A slight smile curved Judah’s lips. “Yeah,” he agreed, his gaze firmly on hers. “I really do.”
“Oh, shit.” Akiva’s eyes darted between them again. “So this is, like…realreal.”
“Yeah, it’s like that.” Judah twined his fingers with Ari’s and squeezed. “Don’t worry, we’re coming. I’m not about to face Liana’s wrath.”
They followed Akiva back to the party room, but just before they stepped inside, Judah halted her. “Listen, I really wanna do this right—”
“For God’s sake, Judah, yes, you can call me your girlfriend.”
“Oh, thank God. I was out of speeches.”
She smirked up at him. “Good thing all you have to do now is sing.”
“So, you and Klein, huh?” Danny asked, leaning over the empty seats between them. “I did not see that coming.”
She resisted the urge to make a comment about how seeing her coming was never really his expertise. “Surprise,” she said dryly instead.
“Hey, you guys weren’t—” he started, but his question was cut off by the return of Akiva and Judah to the seats between them.
“I confirmed it was made with ginger ale,” Judah said as he set her drink down in front of her. “Got an extra cherry, even.”
“You weren’t kidding about making things up to me,” she murmured as she brought the drink up for a sip. She watched Judah watch her dart her tongue out to bring the straw between her lips.
“I’ll have you know,” he said, leaning in to whisper in her ear, “I’ve been taking note of every seam on that dress.”
“Are you suggesting,” she returned with a flutter of her lashes, “that you’d like to see me out of it? Because I have it on good authority that my roommate will be sleeping elsewhere tonight.”
“If that’s an invitation, I wholeheartedly accept. Although…” He turned too quickly for Akiva and Danny to stop making kissyfaces in time. “Maybe we should go to my place instead. The neighbors at yours leave something to be desired.”
“I think we’ve been insulted,” Akiva said with a sniff.
“I see you found each other okay.”
Ari looked up and jumped from her chair, throwing her arms around Liana as the bride and groom made their way over to table 12, fingers intertwined. “Leelee! You are such a beautiful bride.” She looked over at Gideon. “You clean up pretty good too, bestie-in-law.”
“Take a good look,” said Gideon, tweaking his bow tie, “because you are never gonna see it again.”
“Unless he has a black-tie wedding to go to at some point, of course,” Liana said knowingly, glancing back and forth between Ari and Judah.
Ari snorted. “Subtle.”
“I don’t think she was going for subtle,” Judah said dryly, but he sounded distinctly unmad about it.
“I assure you she wasn’t,” Gideon confirmed
“Tell me,” Liana demanded. “I need to hear it.”
“Lee—”
Liana gestured at the tiara perched neatly in her updo. “I am the fuckingbride, Arielle. Say the words.”
Ari sighed. “You might’ve been right about me liking the guy.” She gestured behind her at where Judah was barely concealing a grin as he watched their exchange. “He’s all right, I suppose.”
“Turns out, she’s been kinda into me for a while,” Judah said casually, wrapping an arm around her waist. If he cared that people were definitely taking note, it didn’t show. “Did you know that?”
“I did, in fact,” Liana said with a big, dimpled smile aimed at her eye-rolling best friend. “And you?” she asked Judah innocently.
“You’ve met her, right?” He kissed the top of Ari’s head. “Pretty sure we all know I’ve been a goner since she stomped on my foot.”
