“Hello, hello,” Naomi said, unwinding the scarf from around her neck as she looked around the room.Her eyes landed on the table where Claudia was standing.“Oh, Seven Wonders.Imagine my surprise.”
“That’s what I said,” Jennifer replied with a snicker, while Claudia glared.
“It’s the perfect game for seven people.”
“The fact that it’s your favorite has nothing to do with it,” Naomi teased, making Yasmine laugh.Even her laugh was pretty.Delicate.The kind of laugh Audrey had always wanted.
Cut it out, green-eyed monster.
Audrey let out a slow breath and pushed a smile onto her lips.It wasn’t Yasmine’s fault that she made Audrey feel inferior by her very existence.Or that she was engaged to the first man Audrey had been attracted to since finding her ex in the coat closet with another woman.That was all on Audrey.
Thankfully, no one seemed to notice she was a little out of sorts.That, or they chalked it up to it being her first time hanging out with all of them without her brother around as a buffer.Though Cassidy did step into that place pretty quickly and sat beside Audrey.Of course, that left the other side open, and as fate would have it, Yasmine took that seat.
Which meant that Audrey got to experience firsthand howniceshe was.
Despite what Claudia said, the game was definitely confusing to start.There were so many different cards and symbols and ways that the scoring worked.As they played, Yasmine kept explaining in a low voice what everything was and the different strategic options.Most of that went over Audrey’s head, but she still appreciated the effort.
She needed to kick her attraction to Mason.
She liked Yasmine.
She wasnotgoing to bethat woman.
Mason hadn’t shown any sort of interest in her, and Audrey would never touch a man who was in a relationship with someone else, much less engaged… but she also didn’t want to be the kind of woman who lusted after someone else’s man.Even if he had no interest.
“So, Yasmine, how’s the wedding planning going?”Jennifer asked as they paused for Claudia to start doling out the cards for the second phase of the game.
“Oh, we haven’t really started yet.”Yasmine was looking at the layout of cards in front of her, as if she was studying them and thinking of a strategy.“I have a vision, of course, but we have to figure out the details.”
“Something big, something small?”asked Naomi.
Yasmine opened her mouth.Closed it, frowning.
“I… always wanted a big wedding, but I don’t know.Is that appropriate for an arranged marriage?”
“I don’t see why not.It’s still a wedding and a marriage, right?”Jennifer said encouragingly.
“I’ve been to a lot of weddings that were basically arranged marriages, even if they didn’t call it that,” Audrey offered, determined to do her part as a girl’s girl.Yasmine was really sweet.She deserved to be reassured and supported.And Audrey was telling the truth.Her wedding to Cash would have been like that if she’d given in to her parents’ pressure after she’d caught him cheating.“All of them were huge weddings.”
“I guess.”Yasmine sighed, fiddling with one of the cards even though it had been perfectly lined up with the others.
“Yasmine.”Naomi’s voice was gentle.“Do youwantto marry Mason?”
“Yes.I want marriage and kids, just like he does.I think our parents did a really good job setting us up.I’ve finally broken the curse.”She lifted her head, smiling, though her voice was more matter-of-fact than excited.
“You also always wanted romance.”
“Well, two out of three isn’t bad.”Yasmine laughed, garnering a few smiles, though no one laughed along with her.
Audrey’s stomach churned with sympathy that she was sure the other woman wouldn’t want.She couldn’t help it, though.Even though Yasmine was joking and laughing, she could practically feel the other woman’s pain emanating from her.
“Is Mason at least trying to be romantic?”Jennifer asked.“I’ll kick his butt for you if he’s not putting in the effort.You two might just need a little spark to light the fire.”
“Well… he kissed me.”
That got a round of silence, and Audrey had to metaphorically sit on the little green-eyed monster in her head again.
“Um… had you two not kissed before?”Claudia asked after a long moment with a frown.The whole night she’d been pushing the game forward, making sure they didn’t slow down for too long, but now she was making an exception.Everyone had their cards, so they could start Phase Two, but she wasn’t moving things along.
