Page 72 of I Think He Knows
And hilarious, it was.
An entire crew of formally dressed wedding goers engaged in one riotous game together. And of course, we put the newlyweds on opposing teams. Annie sliding for home base in a white, floor-length dress in a passionate effort to win against her new husband was the funniest thing I’ve seen in forever.
Our little family of siblings and spouses always gather at that very same park for a smaller, much less chaotic version of the wedding softball bash, and today, everyone arrives a little worse for wear. Luke’s wearing dark sunglasses and clutching a bottle of blue Gatorade with a shaky hand. Liam and Annie, meanwhile, are not only looking exhausted, but sporting matching guilty smirks which makes me think that they did it in the bushes or something last night.
Which does not bear thinking about, especially in my current delicate state.
I only had a couple glasses of champagne, so I’m not hungover, but Iamexhausted. My feet ache from dancing, and I’m pretty sure there’s still about a hundred bobby pins in my bird’s nest hair that I didn’t bother to wash, nor brush, this morning. Even Allegra is drooping, tired and a little cranky from what was a super late night for her.
Mindy is the only one who looks perky and fresh. “Come on, chop chop!” she calls, clapping her hands as the rest of us grumble and settle ourselves on camping chairs. “Let’s make hay while the sun shines.”
Liam looks at her like he would happily kill her. He points towards some food trucks gathered in the parking lot across the park. “First, coffee.”
“I second that.” Annie agrees.
“I want churros!” Legs chimes in, eyeing the Mexican food truck.
“Mmphf,” is Luke’s contribution.
I blink up at my oldest brother angelically. “You sure you want coffee, Lukey? Maybe you’d prefer some sushi? Or really runny eggs with hollandaise sauce? Or wait, how about a platter of raw oysters… you know, the ones that have that slimy texture like snot?”
In response to my hilarity, my brother grabs the back of my camping chair and tips it over.
“Eeeek!” I tumble to the ground.
With a satisfied nod, Luke turns on his heel and makes his way to the coffee truck with Liam, Annie, and Legs in tow.
Nothing like sibling love, right?
Mindy hauls me up, cackling with laughter, and we sink down in our chairs.
“I can’t believe you married him,” I grouch.
“Oh, relax,” Mindy says with a laugh. “You know he’ll feel bad and come back with a latte for you.”
“He better.” I close my eyes, arching my face towards the sunshine. “And hey, thanks again for taking Legs last night.”
“No problem. You have as much fun as Luke did?”
“I don’t know if anyone had as much fun as Luke did,” I say lightly. But even as I speak, my mind fills with memories of the intense look on Carter’s face as he lowered his lips towards mine last night. Quickly followed by his tortured expression when our kiss didn’t happen…
And I may be entirely imagining it, but I could have sworn his hand flexed—Mr. Darcy style—when Elena interrupted our moment.
Which, if it did happen, is quite literally too sexy to even comprehend.
“Girl, don’t downplay your night,” Mindy admonishes. “I might’ve been boring and went home early, but Annie told me all about you ripping up the dance floor with that hunk of man meat fiancé of yours.”
My stomach clenches tightly. After our interrupted moment, Carter didn’t try to kiss me again, but for the rest of the night, his hands were on me. Pulling me towards him, trailing over my arms, across my shoulders, and down my spine as we moved with each other, dancing close, our bodies in perfect rhythm. The man is a phenomenal dancer, and I was a more than willing dance partner.
“Fake fiancé,” I correct.
Mindy waves a hand. “Details!”
“There’s not much to say.”
“I’m calling B.S. I think you had more fun than you’ve ever had in your life.”
She’s not wrong. And the thing is, nothing about last nightfeltfake.