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Chapter One
“Oh my God. You won’t believe what just happened.” Gia Sparks sank down on the metal chair she’d vacated just a few minutes earlier after being summoned by her cousin, Macie, for a Sparks girls’ powwow.
“What?” asked Alison, Gia’s best friend since kindergarten.
“Porter just proposed to Adele, and she said yes.”
“Holy crap!” Alison proclaimed. “They’ve only been dating a hot minute.”
Gia nodded. “I know. All of a sudden, it’s like our tiny town is wedding mad.”
Alison was about to take a walk down the aisle with her fella, Gus, in just a few weeks—the two of them choosing New Year’s Eve for their nuptials.
“Craziest part is, that wasn’t her only proposal tonight,” Gia continued. “Her old boyfriend, Keith, showed up with a ring and popped the question too.”
“Shut. Up!” Alison’s eyes widened with delight, which was why she and Gia had always been such perfect friends for each other. They loved gossip, adored excitement, and fed on drama—theirs or other people’s. They weren’t fussy.
Gus Carter, Alison’s boyfriend since seventh grade—no lie—and soon-to-be husband, laughed at their overblown enthusiasm as Gia began to retell the tale that Macie had just told her. How Keith had shown up at Maris’ annual holiday social unexpectedly, pulling Adele outside to propose. How Porter had followed and stepped in after Adele rejected her ex. How Adele and Porter had proclaimed their love before Porter issued his own marriage proposal. The entire thing sounded ridiculously—perfectly—romantic to Gia.
“And that was when Adele said yes.”
When she reached the end, Gus shook his head. “You would think you’d had a front-row seat to the whole damn thing, Gia, instead of just hearing the story five minutes ago.”
She laughed. “What do you expect? I’m a Sparks.”
Gus nodded, that simple proclamation all that was needed. The Sparks family—her family—was known for their talent at spinning tales, all of them a fair hand at storytelling. It probably helped that the entire clan had lived in Maris, Texas, since God was a baby, so they knew everybody and everything that had ever happened in their tiny neck of the woods, and since precious little ever happened of genuine interest, they found ways to make the small stuff feel like a Broadway musical—overblown and exhilarating.
Gia sighed as the story she’d just told finally sank in. “Shit.”
“That didn’t take long.” Alison gave her a sympathetic grin. Her best friend knew her too well. Gia’s cousin, Tyson, said it was like the two of them shared a hive mind. To which Gia always replied that he was the pot calling the kettle black because Tyson shared that same hive mind with his best friend, Caleb. Of course, in addition to their like-mindedness, Tyson and Caleb also shared a girlfriend, Harley.
Soooo the Sparks family not only spread Maris fodder, a lot of times they fed the beast as well. Tongues had sure enough wagged when Tyson, Caleb, and Harley came out as a threesome. Just like they’d wagged when Gia’s sister, Jeannette, had shacked up with Maris’s super-hot firefighters, Diego and Luc.
“Shit what?” Gus asked.
Alison took pity on Gia and offered her fiancé an explanation. “Adele just got two marriage proposals in one night and our dear Gia can’t even find one decent guy to go out on a date with.”
“What happened to that Aaron dude from Lovettsville? Thought you liked him.”
Alison gave Gus a raised eyebrow that screamed annoyance. “You never listen to me when I talk.”
Gus gave her a rueful grin. “I do most of the time, Ally,” he schmoozed. “It’s just that sometimes you talk to me during the football game.”
Alison rolled her eyes.
“He ghosted me.” Gia was still miffed at Aaron’s sudden radio silence. Gus was right. She had liked the guy. They’d gone out on a few dates, and she thought they’d been hitting it off. Then one text went unanswered. And then another. By the third nonresponse, she accepted the fact he just wasn’t into her and stopped trying.
“That’s the second guy to do that to you in the last few months. Where the fuck are you meeting these assholes?” Gus asked.
She was genuinely touched by his outrage on her behalf. Her lifelong friendship with Alison had turned into a Three Musketeers deal with the couple somewhere in high school. Nowadays, Gia felt less like a third wheel and more like part of their little gang of three best friends. Gus jokingly referred to them as his sister wives, something that annoyed the hell out of Alison but amused Gia.
Gus had never been jealous of Gia’s closeness to Alison or tried to come between them. Alison and Gus had date nights and the three of them had friend nights, the system falling into place without any thought or angst or work. When Gus discovered she didn’t have a date for tonight’s social, he’d insisted on her coming with them. Alison had landed herself a truly great guy.
“I found those two on Tinder,” Gia answered, perfectly aware of Gus’s opinion of online dating.
“Jesus,” he muttered in disgust.
And even though they’d had this same debate a million times, Gia launched into it just the same. “Where the hell would you suggest I meet guys, Gus? I’ve lived in Maris my entire life, dated my Prince Charmingless for way too long, and now all the decent guys have been snatched up. I’m starting to worry I’ll turn into that cliché. Always the bridesmaid.”
