Page 28 of Hockey Boy
With a concerned frown, Ava nods, relenting to the pressure.
I add a variety of colored sprinkles to the cart. “I ordered the cake yesterday.”
“Oh, right. Aiden mentioned you were going cake tasting. How was that?” Millie’s eyes sparkle as she regards me. Stares at me is more like it. What the hell? Does she know about the orgasm thing? Oh my god. Iwill kill Sara if she told her. My stomach bottoms out. Shit, would Aiden say something to Gavin? He wouldn’t, right?
“What’s wrong?” she asks, her eyes dulling. “Did something happen?”
“No,” I say, drawing out the word. “It went well. Though he ordered a vanilla cake with peach filling.” I shudder at the thought.
“What’s wrong with peach?” Millie asks, straightening and hitting me with a frown.
“Nothing if you’re a savage and like baby food in your cake.”
Ava covers her mouth, but a giggle slips free.
Brow cocked, I eye her. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
Eyes widening, she schools her expression, her cheeks going pink, and shakes her head, clearly trying to remain impartial.
Millie huffs. “It doesn’t taste like baby food.”
“If you say so.” I hum. “Personally, I’m a chocolate girl, but for a wedding, I could be convinced to go with red velvet.”
“Whatever.” Millie drops a kiss to Vivi’s head. “What’s next on your wedding checklist?”
Absentmindedly, I scroll Amazon for party supplies. “We’ve got dance lessons tonight.”
“You’ve got dance lessons?” Ava chirps.
Keeping my attention on the computer screen, I say, “I scheduled them for Aiden and Jill,obviously, but I guess Aiden wants to surprise Jill with a dance, so he asked me to stand in as his dance partner.”
On one side of me, Millie squeaks.
I finally give up ignoring her. “What? Just say it.”
Millie merely lifts her shoulders innocently. “I didn’t say anything.”
“But you wanted to. You want to know why I’m helping my ex-boyfriend plan a wedding to another woman, right? You worry that I’m spiraling. That I’m imagining them walking down the aisle together after having just pledged their undying love and then sharing a passionate kiss in front of all their friends and family.”
“I don’t really see Jill pledging her undying love to anyone,” Millie says evenly.
I roll my eyes. “You know what I meant.”
With a sympathetic smile, Ava squeezes my arm. “It’s okay to admit this is too much. Surely one of your coworkers could take over the planning.”
“She can do this,” Millie says, her chin lifted in assurance. “Or she could admit her feelings to him. Then maybe he’d admit his.”
With an annoyed huff, I push the computer back. “No one is admitting to feelings. I’m planning this wedding because I need this job. I’m going to impress the hell out of my boss and take on other high-profile events so I won’t need my parents’ money, or anyone else for that matter?—”
I snap my mouth shut. Dammit. What is with me word vomiting my thoughts like this? Panting, I force myself to look at my friends. Millie and Ava are staring at me with looks of compassion but, thankfully, no pity.
Millie speaks first. “Of course you can do it. I didn’t mean to say you couldn’t.”
“You didn’t.”
“I get wanting to stand on your own two feet, though I must admit that accepting my family’s help is why I’m finally in the studio recording my own album.”
I deflate. “My family isn’t like yours,” I say, chest tightening. If only… “My parents don’t want to help me become the person I long to be. They want to use me as a prop for business deals. I’d be married off to whichever man makes the most financial sense to my father, and I’d be expected to dutifully appear at events each and every time my mother demands.”