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“What?” he hissed. “How do you figure?”
I moved so my back was to Aria and Shelby and kept my voice low. “You put all these ideas in my head, and now I can’t even act normal around her. I justwaved. She was two feet away and Iwaved, Will.”
Will fought to hide his laughter. “The ideas were already in your head, man. Don’t kid yourself.”
And with that, he patted me on the shoulder and brushed by me, taking an empty barstool next to Aria. The only one open was next to Shelby now, and because I was a bumbling idiot, I opted to lean against the pantry and chat with my dad instead of sitting there. It was much safer. I wasn’t sure what my deal was or what I was supposed to do about it, but I did know that something had to happen. Because I couldn’t go back to the way things were, and I couldn’t stay in this limbo place, either.
By some miracle, we made it through appetizers and onto dinner without me acting weird around Shelby. The six of us chatted about all kinds of normal stuff. Memories of family antics that had happened last Christmas, the upcoming football championship, and the many safety precautions used at a skydiving school. Nothing was out of place as far as everyone else was concerned. Inside my own head, it was a different story. And yes, I still blamed Will. If I’d thought images of kissing Shelby haunted me when I wasn’t around her, being in the same room with her made them way more distracting.
I pictured myself doing as he’d suggested. Maybe after dinner, on the front porch. Maybe we’d find ourselves alone out there under the warm glow of the porch light. Maybe she’d ask me why I’d acted so strangely at dinner, and I would tell her it was because I couldn’t stop thinking about kissing her. And her eyes would go all wide, like she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. And I’d reach out and touch her cheek, using my other hand to draw her against me until our mouths met. I imagined how soft her lips would be. Like clouds. Or pillows. Or—
“Right, Paul?” Will asked, snapping me out of my daydream.
I shook my head, totally lost. “Sorry, what?”
“The wedding,” my mom said.
“What wedding?” I seriously hoped we hadn’t somehow gotten onto the topic of the wedding that never would be between Roxy and me.
Aria snorted. “Bobby and Cassidy’s. Tomorrow night, Paul.”
“Ah,” I said, understanding now. I’d been a little distracted with my own nuptial-related drama lately and I’d almost forgotten. Bobby and Cassidy were high school friends of ours, and they were getting married tomorrow night at our family’s estate. Aria was their wedding planner, of course, because she was the wedding planner for basically everyone we knew in this town. “My bad. The wedding. What about it?”
“You’re in need of a date,” Will said, barely concealing his smile. “Right?”
My stomach bottomed out, and I made a face like I was going to be sick, leaning back in my chair. “You know what? I think I’m gonna skip it.”
Aria shook her head. “No, Paul, don’t skip it.”
“Why not?” I asked. “I highly doubt they’ll even notice.”
“How about because they paid over a hundred dollars a head for this wedding and you RSVP’d for yourself and a plus-one,” she retorted.
“Oh, yeah. Wow, that’s pricey,” I commented.
“It’s a full-service venue, knucklehead. That’s actually a great price,” my sister said with a huff.
“Fine, I’ll go. But I don’t know what you expect me to do about the date thing,” I said. There was no way I’d be able to find a date with one day’s notice. And besides, I wouldn’t want to. After the whole town watched me get rejected by Roxy, showing up to a wedding with a new date would probably create an even bigger mess than the one I was currently sitting in.
“How about Shelby?” Will suggested. He was so helpful.
Aria rolled her eyes. “Shelby already has a date, Will.”
The dumb smile on Will’s face fell onto his plate as he straightened in his chair, and you could have heard a pin drop as everyone turned to Shelby. She was beet red as she tucked her hair behind her ear on one side. “It’s not a big deal.”
This was news to me. When had Shelby arranged a date for Bobby and Cassidy’s wedding? We hadn’t talked about it, and that was definitely something we would have talked about. Unless this date was arranged during the last few days of weirdness between us, then there was no reason why she wouldn’t have told me back when things were normal.
“You have a date to the wedding?” I asked, trying for casual, but probably failing since my dad smirked a little as he looked down at his dinner.
“I arranged it,” Aria said with a shrug. “She deserves it. The girl works her booty off to help people plan their own happily ever afters, or at least their proposals. So, I figured it would be fun for her to have a date to a wedding and enjoy the romance of it all.”
My eyes flicked back to Shelby, and she was actively trying to make herself smaller in her chair. Looking back at my sister, I put my elbows on the table and linked my fingers. “What do you mean, youarrangedit? You set her up on a blind date? She’s gonna go to this wedding with some guy she doesn’t even know?”
Aria chuckled. “Relax, Cujo. It’s not really a blind date. He’s a professional.”
“A what?” My voice was definitely an octave too high on that one, and I kicked Will under the table as he chuckled. “What do you mean aprofessional?”
“He’s a wedding date,” she said simply.
