I lick my lips and shrug, one-shouldered.
After that? They might.
Klein hides his laugh behind the back of his hand, but Shane catches on.
“Something funny on your phone, Klein?” He makes a gimme motion. “Now you’re going to have to share it with the class.”
Klein shakes his head, eyes meeting mine. “Not happening,” he answers firmly.
Shane follows his gaze, straight to me. Understanding comes into his eyes. “Gotcha.” Spinning, he grabs a box from the counter and holds it open, announcing, “Cigar time.” The menoohandahh, with the exception of Klein.Shane passes the open box under my nose and I nod politely.
“That’s right,” he says. “I forgot you hate the smell of cigars.” He grins in a way that is too on purpose, tooOh yes I remember that about you.“And the taste.”
This fucking guy. I really hate him. Deadpan, I say, “I never did enjoy eating cigars.”
Farhana laughs. So does Klein. Shane smirks. “Look at Paisley with a sense of humor. When did you develop one?”
A vein in Klein’s temple throbs, and the sight of it is what I need to remind myself not to allow Shane’s remarks to bother me. For whatever reason, it seems Shane wants me to be sad. Upset. Aggrieved. But why? Who knows. Something to do with his ego, almost certainly.
“Shane,” my sister cuts in, wrapping her arms around him, pressing her body into his. I’m trying to hide my surprise at her public display of affection, but Shane doesn’t do so well at first. It takes him a second to tuck back his surprised expression. He pats Sienna’s back, saying, “Is my bride-to-be tipsy?”
Sienna giggles in a very un-Sienna like way. “Maybe,” she trills, fluttering her fingers in the air. “And I think we should play a game.”
He leans in, nuzzling her nose with his own. “What game would that be?”
“Hmm,” she pretends to think. “Spin the bottle!”
“Hard pass,” Klein announces.
Sienna pouts. “You can’t say no to the bride.”
“I can say no to kissing anyone who isn’t Paisley.”
A chorus ofaww’scome from the bridesmaids.
Sienna looks hard at Shane. “You wouldn’t kiss anyone who isn’t me anyway, right babe?”
“Of course not, Blondie.”
Shane looks at me as he says this. Is he hoping I’ll hear the nickname he first used on me, and react? I don’t care. At all. Besides feeling bad for my sister at her fiancé’s lack of originality.
“Sardines?” I throw out the game, hoping my sister will remember that it was our favorite game to play growing up.
Her expression brightens. “Yes!”
Shane’s eyebrows tug as he looks at Sienna. “You want to play Hide and Seek?”
She squeezes his shoulder. “A variation of it. Everyone?” She looks around the group of adults. The women nod. The men shrug. Wren elbows Tag, and he nods dutifully.
Sienna recites the rules for those who may not know them. “I get to hide,” she announces, taking a drink directly from the champagne bottle.
Per Sienna’s instructions, we all close our eyes and count to one hundred. When I open my eyes, I find Shane staring at me with an expression I don’t understand.
Klein squeezes my hand. “May the best man win, Royce.”
“Good luck, Madigan. I know how my sister thinks. So I already know where she is.”
He winks and takes off out of the kitchen. We trickle out, except for Tag and Wren, who mysteriously head toward the front door.
