"Wonderful."
We stand there for a moment, her looking at me in the ridiculous tuxedo, me trying to remember why this was a bad idea.Then someone pounds on the door.
"Sage!The jazz quartet is here and they're asking about outlets!"
"Coming!"She turns back to me, all business again."Okay, you're at Table Six with the bride's cousins from Portland.They're all in tech, so you'll have something to talk about.Your name is..."She pauses, thinking."Lucas.Lucas..."
"Sterling.I’m not using a fake name."
"Fine, but if anyone asks, you're my plus-one."
"Your what now?"
But she's already gone, leaving me alone with my reflection and the growing certainty that I've lost control of this entire situation.
By the time I make it downstairs, the inn has been transformed.
Fairy lights twinkle from every surface, roses assault the senses from strategic locations, and enough tulle to clothe a small nation has been draped over anything that isn't moving.
My team is already scattered throughout the space, looking remarkably comfortable in their borrowed formalwear.
Kenji gives me a thumbs up from where he's setting up what looks like camera equipment but is actually our primary router.
"Luke!"
I turn to find Sage bearing down on me, now wearing a simple black dress that makes her look dangerously professional."The ceremony's starting.You need to sit."
"I need to supervise?—"
"You need to blend."She grabs my arm again, steering me toward a chair."Smile.Look happy.Pretend you believe in love."
I snort.“What makes you think I don’t believe in love?”
"Really?"She stops, looking up at me with those green eyes.“Have you seen your face when you noticed the tulle?Be honest.When's the last time you were in love?"
The question hits like a sucker punch.
Veronica's face flashes through my mind—not the woman who betrayed me, but the one I married.
The one I thought I knew.
Before everything went to shit.
"That's what I thought," Sage says softly, then shakes her head."Sorry.That was...just sit.Please.I need to go make sure the goat doesn't escape."
"The goat?"
"Buttercup's the ring bearer."She says this like it's perfectly normal."The bride thought it would be 'rustic charm.'"
She disappears before I can process this information, leaving me in a sea of strangers while wearing an uncomfortable tuxedo and pretending to care about someone's nuptials.
"You must be Lucas!"
I turn to find a woman approximately my grandmother's age beaming at me with the intensity of a lighthouse."I'm Aunt Meredith.Sage told me all about you."
"She did?"
"Oh yes.Said you're in computers?"She leans in conspiratorially."My grandson's in computers too.Makes those video games where people shoot things.Very lucrative."
