第4部分(第6/7 頁)

　herself　to　say　wedding…related　words　over　and　over　again　in

her　head　to　make　it　more　real。

She　got　closer　to　his　table　and　tried　to　smile。　Droplets　of　water　beaded　on　the　cold　pitcher　of

Coke。　Vanessa　licked　her　lips。　She　was　pretty　thirsty？maybe　she　could　put　up　with　Piotr　for　a　few

minutes　while　she　loaded　her　camera　and　set　up。　If　he　was　going　to　be　family　soon；　she？d　have　to

learn　to　converse　with　him；　right？

？What？s　up？？　she　asked；　plunking　her　camera　down　on　the　table　and　almost　knocking　over　the

Coke。

？？Allo；　Vanessa。You　made　it；？　Piotr　said　with　an　awkward；　crooked…toothed　smile。　？You　want？？

He　gestured　to　the　glass　on　the　table。

She　took　a　seat；　resisting　her　desire　to　push　him　onto　the　sticky　floor　and　run。　The　guy　could

barely　speak　proper　English　and　now　he　was　about　to　be　her　brother…in…law？　？That？d　be　great；？

she　replied　tensely。

Piotr　walked　to　the　bar　to　get　her　a　glass；　and　Vanessa　noticed　that　even　though　he　was　still

wearing　those　gross　leather　pants；　he　really　wasn？t　half…bad　looking；　with　his　shaggy　blond　hair

and　tight　black　T…shirt。　Okay；　so　his　crooked　teeth　and　smoker？s　cough　weren？t　exactly

swoon…worthy；　but　at　least　they　made　him　sort　of　。　。　。　quirky。

Vanessa　looked　around　the　room；　accidentally　catching　the　eye　of　a　frighteningly　large　man　in　a

red　T…shirt　with　cut…off　sleeves　that　read　GUNS　DON？T　KILL　PEOPLE？IKILL

PEOPLE。　His　biceps　were　enormous　and　covered　in　tattoos。　He　saw　her　staring　and　gave　a

toothy　smile；　then　started　heading　through　the　pack　of　people　toward　her　table。　Vanessa　looked

wildly　around；　hoping　he　was　headed　toward　someone　else。　Just　then　Piotr　swooped　in　and　fell

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