Page 44 of Dopplebanger

“Yeah, we’ve got to go line up,” Paige said. “Talk later?”

“Sure,” Gwen said. As soon as they’d turned to head the opposite direction, she blew out a shaky exhale.

“You okay?” Admittedly, a hint of jealousy mingled in with my concern. I hoped she wasn’t sighing because of the tool. But this was about reassuring her, not me.

Gwen nodded. “It was like this weird déjà vu, but everything felt wrong.”

My gut clenched.

“But also right.” Gwen laced her fingers with mine. “If that make sense.”

Nothing made sense to me anymore. Not why anyone would dump this girl, not that I’d somehow fallen for her in a matter of days. Not why we couldn’t be together.

TWENTY-TWO

Today was such a weird day—I wasn’t kidding about my hatred of rollercoasters. Maybe I’d be the tiniest bit happier if Evan was the person seated on the rollercoaster with me, but he’d sent me on one that started last night and now I felt like I had to constantly have my guard up.

But then he’d kissed me and… residual heat coursed through me. It was an amazing freaking kiss. The mind-blowing type you hear about but don’t quite believe is possible until you experience one for yourself. There’d been fireworks going off since the morning at Sacred Grounds, and even as frustrated as I was, those hadn’t disappeared.

And he said he was preoccupied with his future, which was a good thing, I supposed. I hoped it included me. We were going to have to have a talk, and I couldn’t be a chicken anymore. I needed to know where we stood.

It was also weird to watch Madison reciting her vows. A good kind of weird, but still. Of the three of us, I thought she’d be the last to settle down, and I couldn’t look at her without thinking of slumber parties spent giggling instead of sleeping; that time we’d taken her dad’s new truck for a spin in the middle of the night, ended up stuck in a field and had to call the guys forbackup; and how she’d been the one I turned to when I was ready to have sex for the first time with Kyle.

Maybe I’ll have to ask for advice on how to get my current boyfriend to sleep with me.

My eyes moved to Evan of their own accord—did he always have that mole on his jawline? I’d studied it so often you’d think I would’ve noticed it before. Maybe it was because he’d shaved today.

His eyebrow arched as he gave me a sidelong glance. Probably meant I should stop staring, but I kept on doing it anyway. The grooves in his cheek that accented his smile deepened as a crooked grin tugged at his mouth. Then he draped his arm around me and curled me closer.

I dropped my head on his shoulder and inhaled his cologne. Since I didn’t want to freak him out—especially since I worried he was already in freaked territory—I’d tried to play it cool about the wedding stuff. But right now, with the bride and groom grinning at each other, a couple of people around us tearing up, and the beautiful fairytale setting… mushy love vibes were definitely seeping through the barrier I’d tried to erect, not just around me, but my heart.

Evan’s thumb dragged up and down my arm and my stomach went to spinning on me.

“…pronounce you husband and wife.”

Kade nearly knocked Madison over in his enthusiasm to kiss her, and the crowd shared a chuckle before it melted intoawws. Then there was cheering as they headed back down the aisle. I kept my attention on them, because like I said, trying to play it cool. I swear if you made eye contact with a guy during the end part of the wedding stuff, they translated that into you thinking about marrying them.

Only I felt Evan’s gaze on me, and when I let myself turn and drink him in, he dipped his head for a kiss. “I feel like I didn’t say enough about how amazing you look tonight.”

I fisted his jacket in my hand, holding his mouth to mine, where it should always be. “You did say the dress was giving you dirty thoughts.”

“Exceptionally dirty. But it’s not just the dress. It’s the girl in the dress. You’re stunning, Guinevere Cosgrave.”

My heart skipped a few beats.

“I guarantee every guy here is jealous that I’m here with you. Especially your idiot ex-boyfriend.”

“An exaggeration, but nice all the same.”

“Well, if he doesn’t stop staring at you, I might have to kick his ass, wedding or not.”

Maybe I should be above being turned on by the caveman antics, but I so wasn’t. While usually my instincts would also have me to checking to see if his words held any merit, Evan’s blue eyes were currently holding me captive, leaving me incapable of even thinking about any other guy. “Can you please wait tillafterthe wedding?”

Evan tipped his head one way and then the other like he was considering.

“We’re supposed to follow them to the reception area!” the lady to my right said, giving me a nudge and gesturing us to move toward the aisle.

Guess the mushy part of the night was over. Now it was a race to the tables and chairs circling the dance floor, even though there’d be place settings with our names, so it wasn’t like the faster you went, the better seat you’d get.

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