Page 124 of Playing Flirty

“You have to tell me everything in the next three seconds before your mom and her seven hundred bags make it up here.”

“He’s coming to the wedding.” I smiled, not sure if I was smiling to myself or at her. I only knew I was smiling and may never stop.

“Oh, damn! So, you have that magic going on where, after sex, you can convince men to do whatever you want them to?”

I punched her lightly on the arm.

“I can’t believe you’re in love with my almost brother-in-law,” she said. “We’ll be sisters someday.”

My mother arrived at that moment and squeezed the air out of me. “Hello, baby. Please thank William for a wonderful night with a private room so your father and I didn’t have to worry about your no-hanky-panky rule.”

I shut my eyes and groaned.

My mom took her seat at the table and continued with the candles. Eventually, my dad joined. I bit back a grin at the number of bags he carried. So. Many. Bags. No one ever knew why my mother packed so much, and I wondered why she’d needed all of them for one night at the hotel.

I pulled Neema into my bedroom and spent our last day in our apartment together talking about the things and people we loved, in far more detail than anyone else would be willing to listen to.

The following morning, the sky was bluer than usual—as blue as Shaun’s eyes—and my heart melted knowing my best friends would have the perfect wedding day. Then it melted again, knowing I would see William, and not any William, but William in that suit. The William who loved me while wearing that suit.

MyWilliam.

After we arrived at the venue and my parents and Neema went inside, I stayed behind and unpacked the car with the help of a few waitstaff who carried it up to Neema’s “get ready room.”

A strong pair of arms wrapped around my waist. Dropping his lips against my neck, William left tiny kisses on my skin.

“You should know, I’m not hiding this from anyone ever again,” he whispered.

I spun around and pulled his head to mine, our lips meeting as if it was the most natural thing in the world. As if we’d been doing it for years.

“Ah, William!” my mother called out.

I jumped away so quickly I fell into the trunk of the car. William shifted and offered me an arm as my mom approached.

“Hi, Mrs. Jones.” William smiled, but his voice was laced with nervousness. “I’m William Ashdern, yes. It’s nice to meet you in person.”

“Mom.” I ran to her and whispered in her ear, “He’s Gandalf! He’s actually Gandalf. My Gandalf.”

Her eyes flashed with excitement, and she pulled him in for a tight hug. “I knew you two would find each other again.”

I grinned and left William still wrapped in my mother’s hug, knowing that if I waited for her to release him, I might miss the entire wedding.

Reaching the get ready room, I opened the door and let out a gasp of excitement upon seeing Neema. Two women were simultaneously working on her hair and makeup.

The woman applying Neema’s makeup looked up at me. “Are you the maid of honor?”

I nodded, still unable to find my words.

“Sit. We’re doing you next, and you have a lot of hair to work with.” They bounced from Neema to me.

Claire burst through the door, slightly disheveled but beautiful in a navy-blue wrap dress. She threw her arms around Neema in a tight hug but was shooed away by the makeup and hair duo as she approached me.

“I’m starting to feel nervous about everything going according to plan.” Neema paced the length of the room. “Tell me more about William—it’s the perfect distraction.”

“William?” Claire said with a little hop.

“William.” I sighed his name and blushed.

“She slept with William!” Neema yelled.

---