My One and Only: Book 1 in the Love and Weddings Trilogy (21 page)

              “Meredith Jensen,” she said and stopped with a surprised frown. She turned and glared at Brogan who had disappeared. “Uh, haha, that’s actually me. Um, well, we have a few more volunteers,” she said in a chirpy voice that her brother would have laughed at if he’d bothered to show up. She named off a few more names. Three girls and two men. She didn’t see Asher’s name anywhere on the list. She decided to take matters into her own hands.

              “And last but not least, Pule Matafeo, Asher Murphy and Tristan Jensen. If you’re here and your name has been called for the kissing booth, would you please come to the front and introduce yourself? We’d all like to know who we’re about to be kissing,” she said with a wink and then waited expectantly.

              The three girls ran up and grabbed the mic from her, not shy at all. The first girl was a cute little brunette with bright blue eyes and a big smile.

              “Hey everyone, my name is Casey Anderson and I’m in nursing school right now. I’m a single mom and I have a cute little three year old daughter. I like to hike and swim in the ocean and cook.”

              Meredith smiled at the cheers and yells that went up in the crowd as Casey laughed and blushed. She handed the mic to the next girl who was tall and had beautiful red hair that had to be the product of very expensive salon visits. She was a stunner. The woman took the mic confidently and smiled brightly at the crowd.

              “I’m Dannie and here’s the deal. My ex dumped me after designing me a gorgeous engagement ring, detailing exactly how he was going to propose to me, describing the house he was going to build for us and building up this big beautiful sham of a dream just to rip it away and crush it because he just wasn’t feeling it anymore. He told me every beautiful lie you could imagine and I believed everything he said. I saw the channel 5 news crew drive up. I want to be on the 10 o’clock news tonight. Who’s going to help me get revenge?” she yelled into the mic as every single man there seemed excited to help her get her face on the news.

              Meredith took the mic back and grinned at Dannie. “I like you. We’ll talk later.”

              Dannie shrugged, with a small smile around her mouth but her eyes were sad. “Where’s the gorgeous blond guy I saw you talking to a minute ago? If I could get on camera kissing that guy, tonight would be perfect.”

              Meredith shook her head quickly. “
No, no, no
. That’s Brogan Moore and he’s married and his wife is pregnant and crazy. You do not want to die.”

              Dannie laughed, her eyes brightening. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll head over to the booth. And thanks.”

              Meredith let a few more people take the mic and then it was her turn since Pule, Asher and Tristan hadn’t bothered to come up.
She was going to kill them.

              “And then there’s me. My name is Meredith. I’m not a very good cook, I’m not that in to fitness and I actually just enjoy hanging out with friends, eating pizza and watching Netflix.
Woo hoo
,” she said as everyone laughed and clapped just as hard for her as they had the others.

              The mic was taken out of her hand and she turned in surprise to see Asher, Pule and her brother standing behind her. She glanced behind them to see Brogan looking fierce and determined. She smiled her thanks to him and then handed the mic to Asher who she hadn’t talked to all day.

              He smiled politely at her, his eyes distant as he took the mic. She frowned and felt a jolt of unease in her stomach. What if he really liked Maya? What if this casual dating had ended up biting her in the rear?

              “Hey guys, I was forced into this. I actually didn’t volunteer for this, so please have mercy and don’t kiss me,” he said and handed the mic to Pule before hopping off the small stage.

              Meredith glared at his back but turned and smiled pleadingly at Pule. Pule laughed at her expression and shrugged. “My people, I am here to fulfill your dreams of kissing a hot, Samoan warrior. I’m a rugby player, I’m top in my class at the Police Academy and I’m famous for being the best kisser in Fircrest and Tacoma. You want your five dollars worth?” he asked, holding his hand to his ear as the crowd of women went crazy. “You’ll get it.”

              Meredith laughed, her good mood completely restored by Pule’s cockiness. Her smile faded though as her brother took the mic from her, glaring at her menacingly. The same way he glared at her when they’d been kids and she’d taken the last of the cereal.

              “Yeah, my sister started this dating website thing and she dragged me into it. Not really into kissing strangers, but the truth is, I haven’t kissed a girl in almost a year. Maybe you guys can help get me out of my rut?”

              Meredith smiled and shook her head at her brother. Where cockiness had worked for Pule, pity was working just as well for Tristan as the shouts from the crowd were almost earsplitting.

              She held up her hands for quiet before she spoke. “The kissing booths are over by the donuts and the hot chocolate. You can talk and eat while you wait your turn. Better get in line fast. The first kisses are the best,” she said and laughed as everyone rushed towards the sidelines.

              Brogan joined her and grinned as they looked out over the hundreds of people laughing and having a good time.

              “You’re a genius. Tonight was a success because of you Meredith. The news crew is setting up and they want to ask you a few questions but they’re really excited about the kissing booth and the money going to charity.”

              Meredith laid the mic down and shoved her cold hands in her pockets. “It is turning out well, isn’t it? Just a head’s up but that cute redhead wanted you to be her first kiss.”

              Brogan grimaced and automatically looked around for Taryn who was talking to Jane by the tables of food. “Don’t tell Taryn. I don’t want any violence caught on film. It would hurt our chances of getting a lawyer.”

              Meredith laughed and nodded her head. “I already told her death was not worth it. And thanks for rounding up Pule, Asher and Tristan. What did you use? A cattle prod?”

              Brogan grinned. “Just about. Asher was the worst though. I get the feeling he’s in a bad mood.”

              Meredith frowned and turned her head towards the kissing booths and saw that he was standing there, giving every girl a quick peck on the lips. He was not happy at all.

              “What guy would get mad about kissing pretty girls?” she asked.

