I looked at Eric’s parents, swaying together to “Let’s Get It On.” So adorable together. Happy. Affectionate. The way I wanted us to be. Jo and Eric were lucky, to have his parents as role models. “Do you want to dance?” I asked Colt.
“We can do better than that.” He stood with a jerk of his chin to someone behind me.
I looked at him in confusion.
“Come on, angel.” He grinned, making my heart thump. “Let’s give your family a show.”
My heart started pounding for a completely different reason. “I should see if Meg needs help with...”What?Daisy and DJ were happily occupied playing hide-and-seek under the tables. For a second, I wished I could join them. “The cake.”
It wasn’t like I was going to stuff my face with lemon curd and buttercream frosting. But I could help serve.
“Later for that,” he said. “Sing with me.”
“Colt, I... I really don’t feel like it.”
“So fake it.”
Nerves roiled my stomach. “I can’t.”
Irritation flickered across his face. “Baby, you fake it all the time.”
I wanted to die. Heknew?
He must have seen something in my expression, because he winked. “That’s what performing’s all about. Fake it till you make it, right?”
Onstage, he meant. Not in bed. Relief washed over me. I smiled back.
“You’ll be fine. You can do this little thing for me.” His voice turned coaxing. “Do it for your sister.”
A gift for my sister. I could do that.
Jimmy appeared with Colt’s guitar, pausing to speak to the photographer. The photographer nodded and raised his camera.
It was all too fast. Too perfect. Too orchestrated to be spontaneous—Jimmy, the guitar, the photographer. Doubt knotted my insides, sharp as a cramp. Had Coltplannedthis? Stepping into the spotlight. Taking control.
His warm blue eyes met mine. “Come on, angel. Let’s give them something for YouTube.”
CHAPTER 6
Amy
Folks, can I have your attention? Attention, please!” the guy with Colt said into the microphone. Jimmy, that was his name. The driver-slash-assistant-slash-bodyguard.
He’d better be making a toast. Because, honestly, drinking was the only way I was going to get through being back in Bunyan, where I had never been voted Most Popular like Meg or Most Likely to Succeed like Jo. Girl Most Likely to Do Something Stupid to Impress Her Supposed Friends, that was me.
At least no one had accused me of being a boyfriend-poaching slut yet.
“... special surprise for you all,” Jimmy finished, handing off the mic to Colt.
Eric looked at Jo, who shrugged. So, a surprise to the bride and groom, too.
John and Trey exchanged glances. No one would ever mistake them for brothers. But something in the way they stood, assessing the newcomer, linked them together and marked them as family. The artist inme admired the picture they made: Eric, big and dark, bearded and tattooed; Trey, lean and golden, elegant in Armani; solid John, with his blond cowlick and appealing dad bod.
Not that I was checking out my sister’s honey. Nope. Not ever making that mistake again.
I grabbed my glass to toast the happy couple.
“... want to thank you all for this wonderful welcome,” Colt was saying. “But I wouldn’t be here without my angel.”
