AN: Happy Columbus Day to all of those in the U.S.

Many thanks to my beta, Got2BaBabeFan, who willing reads multiple versions some chapters and helps me choose the right one, in addition to correcting grammar and spelling errors.

As always, all characters you recognize are the property of Janet Evanovich. All mistakes are mine alone.

Chpt. 36

I finished the Fall semester of my freshman year in college with relative ease. I even managed to get through my Winter break and Valerie's wedding without strangling her. I know she planned everything quickly and that causes more stress, but if that's what goes into planning a wedding there's just no way that I want to deal with planning my own. No way, no how. I'm definitely eloping if I ever get married. I'll be crooning "Viva Las Vegas" all the way to the drive-thru.

When I returned home for winter break, I found the living and dining rooms filled with silk flower arrangements, little bags filled with Jordan almonds, and a very frazzled looking aunt. Uncle Charlie looked pretty mellow, but he had a tumbler filled with scotch in his hand. He is a man that organizes and sends men on dangerous missions and always remains calm and collected, rarely if ever uses alcohol to dull his stress. I wasn't sure if it was planning and paying for Valerie's wedding or just dealing with Valerie herself that drove him to tipple.

Within an hour of my arrival the bride had me trying on the most awful bridesmaid dress known to man. I actually had to wear a hoop skirt underneath the dress. The only good thing about the dress was that she chose a pretty sky blue color that brought out my eyes. I guess that was her version of being thoughtful. The other bridesmaids were in sea foam green, buttercup yellow, and cotton candy pink.

The morning of the wedding arrived and I awoke to the sounds of a pregnant woman retching in the bathroom right next to my bedroom. Who needs an alarm clock when you have a bride with morning sickness in the house? Once Val's stomach finally settled we went to the salon to have our hair styled into fancy up-dos.

"Do you think you can tame her hair so she doesn't look so Medusa-ish?" Val asked the stylist working on my hair. I just clenched my teeth and gave her a closed-mouth grin. I love my sister, I love my sister, I love my sister, I mentally chanted to myself.

I continued to chant that while we helped her get dressed in the basement of the church. Sadly, all my positive mental chanting could lessen my desire to sucker punch Val-zilla in the nose.

"Make sure not to mess up my hair!" she screeched at us as she was stepping into her monstrosity of a dress. None of us were even close to touching her hair let alone messing it up.

Once it was time to walk down the aisle to Pachelbel's Cannon in D, I fixed Val's dress so that it would flow properly behind her as she walked, all the while she hissed at me that she couldn't see through her veil. I told her to wait five counts and then just walk straight and she'd be fine because Uncle Charlie wouldn't let her fall flat on her face.

I almost felt sorry for Steve when I saw his face while I walked down the aisle. He looked as green as Valerie did this morning. They got through the ceremony. Surprisingly Steve actually went through with the vows. I thought he'd say he couldn't marry her in the middle and then run out of the church. I lost ten bucks to Les on that bet.

The reception was…nice. The venue had good food and it would have looked pretty if my sister hadn't made her own decorations. It just looked like a little old lady's house with all the silk flower arrangements.

Val positively glowed during the first dance and Steve looked downright miserable. I watched them dance for half the song and then I went to the bar where my uncle was unsurprisingly stationed.

"Having a good time?" I asked. The poor man snorted. I had never seen him do that before. Val had a way of bringing out the best of us.

"Oh sure. Nothing like wasting fifteen grand on a wedding. We're already putting money aside for the inevitable divorce and a place for her to live afterward because God knows, I don't think I'd be able to live with her and a bunch of rugrats and remain sane," he told me. I raised my eyebrows at that. It was sad that we all saw the writing on the wall except for Valerie, but what was surprising to me was my aunt and uncle's fatalism and generosity, a strange combination. I wouldn't put money aside for the end of Valerie's marriage. I'd tell her that she made her bed and now she has to sleep in it, but I'm a bitch like that.

"Well, at least the wedding planning is over," I told him.