              Brogan shrugged. “Someone who would rather be kissing just one girl is my guess. You better head over there though. You have a line of guys waiting to kiss you.”

              Meredith winced but saw that he was right. She walked over and had to wonder who Asher was wishing he was kissing. Her or Maya?

              She lined up and decided to strangle whoever it was who had put her name on the list. Kissing strangers was not fun. Some guys wanted deep passionate kisses but most guys accepted a peck. The guys who wanted to keep going and going though? Not cool. She had to signal halfway through the line for Brogan to come help her out. When she gave a signal, a pat on the back, Brogan would take the guy by the arm and lead him away. That only happened a few times though.

              When she came to end of her line, she had to admit she was very relieved and very grateful she’d brought her Chapstick. She glanced around at the other lines and Dannie’s line was still going strong along with Tristan’s and Pule’s. She turned to walk away before anyone else showed up when she felt a hand on her arm.

              She looked up into the face of Asher and swallowed nervously. He did not look happy. “I want to talk to you.”

              She nodded her head but stopped in her tracks when Brogan’s voice came over the mic. “There’s free skating for the next hour for everyone who wants the party to keep going. We want to thank everyone who came out tonight. But before we sign off for the night, we want to give a shout out to all of our four level matches. These are people who match up physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We have three matches here tonight and we’d love to have them come up. The first couple is Brook Harrison and Taylor Yardly. The next couple is Tara Vaughn and Samuel Miller and our last couple is our very own Asher Murphy and Maya Larsen. Come up and give everyone a wave so we can show them what a four level match looks like.”

              Meredith stared at Asher in shock. “
What?
I thought you and I were a four level match,” she whispered as he stared at her grimly.

              Asher nodded. “Maybe there’s not just one, one and only for everyone. Maybe there’s more than one person for everyone. I guess we’ll catch up later,” he said and then turned around to join Maya on the stage.

              Meredith stared at Asher and Maya smiling for the news camera and being interviewed afterwards. She felt frozen. How could Maya be a perfect match for Asher when she was? She felt someone touch her arm and she looked up to see Tristan looking at her worriedly.

              “You okay? You didn’t get poisoned from too many breath mints did you?”

              Meredith tried to smile. “No, it’s nothing. How was the kissing booth?” she asked, wanting desperately to talk about anything but the fact that Asher might not want to date her casually anymore. He might want to exclusively date Maya now.

              Tristan sighed and took her by the arm and led her over to a chair in the corner. “What’s the matter? Is it Asher? Look, that girl is beautiful but everyone knows he’s in love with you.”

              Meredith breathed in and out slowly as she continued to track the couple with her eyes as they walked off the stage together. Maya had her hand on Asher’s arm possessively and she had to fight the urge to run over and drag Asher away from her.

              “Well, we decided to have a casual relationship. Asher is free to date who he wants to date,” she said in a firm steady voice that belied her racing heart and the frantic thoughts torturing her mind.

              Tristan sighed and shook his head. “Don’t be an idiot, Mer. If you love the guy, tell him. Don’t let him slip away because of stupid ideas of how things are supposed to work. Go talk to him.”

              Meredith frowned at Tristan but looked back at Asher to see him lean down and kiss Maya on the cheek. She gasped at the pain that caused and covered her heart with her hand. Tristan put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug.

              “You better hurry,” he said and walked away.

              She stood up slowly, surprised to find her legs were shaky. She walked over to Asher who was laughing at something Maya was saying and put a hand on his arm.

              “Hey, Asher. Can we talk?”

              Asher and Maya turned toward her. Asher looked surprised and Maya looked irritated at the interruption.

              “Can this wait?” Maya asked, widening her eyes and lifting a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

              Meredith shook her head. “No, actually, it can’t.” she said quietly.

              Asher nodded his head and looked back at Maya. “I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

              Maya nodded, looking at her with narrowed eyes before walking away. Meredith cleared her throat nervously and looked up into Asher’s distant eyes. It almost felt like there was a wall up between them now where before there never had been.

              “We can go back into the kitchen to talk if that’s okay,” she said.

              Asher nodded his head and gestured with his hand that he’d follow her. She walked into the back and shut the door after Asher. He walked over to the white, laminate counter and leaned against it, folding his arms across his chest as he looked at her steadily.

              Meredith felt her heart squeeze painfully as she moved closer to him. “So Maya is very beautiful. Are you going to date her?” she asked, her voice too soft and unsure sounding.

              Asher shrugged. “Well, it’s not like I’m in an exclusive relationship with anyone. You and I are just dating casually. At least that’s what you told me. Right?”

              Meredith looked at her feet and nodded her head. “Right.”

              Asher stood there, staring at her as she realized she had no idea what to say now. This was all her fault. She’d painted herself into a corner and she had no idea how to get out. She was the one who had insisted on things being casual. She was the one who was always pushing Asher away. And now that he had a four level match with someone else, she wanted things to be exclusive. Was she just being shallow and possessive? Or was this more?

              “Ash, I don’t know what to say really. I only know that when I saw you skating with Maya and afterwards when I heard you were a four level match … I just, I felt …
horrible
.”

              Asher blinked in surprise and then looked away. “What are you saying, Meredith? Are you saying you don’t like the thought of me dating other girls?”

              Meredith nodded. “I don’t.”

              Asher sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “You’re a day late and a dollar short, Mer. It’s funny you only now come to this conclusion when the reality of it is shoved down your throat. Before when it was just you and me and you knew I wanted to be exclusive with you, you didn’t care. It was just another way to keep me at arm’s length. I’ve already agreed to go out with her. Maya is a really nice girl and we do have a lot in common. She asked me out and I said yes. Sorry.”