"We did." Keana sat beside her and leaned in. "He's jittery. Everybody's jittery. But there's nothing to worry about. It's all going to be perfect. No coffee," she added firmly as Mindy tried to reach for a cup. The redhead looked offended, and Keana grinned. "You're already on edge. You don't need the caffeine. I'll make you a nice cup of hot chocolate if you want something warm to drink."
"I'm nottwelve," Mindy said acerbically, sounding like herself again, and laughter filled the room.
Things went smoothly after that, with the bride calming down and the bridesmaids running errands until it was time to go down to the green room set aside for the bridal party to get ready in. Mindy's mom and sisters were there, and the six year old cousin who was the flower girl, though she spent most of the time sitting in a corner reading her way through a stack of books. By the time Mindy's hair and makeup were done, the whole atmosphere was one of joyful, gentle celebration, and nobody argued when she insisted the bridesmaids get dressed first.
"I want to be surrounded by you when I get the dress on," she said scratchily, and then everybody had to try not to cry and wreck their makeup.
Sabrina was, as she'd known she would be, right about the dresses: the straight-but-not fitted gowns looked fantastic on the taller women, but as they didn't have nipped waists, hers made her look short and blocky. It didn't matter except to her ownvanity, and even so, there were worse things than being short and blocky. It wasn't about her anyway, and most important of all, Mindy looked unbelievably beautiful in an ivory gown that flattered her red-headed skin tones, with her hair up in soft curls and a floaty veil falling around her shoulders. By that time they were all nearly in tears again, and Sabrina felt full-up and happily weepy all the way down the aisle and through the ceremony, watching her friends get married.
Luke was the only one of The Boys not in the wedding party, which was fair enough, since he'd only been involved with Sabrina for—well, six weeks or three days, depending on which story she wanted to pick. But he was, as promised, in a well-fitted tuxedo, and to Sabrina's eyes, he stood out among even an entire crowd of wedding attendees in tuxes and dark, formal suits. He managed not to upstage Craig, but only because he wasn'tinthe wedding party, Sabrina thought. And because as a relative stranger, he was sitting near the back.
Of course, if he'd been in the wedding party, he'd have been dressed to match the other Boys, which would make him less likely to stand out anyway, but regardless, Sabrina found her gaze drifting to him time and again during the ceremony. Every time it did, she found him watching her with a smile, and her heart lifted with it. She didn't know what that meant, only that it made her happy.
The reception line sped by, and then they were all going to the formal dinner. Sabrina was at the head table with the rest of the wedding party, but someone had rearranged the seating enough for Luke to be nearby. They were too far to talk, but close enough to watch each other, which they did until Gina elbowed Sabrina and said, "You two are being sappier than Mindy and Craig. Cut it out."
Sabrina blushed. "Whoops. Sorry." She did her best to cut it out until after the first several dances between the bride andgroom, the in-laws, and then the bridal party, who mostly all knew how to waltz at this point, because this was the fourth wedding most of them had been in. Finally, once she was released from the duties of the evening, Sabrina stepped off the dance floor and found Luke waiting for her with a smile.
"You look…columnar."
Sabrina burst out laughing. "Thank you. That was the most honest and yet strangely flattering thing you could have said to an architect."
Luke beamed. "I hoped it would work for you. Otherwise I was going to get smacked. Honestly, it's more flattering than you think, for what it's worth. But I see what you mean, compared to the one you wore yesterday, or how it fits the other women."
"Yeah. If it just could have…" She cinched the waist with her hands, bringing the fabric in so it followed her curves a little better, and glanced up with a wry smile.
Luke's expression went a bit thunderstruck. "Yes. Yeah, if it could have…wow. Tell you what," he offered in a rush. "If you want a reason to wear it again I'll bring you out to a fancier dinner than Virtue can offer and you can get it fitted to really flatter you?"
Utter, overwhelming joy shot through Sabrina's whole body. "Are you suggesting we go on arealdate?"
He dragged in a deep breath, examining her expression and—she hoped—liking what he found there. "I would love that, if you'd be interested."
"I wouldloveit."
The same joy Sabrina felt appeared on Luke's face, and then, as the music changed, he glanced at the dance floor and offered his hand. "May I have this dance?"
"Of course." She stepped onto the floor with him, laughing as she tried to put her arms around his neck and decided it wasmore comfortable to rest her palms against his shoulders. "I'm too short."
"You're perfect," he said a bit strenuously. "Sabrina, I know I've literally just asked you on our first actual date, but wo?—"
"Oh myGod," a woman said from a few feet away, then lurched onto the dance floor to physically pull Luke away from Sabrina. "Is that—are you—I'm sorry, but youare, aren't you? You're Luke Jones, right? The Gym Bunny? I love your fitness channel, oh my God! Can I have a selfie? I had no idea you knew Mindy! How totally cool! I'm Zojurn776, by the way, we've totally chatted in your comments although," she trilled a high laugh, "you've never taken me up on the invitation to slide into my DMs. But that's okay because now we know each other! This is amazing!" She took her phone out from a clutch and dragged Luke away, leaving Sabrina flabbergasted on the floor.
CHAPTER 14
Aproblem with being a very large man was that Luke wasn't supposed to shriek and flail, or worse, fall on his back and rabbit-kick people who accosted him unexpectedly. Not that anybody wassupposedto do that, but men who stood six foot five were especially not supposed to do it when over-excited women grabbed at them. He didn'twantto be dragged away from Sabrina's side, but he'd never figured out how to politely exit from these situations, and Zojurn776 was still squealing and taking pictures.
"This is so incredible," she gushed. "You've been a total inspiration on my fitness journey and I've known for justagesthat if we actually met there would be incredible sparks. And I'm right, aren't I? This is just amazing. I know you feel it too. Now, if you'll give me your phone I'll put my number in because really, who wants to start a relationship through DMs anyway?—"
"Excuse me," Sabrina said firmly, from out of nowhere. She put her fingertips beneath Zojurn776's vise-like hold on Luke's arm and wiggled her hand up beneath the other woman's until her grip loosened. "It's great to meet you and everything, but Luke is actually my date for the evening, and it's time for you to move past living in the moment to remembering it fondly."
She politely but emphatically evicted Zojurn's hand from Luke's arm as he gave a quiet, relieved gasp. Sabrina offered him a brief, tight smile, and when Zojurn came at him again, put herself in front of him as if she was the one pushing six and a half feet in height, not standing five foot two in bare feet. "We'rethrilledyou're such a fan of Luke's channel," Sabrina said crisply. "But of course you understand that even public personas have private lives?—"
"Gym Bun doesn't have a private life," Zojurn snarled. "He's never once mentioned a girlfriend and I've been following him foryears."
"Yes," Sabrina said steadily, "that's whatprivate lifemeans, you see. Now, I'm sure you'd rather step back and give Mr. Jones his space rather than cause any more of a scene and ruin Mindy's wedding, wouldn't you? That'swonderful.Let me suggest the snack bar. I'd recommend something carby to absorb some of the alcohol that I'm sure is a factor in this little incident."
"I haven't been drinking!"
"Jesus," Sabrina said, sounding heartfelt even if it wasn't the most tactful thing she could have said, "you mean you're like thissober? Ma'am, you might want to take a step back and reconsider your life choices. Luke, this way, please?" She turned toward him, put a hand on his elbow, and bustled him away from Zojurn776 while the woman spluttered indignantly.
