“Yeah, it just kind of happened for me.”
“Colin wasn’t in a frat.”
“Yeah? It hasn’t come up.” I glanced at my watch. “We should go.”
“All right, let’s get this show on the road.”
I easily found the hotel, but the lot was almost full. We ended up parking on the opposite side from the entrance. Once again, I regretted my choice of footwear.
“Do we just walk in? We’re pretty late.” I smoothed out my dress.
“I bet we can sneak in. Hopefully no one noticed us missing.” Carly was delusional.
We hiked across the lot, through the lobby, and reached the dining room. Carly giggled the whole time, as though we were teenagers sneaking in after a night out.
“Hey, is everything okay?” Colin met us at the door of the dining room. Considering he was standing there as soon as we got there, he must have been watching for us.
Carly got serious. “Everything is fine, Colin. Your girlfriend and I were bonding.”
Colin didn’t blink at the g-word. “I’m sure you were. Are you drunk?”
I wanted to bury my head in my hands.
“Yeah. Maddy introduced me to cosmos. They’re really strong but still taste good.”
I jumped in to defend myself. “Uh, she only had a few.”
“I can’t help that I’m a lightweight.”
“I’m sorry, Colin.” I met his gaze. I’d apologized, but it wasn’t my fault she insisted on ordering the third drink.
He laughed. “It’s not your fault, Maddy. I’m glad you guys spent time together…or I think I am.”
“I didn’t embarrass you.” Carly leaned on Colin’s shoulder.
I noticed some people watching us and turned to Carly. “Do you want to go in, or should I walk you to your room?”
“You know what? Hold on.” Colin walked back into the dinning room and returned with one of his friends. “Mark is going to walk you to your room, Carly. Maddy’s staying with me.” He put a hand on my hip in a way that gave me chills—the good kind.
“Great. See you later, Maddy.” Carly smiled and I got the distinct impression she was thrilled about who was walking her back.
As soon as Carly disappeared, I turned back to Colin. “Sorry.”
“Why do you keep apologizing? It’s not your fault my little sister’s a lush.”
“She is twenty-one,”
“Yes, but she doesn’t always act it. You, on the other hand, always act twenty-two.”
“Oh yeah? Is that different than you acting twenty-six?”
“Completely.” He leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “Are you ready to meet my parents? They’ve been asking about you for the last hour.”
“They have?”
“Yeah. They’re curious who the mysterious Maddy really is.”
“Mysterious, huh?”
“Very.” He took my arm and led me over to a table full of people.
“Is this Maddy?”A blonde middle-aged woman asked excitedly. She was out of her seat and on the way over to us before Colin could answer. Was it his mom?
“Hi Mrs.…” What if I was wrong and it wasn’t his mom?
“Please, call me Miranda. It’s so nice to finally meet the girl my son talks about so much.”
Phew. Mystery solved. “Nice to meet you, Miranda. I’m Maddison.”
“Maddison? Colin never told us what Maddy was short for.” She cast a sidelong glance at her son.
He shrugged. “You never asked.”
“Where’s Carly?” Miranda looked around. “Didn’t you say the girls were together?”
The girls? That was a rather informal way of describing us. I didn’t even try to answer. I’d let Colin take that one.
Colin smiled at me before answering. “She went to lie down.”
“To lie down? Is she drunk?” Miranda didn’t sound particularly surprised, which made me wonder if this was a frequent behavior of Carly’s and not as much my influence as I thought.
Colin put an arm around my shoulder. “Maybe a little.”
“I’m sorry you had to witness that.” Miranda shook her head.
“It’s fine. She seems really nice.” I didn’t know Carly well, but I liked her enough that I wasn’t going to throw her under the bus.
“So you two are getting along then?”
“Yeah. We just met tonight.”
“Oh. I assumed Colin would have introduced you two when she visited. No wonder she wasn’t forthcoming with any details.”
I wanted to say “you and me both,” but I kept that to myself. Something wasn’t adding up for me. Why not introduce me to his sister, but invite me to a wedding to meet the whole family? If he was working that much, why was she visiting him?
“Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance.” I’m not sure why I stepped in, but I didn’t want to hear Colin’s excuses in front of his mom. I’d get the truth from him when we were alone.
“Maddy just got here, so I want to make sure she gets something to eat.” Colin deftly maneuvered me toward the buffet. “So that’s my mom. I’m not sure where my dad is.”
“That’s fine. Meeting one parent tonight is plenty.”
He laughed. “You’re going to meet him.”
I made a plate of chicken and some sort of pasta while Colin watched.
“I’m guessing you ate already?”
“Yes, but I’ll obviously sit with you.”
“I feel bad. I don’t have to eat.”
He placed a roll on my plate. “You have to eat.”
“You’ve been around me enough to know I eat plenty. You don’t have to worry about me wasting away.”
“Yeah, but what kind of date would I be if I let you go without food?”
“I don’t know…a normal one?”
“Please eat. For me.”
“You don’t have to beg me. I’m hungry. I’m just saying I can skip it if there’s something else I should be doing.”
“Nothing else right now.” He led me back over to the table his mom was seated at. He pulled out a chair before I could.
I sat down and glanced around. Everyone else was busy talking, so I dug in.
“Hey, Colin. We need you.” A girl I recognized as one of the bridesmaids came over.
Colin looked at me questioningly. “Do you mind? Hopefully, this won’t take long.”