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“Loons,” Meg chided. “You promised to behave.”
“Excuse you, I promised no such thing.” Luna popped a cherry tomato into her mouth, her eyes full of mirth as if she could see the valiant struggle inside my brain.
“I vote we not mention either of my brothers eating anything ever again,” Nicky said, thrusting her hand into the air.
Thank god for Nicky crashing through to drown out the thoughts Luna had inspired.
“Pretty sure you’d get outvoted between Allie and I.” Luna snickered. “But I’ll take pity on you for the moment. Besides, it’s all Allie’s fault.”
Allie squawked. “How is it my fault?”
My brother looped his arms around her waist but wisely stayed quiet as the ladies chatted.
“Because you’re all cute and happy and it makes me sad about my own very single life.”
Meg glanced over at me and I dropped my gaze to the floor, a protective measure, though she couldn’t possibly see into my thoughts.
“Loons, I’m gonna need you to keep your skirts down for the duration of the wedding. Tomorrow you do what you like.”
Luna sighed dramatically. “Fiiine.”
I ran through a list of decidedly unsexy things in my head—anything to calm my body down after Luna’s statement. I had no illusions that she would actually let me. I knew it was only a joke between friends, but now I couldn’t stop imagining what she would taste like—heaven—and what she would sound like—also heaven.
It put the craving for her in my blood. It wasn’t fair that someone as smart, beautiful, and funny as Luna was basically off-limits in every possible way. Allie would feed me to a colony of rabid squirrels if I got involved with one of her best friends. Or, I guess, maybe that’s only what would happen if I managed to fuck it up. She already thought of Luna like a sister. Who was to say what her exact feelings on the situation would be? I could definitely foresee a shovel talk.
I buried all of those thoughts.
Luna didn’t want me, jokes or no. She was about a million leagues above me, and the odds of her ever being interested were spectacularly low. Realistically, if it weren’t for the bridal party, she probably wouldn’t have even given me the time of day.
But reality or not, fate had given me an opportunity to spend time with her. We hadn’t hung out outside of the bridal party yet, but I hoped we had gotten close enough that she might accept an invitation to do something once the wedding was over. I didn’t know if she liked dogs or not, but if she did, I could always invite her for a walk, and let her spend some time with the two I walked for neighbors.
I ate as much of the salami and cheese cubes as politeness allowed, desperate for the meal that would be served shortly.
A knock at the door had Meg rising from her seat to answer it. One of the venue staff let us know that everything was ready for the announcement of the happy couple.
Allie bounced off of Sidney, tugging at his hand. “Time to greet our adoring public.”
Meg led Nicky, and I followed with Luna to the double doors that opened into the reception hall where the guests were gathered.
“Here’s the couple of the hour!” the DJ announced. “Please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael-Marino!”
The four of us swept inside and stepped out of the way for Sidney and Allie to take their spotlight, my brother spinning his bride, her laughter loud enough to reach above the music. They flowed through their first dance, and I couldn’t help but marvel at the soft expression my brother wore as he looked at his bride. He’d always been pretty chill, but with Allie it was like that chillness had elevated to peacefulness.
“Druncle to the east,” Meg said, her gaze trained on the opposite side of the hall.
Nicky and I both turned to see. “Are we going to have to cause a scene?” Nicky asked.
Allie’s uncle Ted was carrying a bottle of champagne, drinking straight from the bottle as he made his way through his crowd, toward the line of sight of the bride.
“Shit. Intervention. You get the bottle; I’ll get the douche.” Meg marched toward him.
“Roger that.” Nicky took me with her, and Luna trotted behind Meg. The maid of honor football-tackled Ted and hoisted him over her shoulder, never pausing for a moment as she carried him straight out the venue doors. Nicky caught the champagne bottle before it clattered to the floor.
“Holy shit!” Luna shut the doors behind us and raced over to where Meg had dropped the uncle into one of the chairs. “You’re a beast.”
Meg rotated her shoulders and stared down at the offending uncle. “Been a while since I’ve had to carry someone like that.”
Ted was already pretty deep in the bottle, if his glassy eyes were any indication.
