Mr. Imperfect

chapter 14



What was taking Mike so long? Kris had threatened the wellbeing of the Xbox. Could she be any clearer on the seriousness of her request? And yet it had been two minutes and no Mike. Two more minutes and she might wear a track into her carpet with all her pacing.

What were they going to do? What could they do? This Rori girl seemed nice enough. Too nice for brutal punishment and yet… she was wrong. At least for Luke. Definitely wrong for Luke. It was like Newport meets skate park. Sure, there might be some initial attraction of opposites, but a sustained relationship would just be frustration after frustration. It had to be. Because if it wasn’t, that meant…

Shit. Kris couldn’t even make herself think it, so how would she handle it if Luke actually married this mystery woman? Kris was obsessing over the possibilities when her brother stepped through the window.

“Isn’t it Luke who should be using this entrance?” he teased.

“Shut up,” she hissed, keeping her voice down even though it was unlikely that Rori would hear them. “I didn’t ask you over to watch you gloat. You’re here to talk tactics. What are we going to do?”

Mike sat on her window sill and considered that. “I’ve been trying to figure that out myself. I was trying to dig a little with Luke tonight, actually. He’s still in his ‘new toy’ phase with Rori, that’s for sure. She’s all shiny and new and superficial to him. That could work in our favor.”

Kris shook her head. “That’s weak sauce. They would both concede the fact that their relationship is superficial at this point. We need to focus on fundamental differences. Core value stuff.”

“Did you get anything during your little estrogen powwow at the party?” he asked.

“Not much,” Kris admitted. “The girl knows how to direct a conversation. She’s polite without really ever getting personal.”

Mike smiled. “Which means she doesn’t like getting personal.”

“She’s for sure got daddy issues. I’m not sure what they are, though.”

“Oooh, someone’s getting mercenary,” Mike teased, his mood much lighter than hers, as if this were all a game.

As if.

“Hey, I’m just brainstorming here, okay?” Kris snapped. “What about you? I don’t hear any big ideas coming out of your mouth.”

“Hey, I suggested the take-the-shine-off-the-new-toy approach,” he countered, before adding. “Although I have to admit that she is rather shiny.”

“Traitor,” she said, even as she caught the hint of interest in her brother’s eye. “Although that does bring up the option of seeing if she likes Team Mike better than Team Luke. You could charm her.”

“Off limits,” Mike said with a quick shake of his head. “There aren’t many man-rules, but that’s one of them. No poaching.”

“Hmm. Bummer. Because I saw her watching you tonight.”

“Scowling at me, you mean?” Mike said. “Yeah, I caught that too. It’s like I wronged her in another life, or I look like her ex-boyfriend or something.”

Kris considered that. “We can hope. Unprovoked bias would work in our favor with Luke, since he has a man-crush on you.”

Mike grimaced. “Really, Kris? Could you stop saying crap like that? It’s just uncomfortable.”

“And true. But the point is that we need to do more research.”

“You need to do more research,” Mike amended. “Remember, I’m more of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy. Don’t turn this into rocket science, sis. We both know this wedding is not going to happen, just like you’re not going to marry Caleb. I work with engaged couples all day, every day and after a while you get a feel for the ones who are going to make it.”

“And what about me and Luke?” she challenged. “What does your intuition tell you about that possibility?”

Mike was careful not to react, she noted. As if he had anticipated the question and scripted his response. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, okay?”

“Fine,” she agreed.

“Fine.”

The room grew silent.

Mike let out a resigned sigh. “We can’t leave it at that, can we. You want to talk about Luke.”

Unbidden, filled Kris’s eyes and she turned away to try to hide them. “I don’t want to care, Mike. I really don’t. Not when he so clearly doesn’t.”

“C’mon,” he said, putting an arm around her as he sat on the bed. “You don’t know that. I’ve beat him up more than once for making comments about you. That said, if the reason you’re dating Caleb is to see if you can get Luke to admit he likes you, it’s not a bad plan. If I open the door to being okay with the fact that Caleb likes you, things might play out in a way that I’m completely uncomfortable with, but you might like.”

Kris wiped her eyes, smiling despite herself. “Well, as long as you’re uncomfortable.”

Mike pulled her a little closer and Kris let her head rest on his shoulder.

“Go on,” he urged her. “Get the tears out now, because once the gauntlet starts you’ve gotta keep your poker face on. Anything you’ve got to get out, let it rip now or forever hold your peace.”

There were many reasons Kris loved her brother, but this part of him was near the top of her list. To the rest of world, Kris liked to pretend she was composed and together. The only reason she could pull that off was because she had a brother she could freak out with and confide every insecurity to. And he never told a soul.

Yeah, as far as brothers went, Kris was pretty sure she’d won the jackpot.