An (Almost) Perfect Love Story (Love Story Book Three) by Rachel Schurig

anything to do with the wedding. I was trying desperately to keep that fact from Chris. He had gone to so much trouble to give me the proposal of my dreams; it felt rude and ungrateful to be so down about the whole thing.
    But it was hard to be excited when I knew my dad was so distraught. And when my mother kept calling me and sending me emails regarding wedding details. I should have known that a little matter like her leaving my father wouldn’t stop her from throwing the social event of her life. Part of me wanted to throw myself into the wedding plans with her so I could pretend things were the same between us, that our family wasn’t in the process of being broken up. The other part of me wanted to throw things at her every time she made contact with me.
    “You okay?” Ryan asked, looking up at me. I realized I was still standing there, holding my food in my hands. “You gonna sit down, or what?”
    “Sorry,” I said, joining him on the couch. “I guess the thought of wedding dresses is so exciting it has me incapacitated.”
    He laughed, but I wasn’t sure if he bought it. He kept shooting me concerned glances as we dug into our food.
    “We don’t have to tell your mom about it,” he said eventually, his voice too casual. “If we go look at dresses, I mean. We could make it just the three of us.”
    I looked up at him, feeling grateful that he had understood, and more grateful that he’d been delicate about it. “That sounds great,” I said, relieved. “Let’s do that.”
    “Yay!” Emily said. “This will be so much fun.”
    I looked down at my plate. “On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t agree to this until I can lose a little weight. This Chinese food is so not helping the waistline.”
    Ryan gave me an incredulous look. “Give me a break, you’re adorable.”
    “I don’t want to be adorable,” I complained. “Not on my wedding day. I want to be beautiful and sexy. I’m tired of being short and soft.” I dug a finger into my arm to demonstrate my complete lack of muscle. “I doubt they make wedding dresses to flatter flabby arms.”
    “Well, we can’t do much about the short thing,” Ryan pointed out. “But if you want to get more toned, we could join a bridal boot camp.”
    “A what ?” Emily asked, raising her eyebrows.
    “A bridal boot camp. They have them at the gym. You know, to help women get all toned up so they can wear strapless dresses and stuff.”
    “You don’t need to lose any weight,” Emily said firmly.
    “I never said she did,” Ryan said, sounding hurt. “But she said she was worried about her arms. What’s wrong with exercising a little?”
    “Boot camp hardly sounds like a little exercise,” she shot back, but I held up my hand.
    “Actually, Ry, that sounds kind of cool. I really do want to get into better shape for the wedding.” And maybe spending some time getting my aggression out at the gym would distract me from all the family drama in my life right now , I thought to myself.
    “Great!” Ryan sounded pleased. “We can go sign up any time you want.”
    “You’re doing this too?” Emily asked. “ You’re joining a bridal boot camp?”
    “For your info, Miss Judgey, lots of members of the bridal party participate.”
    “I’m glad you’re doing it, Ryan,” I said, wanting to cut them off before they started arguing. “God knows it will make it easier for me to go if you’re there.”
    He grinned at me. “You might regret that, you know. When you want to stay home all cozy in your pjs, I’m gonna be dragging you out into the cold to work out.”
    I laughed. “That’s probably the only way I’ll actually do it.”
    My cell phone rang from somewhere in the kitchen. I set my food down reluctantly and stood, pointing at Ryan as he made a move to grab one of my dumplings. “Don’t even think about it, buddy.”
    I found my phone on the kitchen table and answered just before it went to voice mail. “Hello?”
    “Ashley, dear,