Page 89 of Just a Heartbeat Away

“Oh, don’t mind me. This is just the first wedding I’ve been to without Richard and—”

Shelly cut off in surprise as Seb gathered her in close for a hug that had that force field in Via’s chest swallowing Brooklyn whole. This man was making feelings grow inside of her so fast and so hard that she didn’t even know what to direct them toward. She watched him from across the group—and she wasn’t the only one. He was like some rare form of wild beast that had somehow been convinced into a three-piece suit. Via couldn’t help but feel, for one painful second, like his presence in her life had to be temporary. Nothing this beautiful and rare could possibly last.

“I’ll be your wedding date, Shelly,” he told her, a firm hand on each of his friend’s shoulders.

“Oh, Sebastian.” Shelly blushed all the way to the roots of her hair. “You don’t have—”

“I’m sad my husband’s dead, too,” Grace cut in blandly. “Be my date.”

Seb laughed at her irreverence. “I’d never turn down two dates.”

He held an arm out to both ladies just as the gates opened and the guests were allowed to find their seats at the outdoor wedding.

Via followed the group, a little at odds now that Sebastian was here but hadn’t even said hi. She watched from a row back as he got the two ladies settled in.

“Via, you really look stunning,” Cat said from beside her. “I couldn’t even staple myself into a dress that looked like that.”

Via laughed. “Oh, Cat, you look beautiful, too. I love that style.”

“But seriously, the color and everything, Via, it’s breathtaking.”

“She’s right,” Grace said, turning around and eyeing Via’s dress.

Via blushed and fussed with the program in her hands. She could feel the bright lights of Seb’s gray-greens on her, but still he didn’t say anything.

“Oh, here we go!” Cat squealed as music started and people rushed to find seats.

Via cried the whole dang wedding and was extremely proud of herself for remembering to bring spare makeup. Because, girl, she needed a fix up.

Sadie looked gorgeous and radiant with her short red hair braided back and her romantic, trumpet-style dress. But it was Rae who really brought the waterworks on for Via. The short, black-haired woman wore a handsome tailored suit and the biggest smile Via had ever seen. She didn’t think she’d ever seen someone look prouder than Rae did when Sadie walked down the aisle. Maybe she was getting caught up in the moment, but Via felt like she was watching Rae come to terms with the fact that Sadie was picking her, forever.

Their ceremony was fast and emotional and barely intelligible through all the tears. It wasn’t more than a few minutes before Sadie was bending Rae backward for the kiss of a lifetime. The two of them straightened up, threw their joined hands in the air and completely cheesed for the wildly cheering crowd.

It was getting chilly with the sun going down, so the caterers bustled the wedding guests inside the venue. Cocktail hour was scheduled to last for a while, so the first chance she got, Via excused herself to the bathroom and fixed her makeup.

She felt wrung out after the high emotional intensity of the wedding, like a sponge after a really great bout with a saucepan. A good cry always did that to her. But as Via eyed herself in the mirror, she realized that it was more than that. She felt like she was filling up with air and leaking it at the same time. Like her insides were somehow producing glitter and glue simultaneously. She was a glittery, sparkly, sticky mess inside her chest.

God, had she ever felt this way before? Like, ever? About anyone?

After all the attention she was used to getting from Sebastian, it was strange to feel the loss of it. Almost like a vacuum. She shrugged to herself in the mirror. Either she could address it head-on with him or she could let it go. But she refused to allow herself to brood. She was here to party down for Sadie and Rae. Glitter glue be damned.

Deeming herself presentable again, she stepped out of the bathroom and into the back hallway that led to the reception area. She stopped in her tracks.

Sebastian was leaning against the wall, apparently waiting for her, his hands in his pants pockets and his feet crossed at the ankle. The second he saw her, he pushed forward. Closer than normal, but he wasn’t touching. Her high heels brought her up to a solid five-foot-eight, but she still had to drop her head all the way back to be able to look him in the eye.

“You’re so gorgeous it hurts,” he told her, point-blank.

She jolted like he’d zapped her with a little kiss of electricity. She opened her mouth but couldn’t think of anything to say. His words were still absorbing into her, like beads of wine over cloth.

“I wanted to tell you immediately, but I worried it might embarrass you in front of everyone. And I didn’t want to say, ‘you look nice’ or ‘very beautiful’ or something lame like that. Because the truth is, I can barely look at you right now. That’s how unbelievably gorgeous you are.”

Thank you. That’s the nicest compliment anyone has ever given me. Sebastian, I have feelings for you. I want to treat this wedding like a date. And then I want to go on a real date.

Any of that would have been acceptable in Via’s eyes. They were all words that were tripping to fall out of her mouth. Maybe it was his nearness, his size, the warm pine man-scent that was emanating from him, but Via found herself with a terrible case of brain scramble and she ended up simply blurting, “You look really hot.”

She would have face-palmed herself right into a coma if it weren’t for the sun-shaming, earthquaking, heart-stuttering grin that exploded over his face.

“Thanks,” he said, his earlier intensity melting into a much warmer expression. His eyes skated lazily over her face, and he reached up to touch one of the gold studs in her ear. Her breath caught at the intimate feel of his rough fingertips at her earlobe. He wasn’t being seductive, he was just toggling the earring around, almost the same way that Matty had been absently playing with her necklace the other day. “You wanna get drunk and dance and celebrate our friend?”

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