"I'll toast to that," and he signaled the bartender to get me the same as his. He must have been three sheets to the wind if he was getting me a glass of scotch. We spent the rest of the night, drinking scotch, talking, and laughing. We even danced a few times together. Aunt Marjie was mad that Uncle Charlie and I were a little snookered, but halfway through she was tipsy as well and had fun with us.

Even though my aunt and uncle wasted a lot of money and we had to endure Val-zilla, we had a lot of fun. It even felt like we were a "normal" family and that was priceless.

When I returned to Miami, I spent my Spring semester studying foreign languages, policy, and cultures. I continued running to keep the flan, donut, and beer weight off, and hung out with Lexi and Abuela in my spare time. I tried to convince Lexi to run with me so I'd have a jogging partner, but she disliked exercise way more than I ever did. Plus, as she put it, "A real, sexy woman has curves," and she had enough difficulty getting her them. She was naturally supermodel skinny and she wanted to keep what little boobs and booty she had.

We were currently in the library, studying for the finals we'd have to take in two weeks. As long as we studied and did the work, we got good grades. Lexi was working on her prerequisite and core classes. Since I already knew what I was going for, my classes were more focused than hers. It helped that I came in with all of my Arabic language and culture credit hours.

"Seriously, why do I need to know about Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Gaughin, Kadinsky, and Warhol? I mean, how is it really going to help me in life?" Lexi whispered at me.

"Um…it will make you more a well-rounded person?" I say uncertainly.

"No, it'll just make me a poorer person. Credit hours are expensive and I'm wasting my money on a class that will never help me in life."

"Well, by taking the core curriculum classes you figure out what you do and don't like. It'll help you be more focused in the future?"

"You know that's total bullshit."

I sighed. "I was trying to find the upside."

"There is no upside."

I went back to studying about Latin American history. I was contemplating los desaparecidos and how leaders can manipulate their people using terrorism as a reason to kill thousands of people, many of whom were innocent, in the name of the safety and well-being of their country. Would that happen here? Would the U.S. repeat the history of Argentina? I hoped not, but we already did something similar with the Japanese internment camps during World War II. I hope we wouldn't be that dumb to repeat our mistakes, but even I could see how easy it was to give blind loyalty to your political leaders when you feel that your country is threatened.

"So do you think the U.S. government will put Middle Eastern people living in America, specifically Iraqis and Muslims, in internment camps like we did with the Japanese in World War II?" I asked Lexi. She just stared at me, her mouth gaping open.

"Uh, what?"

"Think about it. The U.S. is seriously considering going to war with Iraq. Haven't you been listening to the news at all? And they're also talking about al-Qaeda, which is a extreme jihadist movement. So if you consider that, do you think our government will look at people with backgrounds that somehow are connected to basically the Middle East as threats and will segregate them from the rest of the population?"

"I've never given it any thought," she replied to me. I sighed. I loved this girl, but sometimes I wonder what she spends her time thinking about.

"Okay. Never mind then." And I went back to studying about Latin America's history for another hour when Lexi's phone buzzed. I just looked at her, raising both of my eyebrows. Maybe one day I'd figure out how to do that one-eyebrow raise.

She flipped her phone open and smiled, "Hey, just give me a minute. I'm in the library and can't talk. Let me get outside."

Five minutes later she came bouncing back to our table the window that we had commandeered from a couple that went up to the stacks to make out. Lexi judged me for spying on them. I only did it to make sure I wasn't taking over someone's table who would actually return to study. Plus, I needed to practice my surreptitious skills in preparation for this summer.

"Guess what?" Her voice was way to loud for the library and a few people looked over at us and glared. I just raised both of my brows in response. "Les and Carlos are coming down this weekend for a a few days!"

Immediately I perked up. I had missed them so much this past semester, barely getting any emails or phone calls from them due to all the missions they went on. Then I had limited time to spend with them since half of my winter break was spent helping with the wedding from hell. Now I had something to look forward to this weekend. My previous plans were to study and go to the Lambda Chi's Spring Fever party this weekend, which I had been planning on going to only due to lack of other entertainment options.

