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With me back in mom’s care while everyone devoured cocktails and dessert, I wondered how much I could bribe Sadie to take her off my hands.
“He’s cute,” mom nodded to a man walking by our table, “and probably single. He looks like someone I’ve seen in a movie before.”
“Probably, mom.” Reaching for the champagne glass, I took a sip and stopped listening to her describe the guests she thought might give her a beautiful grandchild someday. “How much have you had to drink tonight?”
She turned to me, her brown eyes glossy. “Mia Isabella Sofia Valentino!” She pointed a wobbly finger at me. “This is a very bittersweet moment for me. My baby girl, already pregnant,” she closed her eyes, “is marrying someone who lives across an ocean. Benji and Amelia are off living their life. You’re—”
“Ladies,” Rhys interrupted, placing one hand on each of our chairs. “I’m wondering if I may steal Mia for just a moment.”
“Please,” I begged, already turning to leave my chair.
My inebriated mom giggled, placing a palm on Rhys’s cheek. “I don’t suppose you’re seeing someone. Are you, Rhys? Because Mia needs a husband.”
“Mother!”
“That’s up to Mia to decide, Mrs. Valentino, but she seems to be perfectly happy,” Rhys responded, politely smiling at my mom. “And yes, I am seeing someone.”
“Shame,” she muttered, taking her hand from Rhys. “Do you have any other brothers?”
“Please stop, mom,” I groaned, standing up and taking the champagne flute from her wrinkled hands. “I’m going to get you a ride back to the hotel.”
It shouldn’t have phased me around Rhys, but my mom wasn’t even thinking of how rude she was in another attempt to set me up with someone, and that made me want to shrivel up inside myself and hide.
Rhys took her off my hands and walked my mom over to his parents, where the three of them could engage in whatever anti-Mia and Sadie-is-perfect conversation they wanted. They seemed to get on just fine from the look of it across the room, but I still watched for a few minutes to make sure my mom wasn’t heading back over to pester me.
“Mia.” Rhys’s whisper was warm against my neck as both of his hands cupped my shoulders and slowly spun me around. “Care to dance?”
* * *
It was almost two in the morning when we returned to the hotel, with Sadie and Matthew practically ripping each other’s clothes off in the hotel lobby. Wondering if Matthew would be hungover, I tried offering him water as we passed a table full of drinks, but he created a cocktail instead. Rhys rolled his eyes and continued pushing Matthew forward down the hall as Sadie blew kisses and the pair acted like tonight really was the last night they’d see one another.
“How did I get so lucky?” Sadie swooned, staring at Matthew and Rhys while they walked away.
Looking at my little sister, I wanted to question her definition of luck.
“I’ll take you to bed,” I told her, linking our arms.
“You’ll stay with me all night?” She beamed, batting her false lashes at me. “And make sure I don’t escape, or that Matthew doesn’t come for me?”
“He better not come for you while I’m in your bed,” I warned, tugging her along with me in the opposite direction from Rhys and Matthew. Sadie rested her head on my shoulder and hummed, singing a song about Matthew and the wedding, annoying me the entire way to her room.
When we entered Sadie’s hotel room, I noticed our dresses dangling from the clothing rack first and then looked at the clock. We’d be waking up in less than five hours for our hair and makeup, then spending the morning with our mom and Sadie’s mother-in-law. I wished Amelia could be there, but Benji got her out of it and I was so jealous.
“I can’t believe I’m going to be Mrs. Matthew Bennett,” Sadie sang while walking in and out of the bathroom to change.
“You don’t want to keep your name?”
She poked her head out from the bathroom door, toothbrush dangling from her mouth. “And have the world think I’m not married to the hottest man ever to live?”
“That’s your opinion,” I objected, “but just promise me you won’t forget about you in your relationship. A name is a name, but there’s always going to be you, Sadie.”
“I know,” she replied, brushing her teeth. For a moment, I thought she heard me, that maybe she really considered what I was trying to tell her before she got lost in Matthew’s world even more. “But marrying him is a dream come true,” Sadie continued, crushing my hope that she could see beyond tomorrow’s party, “and maybe someday it’ll happen to you. Maybe he has some single friends or—”
“What the hell?” I interjected, holding my hands in the air. “Why are you and mom so obsessed with me marrying someone?”
“I’m not obsessed with you getting married, Mia. I’m obsessed with me getting married,” Sadie scoffed, laughing as she spun around into the bathroom. Chanting to myself that it was her wedding, I’d be leaving soon, and I didn’t want to spoil the day for her, I bit my tongue. It helped a little, but it wasn’t long before she came out of the bathroom and we both fell asleep.
Sadie’s alarm shrieked on her bedside table at six in the morning. Barely able to open my eyes, I groaned when I realized it was actually time to wake up. I think we slept for maybe three hours and, when Sadie bounced from the mattress and spun in circles at the foot of the bed, I knew there wouldn’t be enough coffee or cocktails to get me through just our hair and makeup appointment.
