Ready to Wed by Cindi Madsen

can’t wait to do so I’m always yours and you’re always mine.”
    “But I can’t imagine not having you in my life. Hell, I’ve lived it the past few weeks and it sucks.”
    Now I wished I felt hollow and numb the way I did at the wedding, because it’d be better than the pain radiating through my chest. “It’s different than sucking or not.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “You need to learn what it means to be a dad and how that’s going to impact your life. I need to figure out who I am independent of you. And once we both work out those things, we can see if we want to give our relationship another shot.”
    Grant sighed, but slowly nodded.
    “Come on, Cupid,” I said, patting my leg. I grabbed his leash and his favorite mangled squeaky ball, and opened the door. Cupid ran to my car and danced around in front of the passenger side. I glanced back at Grant. “Good luck with your son. Call me and tell me how it goes, okay?” That seemed like good neutral territory. Friends who cared about each other and such.
    By the time Grant’s house was in my rearview mirror, Cupid already had his head out the window, his tongue dragging behind him. I reached over and ran my hand down his coat. Right now, I felt a bit like sticking my head out and feeling the wind in my hair, too. We were together again, were actually making progress on goals—anyway, I was. Though I was pretty sure Cupid would make a goal of spending more time with me if he could.
    I thought of today’s wedding, and how wrong it’d felt compared to others I’d planned. I had to believe that eventually I could put on one and get a tingly, hopeful, happy buzz.
    That I could find my faith in love.
    Maybe then I’d know exactly how I felt about Grant.
    And hopefully by then, the rest of the city would have forgotten all about the time I got stood up at the altar.
    …
    Using my brand-new key seemed like busting into Brendan’s personal space, but when I called to see if he was home so I could bring Cupid by, he told me to let myself in. Brendan was on the couch, his tie undone, along with a couple of buttons. There was something sexy about it, all businesslike yet casual.
    Okay, I needed to stop thinking about my new-slash-old friend as sexy, especially if this arrangement was going to work. I needed a friend I could relax and be myself with, not a buddy to leer at.
He glanced up from the TV, and even though I’d been trying to tame my thoughts, I still felt like I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t. “How’d the wedding go?”
    “Crazy, but good. I’m exhausted.” I set the bowl and bag of dog food I’d picked up on my way over on the floor, and gestured to my dog. “Cupid, Brendan. Brendan, Cupid.”
    “Sorry about the name, dude,” Brendan said, holding his hand in front of my dog’s snout before petting him.
    I shot him a dirty look. “Hey. His name rocks.”
    “Right. Very tough. Who’s a tough boy?” Brendan scratched behind Cupid’s ears and his tail thunked against the coffee table.
    “Cupid is a god. He had arrows,” I added when Brendan failed to look impressed. “And I’ll have him shoot you in the ass if you don’t shut it.”
    “Again with the violence,” Brendan said, shaking his head.
    There. Now that was more like us. Just like that, life felt a little more bearable. Cupid’s nails tapped on the hardwood floor as he explored the room.
    Right as I was about to sit, Brendan stood, sliding his tie off and tossing it onto the couch. “I was about to cook up a burger. You want one?”
    My stomach growled in response. With how hollow the wedding had made me feel, I hadn’t bothered eating, and it wasn’t until he mentioned food that I realized just how hungry I was. “Yes, please. Need help?”
    “I wouldn’t turn it down.”
    The thought of one more step in my heels made me wanna cry, so I kicked them off before following him into the kitchen. Pots and pans clanged together as Brendan riffled