"Really? When are they getting here?" I was so excited I was about ready to show some spirit fingers. At that thought I realized I really needed to stop watching movies with Lexi considering she was the one that made me watch Bring It On.

"They're driving down Thursday. I told them that we both have our night class that night so we wouldn't really be able to see them. Les told me 'to have no fear because [he'd] find some beer.'"

I choked on my laughter. Lester the Jester was apparently in full swing, even breaking out a truly awful rhyme.

"Wow. Did you tell him how lame he sounded?" I couldn't help myself; I just had to ask.

"Oh yeah. Carlos, Tank, and Bobby told him he needed to work on that. I think Bobby told him that it he was lucky he was talking to his sister since I wouldn't judge him too harshly and that if he used something like that in a bar, '[he'd] never get pussy.'"

"Ew, sometimes I really hate listening to them talk. I don't want to think about that. Seeing him with his 'date' Thanksgiving weekend was bad enough."

"Just think of how I feel. I'm his sister." Lexi shuddered.

Thursday seemed like it would never arrive and now that it had, Lexi and I were stuck in our Geology 101 class that went from 1800 to 2100. I was never particularly enthralled with the class to begin with, but tonight was worse than normal because my anticipation at seeing the guys was making time drag on. I assumed Lexi likely felt the same way considering she kept jiggling her foot and tapping her pen on the table.

Professor Kovach, who was known for his clichéd sense of humor, was lecturing on plate tectonics. In honor of the subject he wore a t-shirt with a convergent boundary and the phrase "Not my fault". I admit to smiling a little when I saw it. Lexi, who is generally more tolerant of corny jokes than I am, just rolled her eyes. Yup, neither of us wanted to be here. Unfortunately, this was the next to last class we had before the final and it wasn't like missing a day class that only lasted an hour. If we skipped, it would have been equivalent to missing three classes. That was the only reason why we even came tonight.

When class was finally over, Lexi and I hightailed it out of class, both of us calling the guys in hopes that we could find out where they were and meet up. The guys didn't answer their cell phones though.

"Yo, we just got out of class. Give me a call back so we can meet up with you," I left on Carlos voicemail. I was hoping things would get back to normal between us with this visit.

Lexi's message for Les epitomized little sister. "Hey, where are you? We want to meet up with you! I swear, I'm going to make you pay if you don't call me back soon. Remember, I know where you'll be sleeping!"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Really? If you want to prank him, don't give him forewarning."

"I don't want to prank him! I was just threatening so he'd return my call."

"Never make threats you don't intend to keep," I advised her. Dear lord, I have spent way too much time with military men!

Unfortunately, they never called us back. Lexi ended up returning home around 2300 and I fell asleep on the couch at home, waiting for the guys to get home. When I woke up at 0700 on Friday morning, Abuela told me that Ranger and Tank never came back last night. I was disappointed. I really wanted to see them, well Carlos at least. I like Tank, but he's not the most loquacious person I've ever met, making it hard to get to know him. I didn't even know his real name until Thanksgiving and I've known the man for years!

I changed into my running shorts and sports bra, twisted my hair up into a quick messy bun, slipped on my sunglasses and iPod, and took off for my morning run. I turned up the sound on my earbuds to eardrum-shattering levels, trying to drown out my thoughts with The Used's self-titled album. Sadly, it didn't work.

I wanted to know where the guys were last night, why they didn't call us back. And then I realized, I really didn't want to know. I'm sure I wouldn't like whatever – sorry, whoever Carlos was doing last night. I might like to go in Denial Land about a lot of things, but I learned with Mateo and now Carlos that ignoring things makes you hurt longer than if you were realistic from the get-go. And he didn't look at me that way. If only he didn't see me as a little sister. If only...

