Page 5 of Luca & Luna

I tried not to look too closely as my brother got his hands under Allie’s skirt. When he eventually held the garter in the air, the crowd cheered.

“All right, you know the drill!” The DJ’s voice boomed over the speakers. “Single alphas, and any remaining single betas on the floor.”

Meg grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me onto the dance floor, situating me toward the center. Before I could protest, the garter landed right on top of my head.

My brother spun around to see where it had landed, letting out a snort-laugh. “You’re up next, Lulu!”

Embarrassment flooded my system, and I groaned, removing the garter from my head. I tried not to think about any of the symbolism of Luna being the bouquet catcher.

I was about to step off the dance floor to get myself a drink but then the DJ announced, “There’s one more step to this tradition, folks. Our garter catcher has to put it on the bouquet catcher!”

Aw, fuck.

My cheeks burst into flame. As much as I wanted to get my hands on Luna, I didn’t want the first time to be in front of an entire crowd at a wedding. Luna didn’t seem nearly as affected as she sat down in the same chair Allie had used, spread her knees, and crooked her finger to summon me over.

Holy shit.

I followed like a hooked fish, sank to my knees before her, and took the offered foot she stuck out toward me. The red of her shoes matched her dress. I looped the garter around her ankle, feeling the heat move from my cheeks to my entire body as I did so. I couldn’t look away, Luna’s ocean eyes holding me captive as I inched the garter up her leg. More muscle than I’d expected flexed under my touch. She’d never mentioned if she did dance, but she definitely had calves like I’d seen on ballerinas

It was impossible to miss the soft hitch of her breath when I settled the garter snugly on her thigh. We both stayed frozen for a moment, until the clapping from the crowd jolted me, and I whipped my hands away, stood quickly, and offered my hand to help her up as well.

Dinner being served gave me some time to regain my composure. By the time we’d finished eating and guests were filtering back onto the dance floor, I’d been stuck in a cycle of remembering her comments, boosted by the knowledge of what her skin felt like. I absolutely shouldn’t be thinking about her the way that I did. The thoughts came unbidden, and were made worse by her agreeing to dance. I’d already danced with several guests, plus an obligatory dance with most of my relatives.

Sidney and Allie had departed for their wedding night a little before midnight, leaving the rest of us to dance the night away.

“Luca.” My name was soft on Luna’s tongue.

“Yeah?”

“Offer still standing?”

“Oh, yeah, of course it is.” My heart flipped dangerously as we wove through the crowd and over to the bar where Luna got herself a glass of water. Navigating into the hall cut off the raucous sounds of the reception hall, bringing us into silence by comparison.

“Would it be bad if I asked you to distract me?” she said softly, not quite looking at me. I hadn’t expected any shyness from her since I’d never seen it before.

“Distract you how?”

The answer came when that absolute goddess of an omega rose up on her toes and kissed me so fiercely that fireworks went off in my brain, my whole body tingling from the rush of endorphins.

“Don’t tell anyone, okay?” I pulled Luca into the coat room and that adorable beta followed me like a wide-eyed puppy.

“I won’t.” Luca crowded me, filling my senses with that crisp, beachy scent that was uniquely him as I hopped up on the ledge where the rolling partition blocked us from the rest of the venue.

Something about seeing my best friend getting married did funny things to my brain. Luckily, Luca wasn’t hard to convince when I needed a distraction, taking only a single kiss to dive straight into everything I offered. We’d been eyeballing each other the last few months during our bridal party duties and curiosity had finally gotten the better of me.

Was it wise to get frisky with my bestie’s new brother-in-law? No, probably not. But I was full of champagne and feelings I didn’t want to take the time to examine, and a hot and heavy makeout sesh was the perfect antidote to get it all out of my system.

Luca leaned down and I hooked my fingers around the lapels of his tuxedo, pulling until I could reach his mouth. We crashed together and I drank him down like he was my first sip of water in the desert.

He cupped my head softly, mindful of the elaborate updo they had wrangled my blonde curls into. If I didn’t have to go back out where people could see me, I would tell him to ruin it, but I didn’t want rumors to get back to the bride and groom. Allie deserved better than that.

Luca nipped my bottom lip and I gasped into his mouth. Damn. Who knew the beta boy could kiss? I had only tangled with alphas and other omegas before, but maybe I should have given betas more of a chance.

I tugged him closer, craving being surrounded by him. He tasted like the little strawberry cakes from the dessert table, with the subtle flavor of sunshine and salt air from his scent. I needed more. Arching against him, I let out a soft whine, my body thrumming with desire at every sweep of his mouth on mine.

He dipped his head and softly kissed the scent gland on my throat. I squirmed, cursing the size of my bridesmaid dress, and tugging it up, hoping that it wouldn’t wrinkle too much.

“Touch,” I ordered, breathing hard as I clung to his tuxedo jacket.

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