“I hope that was okay,” she whispers against my neck, her full mouth forming each letter’s shape against my taut, flushed skin. I feel how aviolin in the hands of a musician must, each of my strings tightening beneath her fingers until they reverberate with high, clear music. The strong line of her nose nudges my jaw, as though she’s prodding my head to fall back and stare at the nearly full moon so she can kiss her way down the sensitive skin there. If there was any doubt before about Laine’s sexual interest in me, this moment’s banishing it for good. She keeps her face buried against my neck until the headlights disappear into the flooding darkness of the mountain night. Breathing into me. Once again, asking me multiple questions under the guise of one. Waiting for my answer.
Whatismy answer? Hurt me, please? Destroy me, please? Take what I have to give, then leave when it’s not enough?
The front door to my father’s house opens, then slams shut, jolting us apart.
“How’d it go, lesbians?!” Teddy bellows across the parking lot. Diego hurries out after him, apologizing profusely.
“So sorry to startle you, we just tucked inside so we could sober up before driving home!” Diego throws his arm around Teddy, corralling him toward the red Mini Cooper still parked in the corner of our lot. “He’s still drunk,” Diego stage-whispers. “But seriously, how did it go?”
My side where Laine was pressed seconds ago feels cold without her. I find myself looking to her to answer.
“Zoe was amazing.” Laine locks her eyes on mine, heat pouring through an invisible channel from her to me. “Isamazing.” She walks backward a few steps. “Good night, boss.”
I press a hand to my chest, as though her words branded me there, and watch her turn and walk away.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Hannah and River’s wedding is in less than an hour, there are still a dozen critical tasks to do, and yet I’m here, in the winery-turned-dressing-room, arguing. There’s noBridezillahere, noGroom Kong.
But there is aTeddy.
I really should’ve seen this coming.
Teddy glares at the elfin ear prosthetics in my hand with revulsion, then his eyes flick up to mine. “I will bite you if you come any closer.”
“Teddy.” My heartbeat’s pounding in my neck. I’ve grown increasingly agitated over the course of the day, not only because I want Hannah and River’s wedding to be perfect, but also because of theEveryday Bon Vivantteam’s impending visit. Yesterday Jamal texted me that Marisol and company had spent a long evening at Into the Woods the night after our meeting, and apparently, it went so well that Rachel pranced through town, smug as ever, telling anybody who’d listen every detail. Whatever confidence I’d gained from Marisol’s warm hugs had dissolved in the sober light of day. I was drunk, for God’s sake, parading them around our property, telling them sad, deeply personal stories, pretending to be madly in love with my vintner who, only recently, stopped detesting me. What was I thinking? I’ve been kicking myself ever since, and Teddy’s bullshit now is grating my last bit of patience down to the nub. “Put themon.”
“I’d rather fellate Gimli!”
“You wanted to be a part of Hannah and River’s wedding, and that means you’rewearing the ears!”
“What’s going on here?” River strides over, his gait excessively swaggered thanks to his own attire. The sight of my sweet, goofy cousin, forever a dreamer, manages to bring my nerves down a full notch. River’s beaming as bright as the sun. His broad shoulders fill out a soft off-white linen tunic, loosely tucked into a pair of fitted leather breeches that, Hannah confessed during a late evening with the Queer Mountaineers, were the sole reason she agreed to River’sLord of the Rings–inspired vision for their wedding in the first place. Everybody razzed her mercilessly until she finally passed her phone around with a shirtless picture of River in the tight leather pants.
Even Teddy shut up after that.
Well. Until the ears.
“But I’m just an usher! Why do I have to be a goddamn elf, too?!”
“Because Hannah and I have a vision.” River smiles devilishly, hand resting on the base of his sword’s hilt. It isn’t real—Hannah forbadethatpart of his vision—but the move is delightfully menacing all the same.
“Oh, don’t bring Hannah into this,Dildo Baggins! That poor girl’s only mistake is marrying a dork!”
“You could be a hobbit instead,” River offers, his glee multiplying. “It only requires blush, a curly wig, and giant hairy feet.” River points at Maeve and Gloria, both of whom have wholeheartedly embraced the hobbit option. We had a blast one night gluing fake hair to the tops of their Crocs.
“I’m too sexy to be a hobbit, and youknow it.” Teddy grits his jaw as he grabs the elf ear-tips and stomps off, his long, silver-haired wig swishing behind him as he mutters something aboutgiant nerdsand where they can shove their swords.
“It’s Bilbo, by the way!” River calls out, grinning. He sighs pleasantly, then throws an arm around me. “I picked the extra-big ears for him.”
“Are you trying to make my life impossible?” I exhale through a smile, willing theEveryday Bon Vivantstress to melt away. This is River’s wedding, my beloved cousin who’s always been like a big brother to me, and he’s marrying one of my closest friends. They’re incandescently happy, and I cling to that joy, reminding myself that there are more important things today than impressing some wine folks.
“What can I say?” River shrugs, that playful smile I’ve known all my life dancing on his face. “I have a vision, and it includes annoying Teddy. Everything’s going exactly as planned.”
We clink our heads together gently and walk arm in arm out of the winery toward the groom’s backstage tent area. Hannah has her own tent opposite, and together the effect is like a royal encampment. Guests are laughing and milling about the pre-ceremony cocktail hour, which I’ve set up on the patio. Tristan’s in charge of that, fully rocking his dwarf ensemble and braided beard behind the bar as he pours guests glasses of frothy mead. Literalmead. I have a freakingmead guynow.
I shake my head and smile. River owes me so big. To his and Hannah’s credit, though, Bluebell Vineyards has been transformed into a lovely, mystical place straight out of a fairy tale. Garlands of flowers and silvery vines drape lazily between ornate wooden posts carved by River’s capable hands, making a path through the vineyard to each destination—the cocktail hour, the ceremony tucked right at the entrance to our woods, and the reception in the meadows with our property’s best views of the hazy blue mountains. I’m starting to get River’s point. People in black suits and satin dresses would look utterly out of place beneath the magical fairy lights and gilded lanterns dangling from the trees. Not all the guests complied with River’s dress code, but the ones who did add to the ethereal bohemian atmosphere that Hannah created within River’s parameters. The effect is like walking through a beautiful dream, studded here and there with straight comedy. Seeing Darryl in wizard robeswith the wordsStepdaddy of the Brideembroidered on the back made my entirelife.
While I usually wear my own black tailored suit to weddings, this is family, and I love a reason to dress up. When Hannah and I were perusing designs for her wedding gown, we stumbled across my dress. It’s a pale shade of copper, the exact rosy hue of our blush Catawba blend, and feels just as light and silky on my body as the wine does on my tongue. It’s long and flowing, with gauzy sleeves that end past my elbows, neckline dipping in a perfect V that shows off my sternum. The bodice holds my breasts firmly in place. Inside-boob for the win, with nary a strip of breast tape required.
