“Omigosh, you guys!” she squealed, when we appeared in front of her. She broke off from Joshua’s embrace and hugged the three of us close to her at the same time, my nose squashed against her armpit. “I’m so glad you’re here! Wasn’t it a gorgeous ceremony?”
After she’d released us from her clutches, we cooed in agreement, saying how wonderful it had all been.
“Wait until you see the cake, the things the baker managed to do with chocolate ganache is out of this world.” Brianna clapped her hands together, before Joshua grabbed her left hand again.
My stomach growled. Apart from the small amount of eggs I’d eaten earlier, food hadn’t been on my radar. But now, hearing talk of chocolate cake, I realized how hungry I was. I wondered if it would be wrong to skip the main meal and simply pig out on dessert. As we moved along the line, my appetite disappeared again when Max came into view. I made a point of not stopping to talk to him and instead held out my hand to Trent.
“Ah, Sophie, lovely to see you,” he said, lifting his hand to his mouth and brushing his lips over my knuckles. “And looking absolutely stunning, might I add.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Max seething. After his behavior earlier, he really had no right to be acting like that.
“You too, Trent.” I smiled graciously. “Why don’t you save a dance for me later?” I suggested, watching as Max’s eyebrows shot up.
“Sounds like an offer I’d be stupid to refuse.” Trent gripped my hand a little tighter. “You can count on that dance.”
Jodie barged into the back of me. “Come on, there must be some champagne somewhere.”
Reluctantly, I took my hand from Trent’s. “I’ll see you later.”
“Good work,” Autumn hissed in my ear. “He’s hot. Way to move on.”
Trent was good looking; I couldn’t deny it. But when he’d held my hand, I didn’t feel anything. He wasn’t the one who truly held onto my heart.
There was a little while before we were seated for dinner. The guests milled around in the foyer of the Lodge, waiting until we were told to go into the main restaurant. Servers circulated with flutes of champagne and hors d’oeuvres.
“Mmm, these are delish,” mumbled Jodie through a mouthful of salmon blini. “I really need to eat something to line my stomach.” She waved her half-empty glass at us, scanning the room for a server to provide a refill.
“Let’s not move on to shots later.” Autumn scanned the room. “Otherwise we’ll end up playing truth or dare again.”
“Are you looking for the pizza delivery guy?” I challenged.
She hung her head. “We might have exchanged numbers. He said he was working the bar today, so I wondered if he was around yet.”
“Honestly, Autumn, you’re incorrigible.”
Autumn turned to us, arms akimbo. “Come on, girls, we’re three gorgeous single women at a wedding. Between us, we should be able to score a date, or at least a dance.”
I cast a look in Trent’s direction, where he was schmoozing with Brianna’s grandmother and cousins. “Already got me one of those.”
Autumn followed my gaze. “Good work. Much better choice.”
“Than who?” asked Jodie. “Who else have you got your eye on? Surely not Max? Still?”
“Ha, as if,” I scoffed.
“You did kiss him last night though.” Her eyes narrowed. “Plus, weddings bring out all these unspoken emotions people have been harboring for years.”
Damn Jodie. I hated when she was right.
“Yes. But that was for a dare, remember?” I rolled my eyes. “Surely you weren’t that drunk you don’t remember?”
Luckily, we were saved from any further conversation by the announcement that the wedding dinner was ready to be served.
Thankfully, the three of us were on the same table of eight. I don’t think I would have coped if I had to sit with a group of total strangers and make polite conversation about my job and my love life. Two couples completed our table, with one spare seat. We’d met Charlotte and Tori at Brianna’s bachelorette party and were easy to talk to. Their male partners chatted to one another, ignoring us.
“It’s so lovely to see you again,” Charlotte said. “We had such fun at the bachelorette and were really looking forward to catching up.”
“Seriously, seeing the guys we were talking about during that Love, Lust, or Run game in the flesh is…” Tori fanned herself. “Which one is Max again? He seemed to be getting loads of love. Pun totally intended.”
“Tori, please, that’s my brother!” Autumn put a hand over her eyes. “It was sooo embarrassing. Honestly, I don’t know what you all see in him. He’s really this dorky, gross, weird guy who plays video games.”
Tori laughed. “I’m sure I could do a round of Tomb Raider or two if needed.”
Charlotte elbowed her friend. “Sssh, you’ve only been with Michael for a few weeks.”
“Yeah, so it’s not serious yet.” She lowered her voice. “He doesn’t need to know.”
A streak of jealousy shot through me. They didn’t know Max and I had woken up together this morning or shared our first kiss last night. Or the other mean things he’d done this morning. No one needed to know about those. My gaze strayed to the table where he sat between Evan and Brianna’s older sister. He appeared to be poking his food around his plate, more than likely feeling a lot worse than I did. My stomach growled again and, as if in response, a server placed a plate in front of me.
Brianna and Joshua’s starter of choice was a kale salad with diced mango and sweet coconut, topped with a lemon honey dressing. While extremely tasty, it didn’t exactly go far in satisfying my hunger. The champagne had been replaced with wine, and I reached for a glass of the crisp, fruity white which complemented the salad perfectly. After
