“She wants us to play Glorious Mess for the first dance,” he said, making no effort to hide his annoyance with me.
I looked back at the bride, who was smiling serenely. “Really?” I asked her. “That’s not the most romantic song.”
“Oh, but it is!” She assured me. “It’s about how much you love her even though she’s a wreck, and you always sing it with so much emotion.”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I was used to people telling me what my songs were about and they were usually way off, but I realized that this girl was spot on.
“Okay, that’s fine,” I said with a smile. “It’s your day.”
The bride responded by blushing and giggling.
“And you’re paying us a whole lot of money, so we should probably do everything you ask,” Jeremy added awkwardly.
“Yes, we are,” the bride’s mother said with a tight smile. “Now, we need to go check in with the planner, and we’ll be back in a few minutes to tell you all what time you should expect to be here this evening.”
The bride and her mother left, and I slipped out of the room a few seconds later to avoid a lecture from Jeremy. He had been a little frustrated by my frequent absences. I gazed out over the golf course we were on, admiring the bright green of the grass contrasting with the reddish mountains beyond.
My phone vibrated with a text and a thrill ran through me when I saw it was from Glory. She had sent me a few pictures of some alarmingly inappropriate paintings of fruit from her class the day before. I never knew grapefruits could be so vulgar. I shook my head and laughed, wondering if I would ever get used to her humor.
I heard someone walking up behind me and slipped my phone into my pocket. Turning, I saw it was Logan.
“Hey man, what are you doing out here?” He asked.
“Admiring the view,” I replied.
“It is nice.”
“Nice? It’s incredible!” I exclaimed. “I mean, look at it! I think the band should relocate here. We already have a solid fan base, and we could save a ton in rent. We all might even be able to afford a house.”
Logan came around to stand in front of me and looked me over. “Okay, what’s going on with you? You’re practically glowing, and I don’t think it’s just from that tan you’ve recently acquired. I haven’t seen you smile this much since college.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. This right here is the look you would get every time you got a letter from that girl you used to write. What was her name?”
My smile grew wider. “You mean Glory Parker?”
“Yeah, Glory Parker. Whatever happened to her anyway?”
“Well,” I said, rocking back on my heels, “she lives here in Phoenix, she works at a place called Monet Cafe, and... I’ve seen her almost every day since we’ve been here.”
Logan’s jaw dropped. “What? That’s who you’ve been spending all your time with? When you said you were going to catch up with an old friend, I imagined it was some slob you knew from high school, not a hottie that makes rays of sunshine shoot out of your eyes! How’s it going? Have you two...?”
I shook my head. “No. We haven’t even kissed.”
Logan made a face. “Then what have you been doing?”
“Talking, laughing, being together. Honestly, with her, sometimes that feels like it’s enough.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “Said the guy who wanted to be celibate for the rest of his life. Seriously, why haven’t you kissed her? Does she have coldsores or something?”
“No. Her lips are perfect.”
“Then what’s the deal?”
I rubbed my jaw. “I haven’t actually told her who I am.”
Logan’s eyes widened. “What did you tell her?”