Right after the ball dropped on New Year's Eve Carlos kissed me. And I don't mean a friendly peck on the lips. There was tongue and wandering hands for a good five minutes. I thought that it meant something to Carlos. I thought things were changing between us. I thought wrong. The next morning, he blamed beer goggles, saying he didn't realize he kissed me. I didn't ask who he thought he was kissing. My heart already hurt enough and then he told me again that he loved me, in his own way. Apparently that didn't mean in the romantic sense.

So I pretended like we never kissed. I told him I knew it was a drunken mistake. I might've been trying to hurt him a little with my word choice like he hurt me. Immature, I know. Immediately, I felt guilty for even trying to hurt him – not that I did. His face, his eyes…he didn't react at all. And that only made me hurt more. Karma – she's a bitch like that.

So we returned to our close-friend-in-a-very-platonic-way relationship. We ignored said kiss, which was easy to do since we haven't actually seen each other since New Year's. I had to get back to school and the guys were sent on a sudden exfiltration mission the following day.

Once Carlos was back stateside, we went back to our norm. We emailed about family, friends, school, plans for the future. I didn't bring up the fact that I suddenly became a serial first dater à la Lula, nor the reason behind my sudden interest in finding a boyfriend. And he didn't bring up his one night stands, not that he did before. I'm just assuming he had them. He always kept that separate from me, which probably made it easier for me to deny the fact that he just wasn't into me.

I know that Les was aware that I had a very active social life thanks to Lexi. I love that girl, but sometimes she needs to learn to keep her mouth shut, or maybe her fingers from typing – whichever. For whatever reason Les decided to email me about my dating life and safe sex. It's kind of laughable and incredibly embarrassing considering it was coming from Les, but I suppose it was well-meaning.

"So Lexi said you're on a mission to find a new boyfriend or at the very least a fuck buddy. Seriously?! A fuck buddy?! Have you lost your mind? You're not a friends-with-benefits type of girl. You're the girl guys bring home to meet their mother. You're the marrying type of girl. Don't sell yourself short if you have got an itch you can't scratch yourself. And if that's the case, I will totally take you to a sex store and buy you your own battery operated best friend when I see you next. Or would you prefer a shower massager? I hear those are good, too.

And if you find a boyfriend that we – okay that I approve of, because we both know that Ranger will never approve of any guy you date, I'll even take you to Planned Parenthood to go on the pill so you don't get pregnant. I'll even buy you a super-sized box of condoms, too. I'm too young to be an uncle. (My older sister's kids don't count since I haven't seen them in years and I told Lexi she's not allowed to date.)

I know Marjie went over the whole safe sex and how to avoid getting an STD, but I'm just going to reiterate. Always use a condom."

I don't discuss my sex life at all so Les' email was mortifying. The only thing I've told Lexi or Lula about my sex life was that I wasn't a virgin and I refuse to talk to the guys about it for obvious reasons. I wasn't like the Samantha or Carrie on Sex in the City. There was no discussing my sex life (or current lack thereof) over mimosas at Sunday brunch with my best friends. It's just not who I am. It took me two days before I could respond to him and I think I blushed the two hours it took me to write a grand total of three sentences.

Thanks for the concern. I know what I'm doing and am already on the pill. Maybe I'll take you up on a new best friend. *Wink*

Even though I didn't feel like actually winking, or joking, I was trying to make light of the whole thing. If you joke about it, you play it off, right? Thankfully, Les dropped the topic.

Without realizing it I ran my long route and made it back home in under an hour. I guess the upside to being lost in thought was that I didn't even pay attention to my self-inflicted exercise torture. I walked into the kitchen, immediately heading for the coffee pot. I turned around, jumping and spilling my coffee when I saw Carlos was sitting at the table and looking at me.

I yanked my earbuds out. "Uh, morning," I said before grabbing a handful of paper towels to wipe up the floor.

"Babe. You really need to be more aware of your surroundings. Is that what you wore running?"

I sighed. "Sorry, I had my earbuds in."

