Which might never happen.
“It’ll happen when you least expect it.” She tilts her head, studying me for a second too long. “I think it’s very rare that someone looks at their future partner and goes: ‘it’s him, or it’s her.’ It took me several years before I realized that I was in love with Jasper. We were friends for a long time.”
“Oh…that’s interesting.”
“Yep.” She nods a few times. “I realized first and kissed him, which spooked poor Jasper. He literally ran away. He had only ever seen me as a good friend. It didn’t take him long to come around.” She laughs. “Roughly a week after I planted one on him, he turned up at my door, and we had the best sex of my life.”
I bark out a laugh.
“With my best friend.” She’s smiling, looking wistful. “And that’s how it’s been ever since.”
“That’s a great story. I?—”
“Are you telling the story about how you and Jasper got together?” Robyn asks from the bedroom. The door is open. We were so busy chatting that we never even realized she was done changing.
Then she steps out, and every word I had planned to say disappears.
Her dress is somehow more beautiful than before. Her hair is done and pinned back from her face, the veil not yet in place but draped over her arm for later. She’s glowing and radiant.
Cath gasps, and my mouth falls open.
“Well?” Robyn asks, turning a slow circle. “Say something. You’re both just staring.”
“You’re stunning,” Cath manages. “Mum’s earrings look beautiful with that dress.”
I can’t say anything at all. My eyes are already filling, and I have to wave a hand in front of my face, like that’s going to do anything to stop it.
“Don’t you dare,” Robyn says, pointing at me. “If you cry, I’ll cry, and then Yvette spent an hour on my face for nothing.”
“I’m not crying.” My voice comes out thick, and a tear rolls down anyway before I can catch it on the back of my finger. “Not! Crying! Dammit!” I wave my hand faster. I sniff.
“You are such a sap.” She smiles.
“I’m not a sap.” I blink hard. “You look so beautiful, Robyn. I mean it.”
“Okay, we all need champagne again before we ruin our makeup,” Cath says, leaving for the bottle.
She comes back and pours a little in each of our glasses. We clink them together, three glasses meeting in the middle of the hallway.
“To Robyn,” Cath says again. “You look amazing. Ridge is one lucky guy.”
“To the two of you on your big day.” We clink our glasses again.
This time the champagne tastes a little better, not quite like it used to but better, and I decide I must just have needed to get back into the swing of things after weeks and weeks without so much as a sip.
A horn sounds outside, and Robyn’s head turns toward the window.
“That’s the car,” she says, smiling. “I can’t wait to be married.”
We put the glasses down.
“I thought dragon shifters called it mating and not marrying.” Cath looks confused.
Robyn blushes.
I laugh. “They will get married today, and we will all be there,” I tell Cath. “When he mates with your sister, you don’t want to be there…trust me.”
Cath’s mouth drops open, and her eyes go wide. “Oh! Will they…? Is it…?”
