Page 4 of Runaway Bride and Prejudice

Maybe I should have gone in with them. But I couldn’t risk seeing Amelia. I don’t think I could have walked away, not when I knew she was about to hear devastating news. And it’s not like I’m the person she’d turn to for comfort.

Douche was right about one thing: I barely know Amelia.

“Van probably found a woman,” Tucker whispers, leaning down from his spot at the end of the aisle.

“And a coat closet,” Wyatt mutters, shaking his head. The man is a monk, rarely going out with us and, as far as we know,neverdating. But this means he always assumes everyone else is hooking up.

“Nah,” Dumbo says, eyeing me. “He doesn’t look happy enough. My vote is diarrhea.”

Alec snorts, and Parker turns around to poke me in the shoulder with one of her pink-painted nails. “Hush!”

“Ow!” I whisper-shout. “I’m not the one who saiddiarrhea.”

“You just did,” she says. “Now, pipe down back there. All of you. They’re about to start.”

They aren’t. But I’m the only one in this room who knows that right now, so I mutter “Yes, Boss” along with the rest of the guys.

Parker may be the social media manager, not our actual boss, but she keeps us all in line. Partly because we like and respect her. Partly because she can be surprisingly scary for someone so upbeat. Beside her, Logan tilts his head enough for us to see his smug grin. I think he gets intense pleasure from watching his fiancée force us into submission.

I smooth a hand over my hair, which will go right back to being messy in two minutes. Any minute now, someone will be walking in the sanctuary to announce that the wedding is canceled. Glancing around the room, everything still seems to be normal.

My gaze stops at our group. I’m seated by Tucker, Dumbo, Wyatt, Camden, and Alec, our captain. The single guys. The row in front of us has all the couples: Eli and Bailey, Logan and Parker, and Felix, who’s saving a spot on the end for Gracie, who’s playing in the string quartet. Nathan is also up there, even though Summer, his new girlfriend and the newest member of the Appies’ legal team, is out of town.

The influx of serious relationships—and one marriage in Eli’s case—this season has shifted things a bit. Now our team has an adult table and kid table vibe going on. I know which table—or row, in this case—I’ll probably never be in.

And what I witnessed a few minutes ago is exactly why. I’ve had a front-row seat to my parents’ unhappily ever afters proving what I already know: monogamy isn’t easy. Vows are too often broken.

My whole childhood was like a cautionary tale against marriage.

No shade to my teammates, who all seem like they’re in good, healthy relationships. But I know how it goes. First comes the sunshine and rainbows and heart-eye emojis. Then comes the fighting. The cheating. The inevitable, messy breakup. The aftermath.

It’s the circle of love. And it’s one ride I doubt I’ll ever get on. Not unless I meet someone I couldn’t imagine living without. Someone worth risking it all for. So far, no one’s come close.

Except maybe one woman—the very one who should never have made me entertain those kinds of thoughts.

Tucker leans close. “Dude. Did you know how hot Coach’s daughter is?”

“Probably why he kept her away from us,” Dumbo says.

“Stop talking about her,” I grumble.

Alec eyes me with a little too much interest. “When do you evernotwant to discuss a hot woman?”

The comment bugs me. Maybe I’ve leaned into the bad-boy image a little too hard. It bothers me to think my closest friends might really just think of me as some superficial womanizer.

“It’s Coach’s daughter,” I say, going with the only explanation that won’t beg more questions. I clench my jaw and face forward.

“Do you know her or something?” Alec asks. “You’re being weird. Even for you.”

“No.”

It’s not a lie. But it’s also not the truth.

Amelia and I met exactly one time before this weekend. I was picking up a to-go order at the restaurant bar. She was meeting her dad for dinner, and he was running late.

I’ll be honest—I started talking to her because she was hot. Honey-colored hair in a perky ponytail, striking blue eyes, and a smile that tugged me to a stop where I stood.

But I stayed andkepttalking to her because she made me laugh. I wish I could remember now what she said. Whatever it was, I choked out a surprised guffaw, the kind of laugh that sounded like some kind of weird drunk donkey. It made her giggle.

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