"Babe." I groaned again. It was amazing how one words could imply a fifteen-minute lecture. Yes, I know better than to run by myself and have my music cranked so loud that I can't hear someone come up from behind me.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Loud music makes it so I can't be aware of my surroundings."

"Is that what you wore running around Miami?" He looked me up and down. I could feel his disapproval from across the room.

"Hey! It's hot out there. There is nothing wrong with this." I looked down at my sweat-soaked running shorts, sports bra, and sneakers. Ok, so maybe I could have worn a shirt over it, but it was 85 degrees and 80 percent humidity at 0700. I was just trying to survive the weather.

"You need to be more covered up."

"Seriously?"

"Babe."

"Oh my God. This is how you want to start your visit? By scolding me? I can't believe I was actually looking forward to seeing you!" And then I stalked off to take a long shower and sulk.

I spent extra time getting ready, making sure my hair wouldn't get frizzy, and that my make-up was flawless. I even put on a tight tank top, short floral skirt, and wedge sandals. As every girl with hurt feelings knows, my hair, makeup, and clothes are a form of armor. I wanted to look so good that he regretted rejecting me.

I grabbed my messenger bag, made sure I had my laptop and everything I needed for my classes for the day. I had planned on skipping my two hour-long classes today, but after my little run-in, I decided going to class would be a better way to spend my time.

When I walked back into the kitchen Abuela, Carlos, and Tank were sitting at the table, drinking coffee and eating their breakfasts. Tank looked a little grayish, making me think he was hung-over. I debated about testing my theory by making a lot of noise, but decided that he didn't deserve my attitude this morning.

"Morning," I said, grabbing a to-go mug for my coffee, and a croissant from the plate on the counter.

"¿Vas a la Universidad? Pienso que habías decido hacer los novillos hoy," Abuela asked me. [You're going to school? I thought you'd decided to skip today.]

"Sí. Tengo que estudiar y escribir mis ensayos para el fin del semestre.Queda solamente una semana más.Entonces, no tendré que hacer mucha tarea cuando están acá esta fin de semana." [Yes. I have to study and write my term papers for the end of the semester. There's only one more week left. That way, I won't have to do a lot of homework while they're here this weekend.]

Abuela just looked at me funny because she knew I had already finished a lot of my papers and was caught up on my studying. The guys on the other hand didn't. I prayed that she'd let my little lie slide.

"Anyone want more coffee while I'm right here?" I asked, standing at the coffee maker and holding up the coffee pot.

"Yes, please," Tank said, holding up his mug. I walked over and refilled his mug.

"When do you think you'll be back, Babe?"

"Probably around two-ish? I'm not sure. Jason was talking about doing something and I don't know if he meant this afternoon or tonight," I said throwing out the name of the guy I had been very casually seeing for the past month. We hadn't committed to anything at this point and we most certainly hadn't slept together. I saw Tank's eyebrows go up at the mention of Jason.

"Jason?" Carlos asked, neither his voice nor face giving away anything. He'd gotten better at his blank face. Bastard.

"Yeah, we've been dating for a month. We'll see where it goes." I gave a brilliant smile. They didn't have to know the details or lack thereof. Abuela and Tank both gave me small smiles. Carlos' blank face fell and he openly glared at me.

"You didn't tell me you were dating anyone."

"And I won't until I decide it's more than just fun. Why should I subject them to the Carlos Mañoso inquisition unless I'm planning on marrying him?" I might have taken that a bit too far, but I wasn't going to tell him about my love life. It was none of his business since he rejected me and he needed to know that. "Anyway, I gotta go. I don't want to be late for class. I'll call you later. Maybe. Bye!"

I gave a little finger wave as I turned to leave. While I was heading for the door, Tank got up and opened the fridge door to hide the full smile on his face, his shoulders shaking in laughter. Jerk.

I made it to my car and took off for school. I needed some breathing room and we hadn't even spent fifteen minutes together. Ugh. Why had I been looking forward to their visit again?