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Dane grins. “Doubt it.”
“I hope it’s one ofyourfriends,” Bailey murmurs to Cash who only laughs, too desensitised to Dane’s antics by now.
Finn and I leave the newly engaged couple to float around the restaurant and greet the rest of their guests and grab ourselves some food. They’ve got a buffet style counter set up and I bump into Bailey’s mother while I’m scooping rice onto my plate.
“Amber, my lovely!” She kisses both my cheeks and then wiggles her brows as she looks Finn up and down. “And this must be your boyfriend? Bailey tells me you’re moving abroad to live together soon?”
“In two weeks,” I tell her. It’s come up so fast, but I don’t feel any nerves when I think about this impending move. It feels right.
Soright.
“How exciting!” She claps her hands together and smiles. “How’re your parents feeling about the move? Have they planned a trip out to see you?”
I feel myself stiffen slightly, but any hint of tension or anxiety immediately washes away the second I feel Finn’s hand come to rest on my waist. I let myself sink into his touch and give Bailey’s mother a polite smile. “We haven’t spoken in a while, actually.”
“Oh— I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“It’s fine,” I say with a shrug, because it absolutely is. I’ve long since stopped mourning my lack of a relationship with my mother.
My focus has been on doing my best to make sure the door remains open for Noah once he’s ready and old enough to reach out without her hovering over his shoulder.
I still send him presents every birthday and Christmas, still send him birthday cards packed with money and a message filled with love, but I’ve never gotten a response. I don’t even know if she lets him know I’ve sent him anything, but I keep at it. Not speaking to him has been hard, but all I can do is hope that once he’s old enough he’ll seek me out himself.
Bailey’s mother frowns. “What hap—”
“You must be so excited with all the wedding planning,” Finn says smoothly, cutting across her before she can ask the question that makes my stomach twist. “Do you know if they’ve settled on a date yet?”
He knows they haven’t, but it’s an easy way to get her off the topic of me and my mother.
God.I love this man so much.
We spend the next ten minutes politely indulging Bailey’s mother as she shows us some of the Mother of the Bride dresses she’s been looking at and then starts getting a little teary eyed when she turns and sees Bailey and Cash swaying gently on the dance-floor.
We use that as an opportunity to hurry away over to the table and slip into a pair of empty seats next to Dane. He’s got a plate of food in front of him, but it doesn’t look like he’s touched it. He’s staring straight ahead, thick brows pulled into a slight frown as his dark brown eyes follow the photographer Bailey has hired to capture the evening.
She’s pretty, with a mane of roughly blown out black hair, and what looks like a permanent lazy smile etched onto her face. I shake my head and huff out a quiet laugh. Dane has been a player since we were kids, and it’s oddly refreshing to see that apparently nothing has changed.
He moves to stand up, the legs of his chair scraping roughly against the floor in his haste, but two perfectly manicured hands quickly come down on his shoulders and push him firmly back into his seat. “Don’t even think about it,” Bailey says sharply.
“Think about what?”
“I’ve seen you making googly eyes at Eliott all night.”
The aforementioned googly eyes flit across the room and land on the photographer again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dane lies.
Bailey’s not buying it.
I’m not buying it.
I’m pretty surehe’snot even buying it.
“I’m serious, Dane. Eliott’s a phenomenal photographer and she gets booked out a full year in advance.”
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“We haven’t confirmed the wedding date yet, but I want her to do it. And she’s not going to if you sleep with her and then never call again.”
Behind her, Cash snorts and Dane shoots his best friend a glare.
