“I did consider asking him to come with me,” I admitted, “but I keep chickening out. I mean, the wedding would be way more fun if I had a date, but it’sa whole weekend. It seems like too much pressure for a first date. Plus, Lawrence will be there, watching every move we make.” The idea should have been creepy or disturbing. The gentle pulse between my thighs said otherwise.
“Even better,” Dante drawled with a wicked grin. “You and Connor get the chance to explore your feelings for each other during a romantic weekend away, and you get to drive your ex crazy with jealousy at the same time.”
“Unless youwantLawrence to get in on the action,” Sean suggested, mirroring the wicked tilt of Dante’s lips. “It would be the perfect opportunity to let that kink of yours out to play.”
My cheeks warmed as I rolled up onto my side, one hand supporting my head. “I’d be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. But I’m serious about Connor, and I don’t want to mess it up by giving in to some fantasy that probably wouldn’t even live up to the hype.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” Dante suggested as he rose from the carpet. Sean and I followed suit and we took our cups back into the kitchen. “At least none of you would be wondering anymore. You could get it out of your system and move on. Maybe even Lawrence would be able to get past it.”
“Maybe.” The idea made a certain kind of sense. Due to its innate sense-making, of course. Not because it provided a good excuse to play piggy-in-the-middle with Connor and Law.
“Take it from someone who waited eight years to get the one boy I always knew I wanted,” Dante added, tilting his head towards Sean. “If you want to be with Connor, or Lawrence, or Connor and Lawrence, or whatever, it’s time to pull your finger out and do something about it.”
“Charming,” I said as giggles burst out of me. “But also true.” I considered my options, before taking a deep breath and nodding at them. “Okay, I know what I’m going to do.”
TWELVE
______
CONNOR
Gabi was acting weird. She’d been acting weird ever since she got home from helping Sean and Dante settle into their new house the previous afternoon. At the time I thought she was just tired, but a full night’s sleep hadn’t cured whatever was going on with her.
I’d offered to buy her breakfast, hoping to cheer her up, or possibly calm her down, I wasn’t sure which. She’d accepted and we’d walked down to a place near her studio. Even now, after we’d ordered and found a couple of empty stools side-by-side at the bench in front of the window, she kept sneaking glances at me every few minutes, before averting her gaze. Her lips twitched as if some horrible revelation pushed against the back of her teeth, trying to out itself. Yep, weird.
Of course, her weirdness only added to my own, which had been worsening ever since Law’s visit a few weeks ago. Thoughts of Gabi and Law being thrown together at Frank’s wedding had insinuated their way into my brain, getting into all the nooks and crannies. Granted, the images were hot as sin, and I’d gotten off on them more than once, but the idea of it all going down while I remained at home in Brisbane being miserable was a damned tragedy. As the days passed and the big event drew closer, I’d grown increasingly frustrated with my inability to think of a way to get invited to the wedding. Me, who’d once been invited to a birthday bash at Elton John’s house. I was an embarrassment to celebrities everywhere.
I’d considered ringing Frank and dropping hints about wanting to come, but before I even picked up the phone, I could hear my mother’s voice in the back of my head shouting at me to not be “so bloody rude”. The idea of simply booking myself into a room at the resort and sneaking into the party had also occurred. But I tended to stand out in a crowd, so that didn’t seem feasible either.
Now, it was Thursday morning. Gabi would be heading down to the luxurious Sanctuary Cove resort early tomorrow afternoon. With time running out, my options were narrowing fast, but I couldn’t exactly come out and ask her to take me with her. I needed to find the right angle.
“Are you excited about the wedding?” I began as we sipped our morning coffees and waited for breakfast to arrive. These things had to be eased into, to avoid the appearance of desperation.
“Yes.” She nodded enthusiastically. “It should be fun.”
“For sure.” I nodded too, and we fell silent once more. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Still, it’s always more fun if you have someone to go with, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I agree.” This time, her eager nod came with a dramatic hand gesture that knocked over the metal stand we’d placed on the bench between us. “Crap, sorry.” Righting the stand, she adjusted the order number attached to the top, and stuffed her hands into her lap.
“Is Lawrence still going alone?” I tried to make the question seem like mere curiosity, so I could introduce my angle slowly. Yeah, that didn’t work.
Gabi’s gaze lifted to mine and a vague hint of frown lined her forehead before she nodded. “He isn’t seeing anyone right now, and he says he wants to make sure everything goes smoothly for the happy couple.”
“Yeah, that must be it.” I couldn’t stop a snort from escaping. Gabi had been right all along. Law’s excuses really were lame.
“You think he’s after something else?” she asked.
“Someoneelse.” I paused as our breakfast arrived. “You’ll both be there alone,” I added after we began to eat. “It’ll be all romantic and shit. Trust me, when it comes time for slow dancing, Lawrence will be looking to fill your dance card.”
Gabi seemed to contemplate that for a while, before she opened her mouth to speak. “Well then, maybe I shouldn’t go alone.”
Wait, what? My head snapped to the right. Gabi continued to stare at the eggs she poked with a fork, her profile giving nothing away. “Are you thinking of asking someone to go with you?”
Lowering the cutlery to her plate, she turned her body towards me so I could see her face more clearly. “I called Frank a couple of days ago to ask if it would be possible for me to change my mind about bringing someone to the wedding, and he said they had a couple of last-minute cancellations. Which means there’s room for me to,” she hesitated, licking her lips, “to bring a date.” The hope in her eyes was mixed with a liberal dose of excitement, a little panic perhaps, and a smidgen of playfulness.
I tried to smother the grin creeping onto my face. Could it really be this easy? “You would need someone who can crack a joke during the boring parts of the ceremony,” I said, adjusting my own body to mirror hers.
“So true,” she agreed with a small laugh. “I also need someone who can dance because, let’s face it, my shoes are highly impractical. My feet will be sore enough by the time we reach the reception without some dolt stepping all over my toes.”
