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Except now she was staring at me as if I was the beautiful one.
The happy one.
Better yet, the one who deserved to be happy and wasn’t going to miss a minute of this night and all the ones that came after.
“Thanks. But I think it’s a Dare glow too. And a Wes glow.” I swallowed hard and glanced back at the mirror, afraid to see the joy on my face had vanished like smoke. But no, it was still there. “And maybe a me glow too. Just a little bit.”
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nbsp; “Or a lot. You’re coming into your own. Own it, sister.” Rylee moved up beside me and bumped her hip into mine. “It’s about time.”
I touched the tiara again though that sucker wasn’t going anywhere with all the pins and gunk Ally and Sage had used to attach it to my surprisingly wavy hair. Even my stick-straight strands had cooperated with Sage’s curling iron.
Everything was going my way tonight.
“Yeah, I guess it is. What about you? You look…smug,” I decided after a minute. Rylee had the most expressive face and she wasn’t shy about sharing her emotions. Right now, she was practically flushed with pleasure. “What’s that all about?”
Rylee fiddled with the bodice of her dress, not meeting my gaze. “Let’s just say someone had a very good night last night. And this morning.”
“Oh, jealous.” Then I remembered my own very good night and morning and bit my lip to hold back a grin. “Well, okay, not jealous, but curious. Do tell. With who?”
Rylee shrugged and my eyes popped wide.
“Is that shrug because you won’t tell me or because you don’t know his name? And just FYI, you might want to be careful with the unexpected hookups, because—”
“Because I might end up pregnant by a super sexy dad who is good with his hands and blissfully happy with a brand-new family like you are?” Rylee rolled her eyes. “Yeah, such a downside. Hold me back.”
Hmm. She kinda had a point. But still. Wasn’t I some sort of fertility cautionary tale?
Besides, there were no guarantees that the guy she’d done the nasty with was a decent dude like mine. In fact, it was probably likely he wasn’t. What were the odds that both Ford sisters would bag themselves a wonderful man within one calendar year?
Slim to go fish.
“Okay, I won’t press. But this very good night, does it come with repeats?”
My sister shrugged again. “That’s the best part. It was just a hot night. No strings. Sometimes you can let loose the most with someone you know you’ll never see again.” She waggled her brows. “You know, let out your inner freak.”
“My inner freak is much more comfortable coming out to play in a committed relationship.” I had a feeling our car action the night of our first wedding had opened a door I hadn’t even realized I had inside me.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Rylee shook her head and grabbed my arm as the church bell for six o’clock tolled outside. “Eeek, you’re late. C’mon.”
“Oh my God, I can’t be late to my own wedding.” I hurried out with her and turned to wave a final goodbye to the apartment where I had started my new life. Gavin hadn’t rented it out to someone new yet, and its location was the perfect place to get ready for the ceremony taking place across the street.
Plus, sentimentality. Tonight really was goodbye to this apartment and the new life I’d briefly had here.
The new life that had started and ended with Dare.
And a damn fine pepperoni pizza in both cases, depending on how things went tonight after the ceremony. I really had my heart set on a double stuffed pie—
“Come on, slowpoke.” Rylee tugged on my arm. “Everyone’s already waiting at the gazebo. Minus your ladies-in-waiting, of course,” she added as we rushed down the stairs to where Ally and Sage—and the princess in pink attached to Sage’s left boob—waited expectantly.
Baby Star pulled her mouth away from Sage’s breast, took one look at me, and started to wail. Loudly.
“There’s an auspicious sign.”
“Shh, shh. She just thinks you’re going to take her milk away. She’s very possessive. There now,” Sage soothed, returning Star’s petulant mouth to where it belonged. It took her a moment to latch on, but soon enough, she was self-soothing with her mother’s milk. “Not entirely unlike her daddy,” Sage said almost to herself, making Rylee snort with laughter.
“I do hope you don’t mean the milk part.” Ally shuddered and pulled open the door to the building, letting in a gust of frosty air.
