One day before wedding...

I'm sitting in a van with one of the greatest looking human beings in the world and a giant dog.

I feel a bit claustrophobic as Boomer sticks his head between us and Ryder reaches up to pet him. Ryder's giant arm in my space as I drive.

Boomer gives him a wet sloppy kiss all up the side of his face.

"Thanks, Boomer. Did you learn that from your mom?" Ryder says.

I glance at him then back to the road, "if you're insulting my kissing techniques I will pull this car over and kick you out."

"Not insulting. Complimenting," Ryder says laughing.

"Kissing like a dog is not a compliment!"

He shrugs, "to each their own."

"What the hell kind of saying is that?" I ask.

"I don't know. Sayings are fucking weird." Ryder grabs a water bottle from the little cooler by his feet and chugs half of it.

"True. The grass is greener on the other side? What is the other side? Heaven? Your neighbors lawn?"

Ryder laughs, "heaven. Never thought of that. So they're saying dying is the only way things will get better?"

"God, I hope not." I shake my head. We are silent as we drive on a two-lane highway in the middle of nowhere. We have a lovely scene of cows frolicking in the beautiful weather and dirt. Lots of dirt.

Ryder shifts around in his seat. I never thought someone could look too big for a van, but he does. His thick arms are littered with colorful tattoos and his white t-shirt looks like it could possibly rip from the straining. Damn.

"You should keep your eyes on the road," Ryder smirks and raises an eyebrow, "you like what you see?"

"I already saw it all," I mumble.

Ryder's laugh is so loud it echoes in the tiny space between us, "I figured we'd avoid that topic."

"I don't avoid any topic. I kind of talk out of my butt if you haven't noticed."

"I've noticed," Ryder says.

The car fills with silence again. It's somewhat awkward but not too bad. I wonder what the hell I'm doing with this guy I barely know.

I don't know anything about him except for what he looks like naked. Which I guess is more than I know about some people.

"What do you do?" I ask.

"Firefighter. I told you that the other night. You asked me to put on my uniform. Remember?"

I try to remember that and all of a sudden it comes to me. I asked him to put on his uniform and instead he took all of his clothes off. My drunken brain might have turned into liquid after that.

I can feel my face heating as I remember.

"Why did you open the shop?" He asks.

"My mom and I always planted flowers together. She would say that one day she wanted to open a shop and I'd help," I say.

"So it's your mom's?"

I shake my head, "My mom died and I became even more determined to live out our dreams."

"She's Marilyn?" He asks referring to the name of the flower shop.

I nod.

"She'd be proud," he says placing his hand on mine. I sigh and allow myself to truly hear those words.

They are words that have been said to me over and over but until this stranger said them I didn't believe it.

If Ryder could see just from these few moments we've spent together that I am doing something right, than maybe it was true.

"So explain to me why and how we are not only going to your exes wedding but also providing them flowers?"

"Providing them flowers? That is the weirdest way to phrase that ever."

Ryder shrugs and I can feel his gaze on the side of my face. I want to reach up and push his eyes away because I feel too open with him. It's probably the fact that we are sitting in this tiny space and have been breathing the same oxygen for way too long.

"Uhh, so Graham and I were together for, like, our whole lives."

"So then what happened?" Ryder prods. I wonder why he cares so fucking much. Does he really think I want to talk about this?

"Why do you even want to know?" I ask voicing my thoughts in a calmer manner.

"If I'm going to this thing I want to at least know why," Ryder reaches back and pets Boomer and I just about die so I'll spill my guts to him.

"Graham's family moved next-door when we were kids. It was instant friendship between us and our families. We started dating then we broke up."

"Why?"

"This is so fucking pointless," I sigh. "Graham thought I was too immature. He wanted to get married," I roll my eyes, "living together wasn't enough for him.

"He said that I didn't take anything seriously. So I brought home Boomer." I say angrily. Basically spitting out the words.

"You guys were fighting so you brought home a dog?" Ryder asks. I can hear the smirk in his voice. I want to slap him.

"I read once that couples that live together will try to test if they're responsible enough for married life, you know?" I ask.

Ryder shakes his head.

"So couples will get a house plant and if they keep that alive they move on to a pet and if they keep the pet alive they move on to babies. Basic science."

"Science?"

"Stop interrupting me!" I say.

Ryder is silent but I can see him holding back laughter when I glance at him.

"I can obviously keep plants alive so I went right to the dog. But Boomer was a terrible dog, which made Graham even more annoyed with me."

"Then eventually he couldn't take me or Boomer anymore so he broke up with us. He needed more stability and I needed to grow up." I say glancing at Boomer in the rearview mirror.

"What an asshole." Ryder mumbles, "how old were you?"

"Twenty-one. He was twenty-four."

"He expected you to want that kind of life at twenty-one?"

"Whatever."

We are silent again. The landscape changes from flat farm land to a more traditional highway. Cars are everywhere and I focus on what the GPS is saying. We are about forty-five minutes away from the wedding venue.

"How are you still single?" I ask.

"I ask myself that every day."

I laugh and turn the radio louder. I'll get everything out of him eventually. We have the rest of today, the wedding tomorrow, and the car ride home. I'm not easy to ignore.