Such a Pretty Face by Annabelle Costa
Chapter 35
The next week, we have dinner with Brody’s friend Max and his girlfriend Jess. As I had hoped, Jess and I have been getting close. We’ve gone to the movies a bunch of times, and gotten dinner out together. I love her—I really do. I love her sense of humor and I love that she’s a great listener. And most of all, I love that we got bagels last week, and she didn’t say to me, “Gee, Emily, are you sure you should have a bagel? Those things have sooo many carbs.” Like someone did at the stupid morning meeting we had yesterday at work.
The four of us go to a restaurant that the three of them know very well. It’s a Greek restaurant that boasts “award-winning” Spanakopita and is only a few blocks from Brody’s apartment. Brody and Max keep calling it “Spank-o-pita” and then they laugh at themselves. Boys are cute when they’re silly.
Since I’ve gotten to know Jess a bit recently, it’s easy to notice that she isn’t her usual self tonight. She’s practically bouncing in her seat. I remember a comment Jess made the last time I saw her, about how she thought Max might propose soon.
As I’m thumbing through my menu, I hear her murmur to Max, “Can we tell them?” And he murmurs back, “Can’t we wait till the food comes?” And she says back, “Please?”
This is so painfully obvious. Brody and I can both hear them, and he shoots me a confused look. Maybe it’s not as obvious to him.
“So guess what?” Jess finally says. She whips out her left hand from under the table. “We got engaged!”
Yep. Knew it.
“Wow!” Brody exclaims. He was clueless. “That’s amazing. Congratulations!”
“Yes, congratulations! I’m so happy for you!” I say. And you know what? I mean it. I told my former best friend Lisa I was happy for her when she got engaged, even though that felt like a dagger in my chest. But now I’m genuinely happy for Jess and Max. I’m excited to go to their wedding. With Brody.
Oh my God, going to a wedding with an actual date! Nobody will feel sorry for me. Nobody will try to set me up. This might be the best wedding ever.
“We haven’t picked a date yet,” Jess says. “We don’t want to wait too long though. And FYI, we’re going to have the ceremony in Maine, where my whole family is.”
“In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about who I want for my best man,” Max says, looking pointedly at Brody.
Brody’s eyes widen and he shakes his head. “You should pick Ford.”
Max’s face falls. “Brody, come on. Ford’s great, but you’re my…”
Brody’s cheeks flush pink. “Look, let’s talk about this later, okay? But I think you should pick Ford.”
Having been in a few weddings before, I understand why Brody doesn’t want to be the best man. When you’re in a wedding, everyone in the room is staring at you during the entire ceremony. And when you’re the best man, it’s got to be a million times worse. Brody doesn’t want that.
We order a bottle of champagne to celebrate. I can’t help but notice Brody doesn’t drink any of the champagne. At one point, Max tips the bottle at him and raises his eyebrows, but Brody just shakes his head. It occurs to me that I’ve never seen Brody drink alcohol even once in all the time we’ve been dating. It’s so weird after all the things Camille told me about how Brody was in high school. I wonder if it has anything to do with Sean. It seems like after watching his brother wreck both their lives with alcohol, he probably realized it wasn’t worth it.
Even though we’ve only known each other a short time, Jess makes me promise to be one of her bridesmaids. I’m truly touched. Then Brody goes on and on about how I should sing at their wedding, which is completely out of the question. And then at one point between drinks, Jess slurs, “You guys are totally going to be next!”
And of course, that causes Brody and me to exchange awkward glances. I don’t think either of us thinks we’re going to get married any time soon. I mean, we haven’t even had sex yet.
It’s pretty late by the time we get back to Brody’s place, and we know Mike will be by soon to help him get ready for bed. I sit down on his couch and he kisses me. “Hey,” he says, his blue eyes meeting mine. “Can I ask you something weird?”
My stomach fills with butterflies. “Okay…”
“I know it’s far in the future and neither of us is ready right now,” he begins, “but someday, down the line, do you think you could ever, like…” He takes a breath. “Do you think you could see yourself marrying someone like me?”
I stare at him, completely shocked he said that to me. “You or someone like you?”
“Me, I guess,” he mumbles. And now his whole face is bright red.
“Yes,” I say, the calmness of my voice betraying the fact that I’m doing cartwheels in my head. “I would.”
“Yeah?” Brody’s eyes light up. “That’s… I mean, that’s good to know, for sure. Because, you know… it’s something I’ve been thinking about lately…”
He wants to marry me. He wants to marry me! Not now, of course, but somewhere down the line… this man could be my husband.
Wow. Holy shit.