She shot me a look that was nastier than a snake bite, then went back to being the queen of ugly tears. Dallas still didn’t give in, though. Every muscle in his body was rigid, his arm around me. Too close. He was too damn close.
Just friends, just friends, just friends, that kiss meant nothing?—
“You move fast,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Well, she went out the door, but she’s in heels. I’m in my boots and I’m a runner.” His voice had no amusement in it, his eyes burning a hole into the sobbing bride.
I always forgot he liked running until moments like this. Or when I’d see him jogging on the side of the road shirtless and shiny and—stop it. Bad girl.
“You okay? And what was that between you and Madi?”
“Don’t worry about it.” I stepped back from him. Distance. I needed distance and an exorcism on my horny spirit. “Speaking of, where’s your pretty friend? Did you ditch her?”
Dallas stooped over and swept the bouquet up, handing the bundle of flowers to me. “They’re checking her in. I think she’s ready to be in her room . . .” He trailed off, then tilted his head. “She is pretty, isn’t she?”
My heart skipped a beat. “She is. Is she your . . . ?”
Dallas cocked his head. “Is she mywhat,June?”
We stared at each other as I struggled to find the words. The way he said my name made me want to melt. He opened his mouth to speak again, but the maid of honor interrupted us.
“Sorry again,” Anne said. “Sorry. We’ll get her inside and out of the way.”
“Thanks.” Dallas rubbed the back of his neck as she dragged Brittany back into the hotel. I didn’t envy anyone working the front desk right now. “I’d say I feel sorry for the guy, but her fiancé is an asshole too. Austin has been dealing with him. He told me they had a bachelor party last night and tried to hire strippers, but somehow ended up hiring our own Golden Girls?”
“What?” I choked on a laugh. There was a small group of older women in Whynot that terrorized all of us. With love, mostly. But also sometimes by “accidentally” taking out a mailbox or fence or fire hydrant. “How the fuck did that happen?”
“I don’t know. Apparently Betty put an ad on Craigslist for fun.”
“People still use that?”
“I guess. All I know is that the fiancé was very unhappy when they showed up in bikinis.”
“Please tell me Austin got photos,” I laughed. “Oh god. I need them immediately.”
“If he didn’t, we all know Betty did.”
“Yeah, but she’d only give them in exchange for something like you mowing her dead lawn while shirtless.”
Dallas smirked. “There’s not much else to do here. I don’t blame them for causing trouble.”
“Me neither. But, this is the last time I’m doing something like this.” I shook my head. “Brittany is the worst bride ever.”
“You say that after every wedding,” he teased. “Every single bride is worse than the last.”
“Because they’re all awful. Love poisons their brains.”
The corner of his mouth tugged. “I thought you liked poison, considering all your tattoos.”
I crossed my arms, even though that did nothing to hide any of them. I had two full sleeves of drawings of poisonous plantsand I loved them. I especially loved that almost everyone just thought they were pretty little flowers.
Dallas’s smile cracked wider. “I know, I know. You’d get married in all black and have someone giving out gothic flash tattoos as a requirement to attend, huh?”
He knew me way too well.
It was awful.
“It would be in our nuptials that my partner has to get a giant tattoo as well.”
