Not after the last time I had one with her. She was fine. Me? I spent most of the night staring at a turned-off television, wondering where all the little people who lived inside went.
I chug half of the drink, and I’m disappointed to find that it’s not champagne but sparkling cider.
“Yeah, the trays with the olive napkins on them are nonalcoholic. The sand-colored napkins are the ones with the booze.” Chloe swaps our drinks, and I finish hers, wincing when I down the remainder of her champagne. “Think we’re going to get lucky tonight?”
The idea of hooking up with someone I don’t know makes me shudder. I couldn’t even go through with it with Emily, and I’ve known her for months. “Probably not,” I say and sigh.
“Don’t find anyone here attractive enough?”
We both look around the reception space. Chloe appears to be searching for no one in particular while I try to spot Alex.
“No, I do. Just not sure I’m ready yet.”
Chloe nods solemnly and squeezes my shoulder. “I get that.”
I’m sure she thinks I’m talking about Tyler. We were together for almost a year and a half. But it’s been six months since we broke up, and I’m fine. It’s just, I haven’t told her about Emily. Or about how I’ve found myself having scandalous thoughts about Alex. How do you tell your best friend that you’re crushing on your other best friend?
Just then, Alex walks in wearing a loose-fitted, light blue linen shirt and matching pants. She’s swapped out her heels for white flip-flops, and her hair is free of bobby pins. A guest intercepts her immediately, and I watch her mingle.
Seeing her across the room has always brought a sense of comfort, like spotting a harbor during a storm, but now something else mixes with it. Like anticipation wrapped with yearning. It’s new and exciting and terrifying.
“Come on,” Chloe says, and gently leads me to the hors d’oeuvres table, her tone careful, like I’m going to fall apart over Tyler all over again. “Snacks always help.”
If she only knew my inner turmoil went so much deeper than getting over an ex. But still. Cheese may not give me the answers to my burning sexual identity questions, but it sure doesn’t hurt.
Chapter Ten
Alex
The hard part is over. The ceremony, the dresses, remembering the ring and all the pictures, so many pictures, and the dances! Watching Mason and Mom just about destroyed me. Pretty sure it destroyed everyone else, too. Especially when Mom took his face in her hands afterward and mouthed, “I love you so much.”
Yeah. I’m happy Mom got her dance with him, but I’m so glad it’s over.
Now that I’ve changed into something more comfortable and had a solid cry, and then another cry in my room by myself, I’m ready to actually celebrate. Back down at the reception, I find Jules and Chloe hovering by the d’oeuvres, piling cheese on a mini plastic plate. I take a minute to look at Jules, from her neatly done up hair down to her freshly manicured toes. I try not to linger at the dip in her neckline.
She wasn’t wrong about the dress.
It stops mid-shin, but there’s a high slit almost all the way up to the waist, showcasing her legs when she stands just right. And the V-neck, my God. It’s like it was made just for her, showing off a tasteful amount of cleavage and for me, not nearly enough.
Someone stops to congratulate me, one of the nurses at the hospital where my mom works, and I politely engage in small talk, but I’m unable to keep myself from glancing at Jules. I don’t know if it’s the dress or the love that seems to be scattered throughout the air, but she’s absolutely breathtaking.
Once I manage to get away, I make a beeline toward her and slip my arm around her waist. “You look amazing.”
She smiles at me, not at all startled, and leans into the kiss I plant on her temple. “Thanks. So do you in your comfy linen outfit.” She reaches out to feel the cotton of my button-up.
“Is this regular salami or the fancy kind?” Chloe asks, pointing to one of the platters of sliced meat.
“I think it’s finocchiona.” Jules says. Chloe stares at her with a blank expression, and Jules rolls her eyes. “The fancy kind.” Chloe plucks a couple of pieces and drops them on her plate.
There’s a slight smudge under Julia’s otherwise perfect eye makeup, and I gently wipe it away. “How many times did you cry?”
“Twice during the ceremony and twice during the dances.” Her attention shifts to something over my shoulder, and I turn to see my mom and Richard making the rounds. “Your mom looks so beautiful. I’m so happy for her.”
Mom has given up so much for me and Mason. Everything she’s been through, how hard she works, she deserves someone who makes her happy and who looks at her like she hung the moon. She deserves a fancy wedding and a pretty dress and to be surrounded by people who love her.
Speaking of…
“Dinner’s about to start,” Mason says, breezing by with a drink in both hands. He stops when he reaches his date, who’s sitting at a table making small talk with Richard’s great-aunt Helen.
