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swimming right along until your cousin called me with some nonsense.”
    â€œOh, Lord. What’s Parker up to now?”
    Victoria paused for a moment, knowing she had to carefully measure her words. Although she and Samantha were the best of friends, and talked freely about any and everything, no matter how delicate the subject, Parker was Samantha’s first cousin—her favorite cousin to be exact—and Samantha valued and protected her family like a pit bull. Over the years, Samantha and Tyler hadn’t seen eye to eye when it came to Parker either. Tyler had never liked the man, and after Parker had cheated on Victoria and broken her heart, Tyler officially had no use for him.
    Victoria struggled with the fact that Parker was entwined in her life in more ways than she cared to acknowledge. Over the years, she’d managed to keep her memory of him at bay by never discussing him with Samantha or Tyler. She’d made it clear that her ex-lover and his life’s happenings were none of her concern, and ushering him into her life in any way would serve no one. Just because he was a part of Samantha’s life, that didn’t mean he had to enter her world.
    But the minute that PJ and Alexandria had fallen in love, Parker had been back on the scene in Victoria’s life, front and center. And not only was he in her life again, he was about to become part of her family.
    Victoria leaned back in her chair, carefully choosing the words she was going to say. “He wanted to know if it was okay to invite more guests to the wedding reception.”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with that?” Samantha asked. “At least he’s trying to be considerate. Hell, some people just show up and don’t give a shit about inconveniencing anybody.”
    Victoria shook her head. Samantha had changed in many ways, but the one trait she couldn’t break was her predilection for cursing. She could put a Hells Angel to shame and not think a thing of it. “True. But here’s the thing.... He already knew he could invite more people because I told him so when Alexandria, PJ, and I talked with him about the guest list on a conference call last month.”
    â€œOh. Well, maybe he just forgot. You know how busy he is, juggling his practice and all the activities he’s involved in with the D.C. social scene.”
    Did they rehearse that line? Victoria wondered. “Samantha, I know you love your cousin, but sometimes . . .”
    â€œGirl, I know how Parker is, and I know he probably called just to talk to you because he still has a thing for you after all these years.”
    â€œI just think he likes to irritate me.”
    â€œUh, Victoria, who do you think you’re talking to?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œYou don’t have to play coy and pretend with me. I know the deal, and I know that Parker still has a ’lil somethin’-somethin’ on his mind when it comes to you.”
    Victoria didn’t want to lie and say he didn’t, but she also didn’t want to cosign what Samantha had just said. She sat quiet on her end and continued to listen.
    â€œGirl, I’m just gonna tell you the truth. I confronted Parker about his feelings for you right after PJ and Alexandria got engaged, because I knew it was gonna be trouble. When I told him outright that I suspected he still had feelings for you and that he needed to let it go, he didn’t deny it,” Samantha said, making a tsk ing sound as she spoke. “It’s just straight-up sad because he’s way too old for this shit, carrying a torch and what not. But it is what it is.”
    Samantha had just created silence on the line.
    â€œHello? Victoria, are you still there?”
    â€œYes, I’m here. I’m just taking a moment to process what you said.”
    â€œI know you’re not going to admit it, but you can’t deny that what I just said isn’t true. Now the question