He gives me a quick hug and a quiet congratulations, and Griffin rubs my back right before I head for my mom, dad, and sister.
“I cannot believe I didn’t have a different dress for every event of my wedding,” my sister, Lilly, says as wraps her arms around me. “You look smoking hot in this dress. What did Griffin say?”
Not that.
“He likes it too” is how I answer.
“You look lovely, dear,” my mother says, and she and my father also hug me.
Maybe this night should be renamed the night of the hugs.
“Have you eaten?” I ask them, noticing their bare table. “It’s self-serve appetizers the entire night. Griffin kept it simple so everyone could snack as they like.”
“We’ll get food soon.” My mom smiles at me. “Don’t worry about us. I’m sure you have a lot of people to see tonight. I haven't seen Tobias, though. Is he running late?”
“Yeah, I need to talk to him about his next release,” Lilly says and fans her face. “Have you read it? Do you know when it is?”
I shake my head. No one knows that we’re fighting. Well, at least I haven't told anyone anyway.
“I don’t actually. I’ve been busy.”
She grabs my hand to look at my ring again.
“Very.”
I scan the room, noticing my friends all gathered at one table, but like my mom said, Tobias isn’t there. I look around once more, but there is no sign of him.
A lump forms in my throat. That was our biggest fight to date and the words held weight. I feel sick about it.
“I’m going to see if Nora knows where Tobias is. It’s not like him to be late.”
“Okay, see you in a bit.”
I march straight for the only table of the night who won’t demand my attention, my heels clicking on the hard floor announcing a woman on a mission.
“Have you guys seen Tobias?”
Nora looks down. Hero grabs her hand and rubs her back. Slowly, one by one, everyone sitting at the table looks away.
Heat crawls up my spine.
“What? Where is he?”
Simon clears his throat and swirls the bottom of his drink against the table as he looks up. “He’s in Lovers.”
“Oh. Why is he—Oh god," I gasp. “Is Grandma Betty okay?”
Simon nods.
“All right.” I glance at the group again, but still they avoid looking at me. “What’s going on?”
This time, it’s Zane who clears his throat.
“He …”
“He what, Zane? Spit it out. Someone, anyone, please.”
My heart races as I wait for an answer. The way everyone is avoiding me right now, I’m worried something terrible happened to him. Whatever it is, they’re afraid to tell me.
