blooded American teenage girl wouldn’t have a crush on a hottie like Ryder?”

“Hey, watch it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.