Page 92 of Ballrooms & Blackmail

The next time I stand in front of her, I’ll have to give her every ugly piece of me.

Twenty-Eight

River

The dining room table has disappeared beneath wedding cake samples.

This is our third sampling.

“You’re terrible,” I murmur to Briar.

“We’re ordering cakes from all of them,” she whispers back, her eyes sparkling with humor. “I just really like cake tasting.”

I smother a giggle.

I’d say so.

This is our third bakery, and we’ve sampled at least twelve flavors here alone.

Which means I’ve consumed an alarming—but delicious—amount of frosting.

“I hate all of these,” Briar announces through a mouthful of cake.

Marie takes another bite of her own, rolls her eyes. “You can’t just keep saying that so you can have more cake.”

“Why not?”

“Exactly,” Rory says, polishing off a chocolate raspberry slice. “Why not?”

“Because we’re all going to go into a sugar coma.”

Chrissy leans back in her seat with a contented sigh, a decimated slice of lemon in front of her. “Give me sugar coma any day of the week so long as there’s cake.”

Across the table, Rory immediately starts in on another slice and promptly moans. “This peaches and cream may be the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”

“Let me try,” Chrissy says, lifting her fork.

Rory clutches the plate to her chest and hisses like a rabid animal. “Haven’t you learned to never take food from a pregnant woman?”

I grin, my eyes locking with Briar’s. Then reach for a slice of carrot cake.

Yum.

“I should’ve had a big wedding,” Rory laments.

“I had one,” Tiff says. “It was a lot. I think Briar has the right idea.”

“And anyway, you tried that once, remember?” Chrissy says. “It didn’t go well.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Rory decided to play runaway bride.”

“Hey!” She glares, the plate clutched close. “I was a runaway bride for a legitimate reason.”

Chrissy’s face softens, and she squeezes her friend’s shoulder. “Yeah, you were.” Then she proceeds to execute an excellent sneak attack and scoop up a bite of the peaches and cream cake.

“Hey!” Rory says again.