Page 55 of Stuck With the Billionaire Grump

“Lucy,” I begin. “I wanted to tell you—”

“Come on, Maidzilla!” shouts one of the blonde twins whose names I still don’t know. “Josie is about to throw the bouquet!”

My lips are still parted, ready to let loose the rest of my bold declaration, when Lucy shoots me an apologetic look and allows herself to be dragged away by her friend.

A massive crowd of young women forms around Josie, who is grinning from ear to ear as she holds her bridal bouquet over her head. I find myself absorbed into a group of guys whose only choice is to watch from afar as the girls attempt to win a happily ever after by catching the bouquet.

“Are you ready?” Josie shouts.

The girls cheer loudly. Beside me, Harry chuckles.

Josie turns her back to the crowd and then flings the bouquet so high up in the air that several people watching from the sidelines let out gasps of appreciation. The bouquet seems to hang suspended in midair for a moment before beginning its descent, flipping petals over stems several times as it sails over the outstretched hands of dozens of women.

At last, with a sense of profound finality, the bouquet lands directly in the arms of a very shocked-looking redhead. I recognize her from the barbecue. Mabel, I think. She wasn’t even really part of the bouquet-catching crowd, from the looks of it. She’d just been loitering on the outer edges to make it look like she was eagerly participating.

From the look on her face, she certainly wasn’t expecting to catch it.

I see Lucy take one look at Mabel and the surprise in her expression, then burst out laughing. Many of the other girls follow suit, seeming to understand why it would be such a shock that the bouquet would land so decidedly in the redhead’s arms.

My attention is coaxed away from the amusement, however, when someone taps my arm.

Eric has found me.

“It’s Theo, right?”

“Yeah. Hi. How’s it going?”

He shrugs. “I was wondering if I could ask you something.”

I glance around, but Harry has already drifted away. I’m stuck in this conversation for now.

“Uh, sure.”

“What’s the deal with you and Lucy?”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, you literally interrupted us when you asked her to dance, so don’t act coy, dude.”

I raise my eyebrows at his tone. Every other time I’ve seen him, Eric has been friendly and easygoing. Now, however, he looks peeved.

“If you wanted to dance with her, you should’ve asked,” I reply, keeping my tone light. “The night is young. There are still plenty of opportunities.”

“Listen, man. I like her. We’ve got history. And I feel like I’m finally getting my chance to recreate the magic we used to have.”

“The magic where you gave her infectious mononucleosis and then didn’t see her again for over a decade?”

Eric narrows his eyes. He’s much shorter than me—most people are—but he’s doing a decent job of trying to pretend he’s not.

“I get it. You think you’re special because she shared that little story with you. Or maybe you’re just friends. Whatever.” Eric tosses his head to the side, trying to look totally unbothered during this confrontation, but I can’t help thinking that this is exactly the sort of self-conscious man who hides behind bravado.

“If she likes you so much, why don’t you go ask her out instead of bothering me?”

I want to punch myself as soon as the words are out. That wasn’t what I meant to say. Now it sounds like I’m encouraging him to go after Lucy, which is the last thing I want. Especially now that Lucy has confirmed she’s not interested in him like that.

Eric snorts humorlessly. “Well, I was in the middle of that before you showed up.”

“Maybe you should’ve spoken up before she got away.”

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