Page 45 of Take Me to the Wedding

“No, thanks.” I got up and beelined pretty fast, pretending not to hear his “So you don’t think she’d date me?”

I passed Sam in line. “Everything okay?” I pulled some money out of my pocket. “I forgot to give you this.”

“I got this round,” she said, pushing my hand back.

She looked worried. Distracted even. “What’s up?” I asked.

She sighed heavily. “Do you think you might stay just a little longer? Mia asked me for a little bit of time before I head back to the cabin.”

“Sure, I’ll stay.” That sounded a little too enthusiastic, so I added, “I mean—Brax told me to take my time heading back there too.”

“Wait, so—which one are they using?” She laughed and shook her head. “Why didn’t they just get their own cabin? I feel like I’m back in college again where a blue ribbon on the doorknob means hanky-panky going on inside.”

I would’ve laughed, except something was bothering me. “Has Quinn done anything to make you uncomfortable?”

“Nothing like that. I hate to be blunt when we’ve got to interact more before the wedding, but I might have to.”

“I might’ve told him you were devastated by a breakup and weren’t interested. I hope you don’t mind.”

She laughed. “I hope that works, but I’m not sure it will. Has Lilly left?”

“She wasn’t into the square dance. Also, I might’ve stepped on her foot. Even worse, I put a giant scuff on her shoe.”

“Yikes.” Her eyes danced with humor. “Sorry about that.”

I smiled. Mostly because she made me want to smile. I felt relaxed and comfortable around her. “I want to stay and dance anyway.”

She grinned widely. “Me too.”

“But first, food. What are you getting?”

“Grilled cheese. French fries. A shake. Do they have that? I’m starving!”

“I got you,” I said, and moved on to the food counter.

We chowed down pretty fast. Good thing, because the caller announced another round. Before I could think about what I was doing, I asked, “Sam, be my partner?”

And so we walked onto the dance floor. She stood across from me, grinning widely. “I have to warn you,” I said, “I’m not very good at this. I might step onyourfoot.”

“I might step on yours,” she said right back. “Come on.” And then she whisked me away.

* * *

Samantha

Caleb and I danced the entire set together. All too soon, the caller announced the final song, the music came to a sudden stop, and everyone cheered, whooped, and clapped. We were breathless and laughing as we left the floor.

“You’re… having fun,” Caleb said in a quiet voice, his eyes twinkling. He appeared to be very satisfied that he’d called me out.

Iwashaving fun. I really, really was. We’d learned all the calls and the steps, poking fun at each other’s missteps and making funny faces. I didn’t want it to end even as I knew it had to. “No. I’m not,” I answered, but I’m sure I was grinning from ear to ear.

He reached out a hand and pushed a strand of my hair back. “Look at you. You’re all untidy and glowing. I’d say definite fun was had.”

I stared at him, frozen. He’d just touched my hair, and that was… unexpected. And confusing.

He didn’t seem to notice, just kept staring at me. Finally, he gave a low chuckle. “Samantha unleashed,” he said in a low voice, shaking his head incredulously.

He looked as thrown and surprised as I was.

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