Page 80 of The Wedding Situation Romance

After the rehearsal, we head to the ballroom for a candlelit dinner. It’s a four-course meal that is just as fancy as most people’s wedding day dinners, if not more. There’s a live band playing soft orchestra music and champagne on every table. In short, it’s completely and entirely and incandescently over the top. And I love it.

The best part of it all is that all their friends are there. It’s one of those weddings where people invite literally everyone they know, and no doubt there will be nothing short of five hundred people tomorrow. Justin, Dani, AJ, Andie, Ophelia, and Nick are all sitting with us, as well as a few others. Everyone is eating and drinking and carrying on; their hangovers slowly wearing off as they get buzzed again.

Honestly, I haven’t felt the need to do much more than that. A nice, warm buzz is just enough for me right now. That’s the thing about weddings for me. I love them enough that I don’t want to get drunk. I don’t want to blur the memories or get sloppy. I want to indulge in and remember every detail. A glass or two is more than enough.

“So that was the first time I met Drew,” Justin says. “Needless to say, we aren’t allowed at that pub anymore.”

“I think we might have been banned from that whole strip of pubs,” Drew says with a grin as he rubs the nape of his neck.

“Oh, you were,” Cass nods. “Trust me. We have to go incognito if we want to go back to the Wicked Tequila Room,” she says, and we all laugh.

“I think any place with the words wicked and tequila in the name gives a fair warning,” Ophelia says, and we all laugh again.

“Are you having fun?” Reid asks as he leans into me. His arm has been around me since we sat down, loose but present. His lips brush the shell of my ear with the question, and it sends a warm trickle down my spine.

“I am,” I smile at him. “Are you?”

I expect a snarky answer. Something about how having fun at a wedding is an oxymoron. Or maybe another comment about his forced attire. So I am a bit surprised to say, at the least when he smiles easily, sweeps his eyes over his friends and answers with, “I am.”

No joke. No jab. No negativity.

Between that and the utter extravagance of this wedding, I wonder if I am dreaming.

After dinner, most of the guests leave. The family heads out for the night, and the band packs up. But it’s only 9pm and both Drew and Cassidy aren’t ready to call it a night. Honestly, neither am I.

We head out onto the patio at the rear of the ballroom. There’s a gas fire pit, flower arrangements, fairy lights and enough seating for the ten of us. There’s also a couple of bottles of chilled wine and glasses.

“This is lovely,” Ophelia says with her natural energy as she sways over to take a seat around the fire.

“I agree,” I say, sitting next to her. Everyone else follows suit. “It’s arguably one of the most gorgeous venues I’ve been to yet.”

“That means a lot coming from someone like you,” Cass says as she relaxes into a chair, her and Drew holding hands.

“Why me?” I ask, meanwhile watching Reid as he pours wine for everyone who wants a glass. Like I said…these best man skills are impressive.

Everyone gives my question a funny look.

“Because you’re the wedding girl,” Andie says with aduhtone.

“It’s true,” my friend Dani agrees. “You’re the girl that inspires everyone to believe in love.”

I smile at that, but it’s also kind of an odd statement. Because if that’s the way people see me, it’s ironic that I’ve never found real love.

My stomach sours a little, but my eyes glance up at Reid and my nerves tingle.

I’m afraid to feel anything beyond that.

And yet…

“I just don’t understand how you could settle for an asshole like August here,” AJ says, clearly more than buzzing.

There’s that last name again. I make a mental note to look him up later. It’s odd to me that we’ve never talked about it. But also, I’ve never heard my dad mention an August either. Funny, since they work in the same field.

They’ve probably worked together.

Before I can give any more thought to it, Dani claps her hands together.

“We should play a game,” she says. And sure enough, there is a small pile of trivia and wedding-themed games sitting on one of the side tables.