Page 77 of On the Rocks

“Or not,” I said.

“You don’t remember picking me up and running around the football field with me flung over your shoulder after the game against Laurier?” Cora asked.

I did, actually. We’d scored a touchdown in the last moments of the game, beating Laurier, and sending our team to the championship. I’d been so ecstatic, I’d just grabbed her and spun around on the field until we were both too dizzy to stand. “I think you kept telling me you were going to throw up.”

Cora laughed. “I was telling you not to drop me.”

Chloe chuckled. “And did he?”

I scoffed. “Not a chance.”

“You did run me all the way down the field so you could kiss me in the endzone though,” Cora reminded me.

Trent snickered, massaging his eyes. “Why were you so corny, man?”

“I wasn’t corny,” I insisted. “I was really cool in high school.”

Chloe exchanged a look with Cora, one of those looks only women understood, while Paul and Trent laughed.

“Isn’t there a newlywed couple around here we should be congratulating?” I said, hoping Vincent and Piper would appear so we could change the subject. But despite the teasing I was getting from these throwback stories, I couldn’t have been happier with how seamlessly Cora fit in with my friends. It was clear they all approved of her. Not only did they approve, but they genuinely liked her, which was even better. I never should have doubted though. Cora was charming and funny and endearing. It was impossiblenotto like her.

Dominic stumbled over, drink in hand, as Cora was midway through another high school story.

“How’re my boys doing?”

I turned as Nana Dee walked up, clad in her signature pearls. I strung my arm over her shoulders, pulling her into the group. “Where have you been?”

“Trying to get a word in with the newlyweds, but they’re being hounded,” she said. “So I’ve been getting all the hot gossip instead.”

I laughed. I didn’t doubt it. “How much gossip can there be at a wedding?”

“Plenty,” Nana Dee said. “If you know where to look. Speaking of,” she said to Chloe, “I’ve heard the bride has another dress for the reception?”

“She does,” Chloe confirmed. “And it’s even more dazzling than the first. Better to dance in too.”

“I’m just so thrilled for Vincent and Piper,” Nana Dee said. She nudged me. “And to see you with such a wonderful girl.”

She said the last part quietly, but I didn’t miss the corner of Cora’s mouth turning up, proving that she’d caught it, too.

“I heard from Trent you had your doctor’s appointment,” I said, turning back to Nana Dee. She nodded. “And?”

“He had me go for some tests. You know how these things are. Tests and more tests. And then maybe some answers—eventually. I’m still waiting for the results.”

“Well, I’m glad you went.” Not only for her sake, but for Trent’s stress level as well. “You’ll keep me posted on what you find out?”

“Of course,” she said, patting my arm gently.

“My god, this is the one,” Dominic said, holding up a glass. He’d somehow secured another cocktail in the time I’d been talking to Nana Dee. “You guys have to try this one. It’s so good. What is that? Hints of?—”

“Candied rose petals,” Cora said. “I tried it earlier. It’s brilliant.”

“Speaking of brilliant,” Trent said to me, “Dominic was mentioning earlier that the launch for the new nonalcoholic line is officially a go?”

I nodded. “They’ve all been finalized, with Cora’s help.”

Chloe clapped. “That’s so exciting!”

“It is. We’ve got the launch event planned for next month,” I told them.

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