With our pizza in hand, I weave back into the maze of tables and return to our booth to find that our party has doubled.
“There she is!” Julian sits wedged up against the wall with his arm slung behind Bennett, who gives me an apologetic glance.
“Hey,” he says as he glances up and then casts his gaze downward. “I told them we could grab our own table.”
Daisy reaches across the table and pats his hand. “Why would you do that?”
On one side of her, a very disgruntled Briar rolls her eyes. Tex is doing his best not to crowd the bench seat, but the fact that he is shaped like an upside-down triangle and eats protein like it’s his job is making things difficult.
“Stop trying to tear our family apart,” whines Julian.
“Julian,” I say with a wink as I set the pizza down. “I’m glad to see you still consume half of the oxygen of every room you walk into.”
“Hey, I could be in your bed with my harem right now.”
Bennett gives him a shut-the-fuck-up look as he slides out of the booth with his receipt to get their pizza. He stands up right in front of me, our toes almost touching, and I tilt my head up.
“Hey,” he says, and runs the backs of his fingers down the side of my arm. Then he leans down to kiss me on the cheek, and I shiver in response. It’s been a week since we’ve touched and I didn’t realize how famished I was for him. Then I see the blank stare on his face, because oh, right, we’re in public and we’re married.
Behind him, Julian seems very entertained. “My stomach is going to eat itself,” he yells over the swell of the restaurant as pregame coverage starts to play on the televisions suspended in every corner.
Once he leaves, I scoot into the booth, where Julian yanks me in for a hug.
“I can’t believe I wasn’t invited to the wedding,” he moans. “I would have made the perfect addition to your accomplices.”
I roll my eyes and then glance over to Briar and Daisy. “He meanswedding party.” I give him a stern look that I hope gets the message across.
He nods and then slings an arm over my shoulder.
Daisy smiles. “So you’re Bennett’s cousin? Does that mean you got a front-row seat to these two falling in love?”
Julian barks out a laugh. “If that’s what you want to call it, then yes, I did indeed.”
Daisy smiles again, but her eyes crinkle in an uncertain way before turning to Tex. “So it’s Tex?” she asks. “As in Texas?”
“Oklahoma, actually.”
My head tilts to the side as Bennett returns with two more pizzas.
“The nickname is Julian’s fault,” Tex explains. “And my real name is Miles, if you prefer. I certainly do.”
“You don’t let me call you Miles!” Julian protests.
But Daisy’s eyes light up and she launches into something about a ballet scene fromOklahoma!and Tex seems genuinely invested, while Julian lures a skeptical Briar into a conversation about a podcast he’s been listening to about scammy influencers.
“I feel like our kids are meeting for the first time,” Bennett says as he covers his slice of pizza in red pepper flakes.
“There’s a lot at stake here,” I tell him. “Though I think Briar is going to be the toughest to crack. I haven’t even cracked her yet.”
“Julian loves a challenge.”
I reach past him for a napkin and he catches my hand. His finger runs over my ring finger. “Your ring,” he says, voice almost strangled. “Not really your style, I guess?”
That was the furthest thing from the truth. I’d grown quite used to spinning the ring around my finger during class. The fit was just a little loose, so it made for easy fidgeting, but I loved the style. Simple and yet unique. “Um, no, I guess… I must have taken it off when I went to bed.”
“Do you think you lost it?” he asks after a long silence. “When’s the last time you remember having it on?”
I don’t want to hurt him and I know that lying about this now can only lead to more hurt. “Um, Saturday night, I guess. I remember spinning it around my finger while we walked to the party. I usually take it off for pottery, but when I wasn’t wearing it, I assumed that I left it in the dorm.”
