Studying his face, Novak followed his gaze to Shaw. "Right. Freezing.”
Novak had shot him a look at the rehearsal dinner last night that suggested he knew more than he let on. Thisconfirmed it. Fucking military guys. Always so damn perceptive.
"Shut up."
"You know Reed seated you two at the same table for dinner, right?"
"What?"
"Same table. You, me, Shaw, Fernandez, couple other people from Selection." Novak grinned. "Should be fun."
"Reed's an asshole."
"Reed's a romantic. He thinks you two should talk."
"We talked last night."
"Dude, don’t remind me," Novak clapped him on the shoulder. "Try actual talking this time."
A string quartet saved Hudson from having to respond. He made his way to Reed’s side, very professionally, as groomsmen did.
Reed seemed terrified, which Hudson found weirdly comforting. At least someone else at this wedding was having emotions they didn't know how to handle.
The ceremony itself was nice. Sarah looked beautiful, and Reed gaped at her like he couldn't believe his luck. The officiant said things about love and commitment and choosing each other every day, and Hudson’s eyes stung. He wanted that. Hadn’t known how much until now.
Hudson wondered if Shaw ever let himself want things like this—weddings and forever and someone who knew all your shit and stuck around anyway. Or if Shaw still didn’t let himself want anything that wasn’t on The General’s pre-approved list.
Shaw's head turned slightly, as if he could read Hudson’s mind. Their eyes met for half a second before he glanced away again.
Reed and Sarah kissed. Everyone clapped. Hudson blinked rapidly.
Then he did the math—four hours until dinner, at which point Reed’s seating chart would do the work for him whether he was ready or not.
Dinner was exactlyas awkward as Hudson had anticipated.
Novak had been right—Reed had seated them together. Hudson, Shaw, Novak, Fernandez, and a couple other people from Selection. Hudson couldn’t remember their names because his entire brain was occupied with the fact that Shaw sat across from him looking infuriatingly calm and collected—and hot.
"So," Fernandez said, clearly trying to break the ice. "Anyone got any good deployment stories?"
"None I can talk about," Shaw said.
"NATO operations are classified," Novak added.
"CSAR missions too," Hudson agreed.
"Right." Fernandez nodded. "Cool. Anyone want to talk about... sports?"
"I don't follow sports," Shaw said.
"Been deployed too long." Hudson shrugged.
"Weather?" Fernandez tried. "How's the weather where you all are?"
Shaw's mouth twitched. Hudson bit back a laugh. Novak seemed like he wanted to leave.
"The weather's great, Fernandez," Novak said. "Germany’s cold. Middle East’s sunny."
Fernandez gave up.
