Page 85 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

“What’s wrong?” I cried.

“I’m going to be sick,” he gasped.

“David, man up, dude!” Andrew said, clasping his shoulder. “The tights aren’t that bad.”

“Not the tights, idiot.” David squeezed his eyes shut. “My stomach.”

“I think he ate something off,” Iris said, running a wet paper towel over his forehead. “He just puked, but he doesn’t have a fever or anything.”

“David, what did you eat today?”

“Jerry,” he muttered. “Jerry made me try his damn fish tacos.”

“That’s right!” Iris said. “He wanted David’s expert opinion. And I didn’t touch them because they didn’t look so good.”

“You sure that’s all he ate?”

“Since breakfast, yeah, but that was just cereal at home.”

He doubled over again, clutching his stomach. “I think it’s food poisoning,” he moaned.

“Okay, I don’t want to hear anyone else say those words as long as the cameras are here,” I growled. “Posey, please go to Jerry’s booth and tell him to get rid of everything. Under no circumstance is he allowed to serve food tonight, okay?”

“Got it,” she said, taking off.

I turned back to David and Iris. “Okay, we need to get you to the doctor,” I said. “Andrew, you’re just going to have to take his place.”

“I’m not doing the skit!”

“What choice do we have? You and Iris can just do it.”

“Um, I’m taking my boyfriend to the doctor,” Iris said. “Besides, Andrew and I are related.” Oh, right. They couldn’t exactly play the princess and her lover.

“Okay, let’s just think,” I said, rubbing my hands over my forehead. “Who can do this—”

David moaned. “We should go,” Iris said, pulling off her flower crown.

“Yeah, go, go,” I said, the beginnings of panic setting in.

“Riley?” Gina asked, sticking her head around the curtains. “Are you starting soon? We have all the footage we need, but I’d like to get the legend skit taped if we can.”

Andrew and I both stepped in front of David, blocking him from her view. “Yup,” I called out, my voice so chipper Andrew winced. “About to get started!”

“Great. See you out there.”

She disappeared and I turned to Andrew. “You’re doing this.”

He stared back at me, wide eyed. “With who?”

I glanced at Iris in her princess costume. She was quite a bit shorter than me. And she definitely had more going on in the chest area. But I would just have to make do. What choice did I have?

Ten minutes later, Andrew and I were standing to the side of the stage, hidden from the crowd by curtains strung up between the trees.

“I cannot believe you’re making me do this,” he muttered, pulling on the tights.

“Shut up,” I hissed. “You think I’m happy about it?” The princess dress was about three inches too short for me and I had to use a safety pin to keep it from gaping over my boobs. Real flattering.

“We’re ready to go, Iris,” Tina, the dance studio owner, said, sticking her head around the curtains. “Oh,” she said, surprised. “I mean—Riley?”