Page 53 of Shy Girl
She smiled. “Yes.”
We fell into a polite back-and-forth until the general air of tension dissipated in the crowd. Dagny motioned for a waiter to refill her glass. Victoria gazed out, as if bored. Despite the repartee clearly meant to embarrass Dagny, she maintained a serene-like expression. Her attention turned to the older woman next to her, whom she trapped in conversation about a broach she wore. Victoria's stare flitted to me every other second, but I ignored her. Thankfully, she remained silently brooding, overlooking the crowd here and there. Grady's two cousins ignored her entirely.
Beneath the easy conversation that resumed at the table was a low-level hum of something. Frustration, perhaps. Maybe even astonishment. Then again, maybe that was just the way I felt about the situation.
Dagny laughed at something the older woman said, and the sound sent a jab through my heart. My gaze fell on Victoria, who brightened a little when she caught my stare. Her lips moved, silently saying, “My room. Later.”
I gazed away in a pointed no.
She smiled a little too widely for the next hour.
By the time we broke free from the rehearsal dinner, the clock betrayed a late 10:30. Hours of smiling, talking, and monitoring a very quiet Dagny on my arm had exhausted every mental resource I had. All I wanted to do was drop into a deep sleep.
Or kiss Dagny again.
Could go either way.
When I guided Dagny out of the atrium and into the moonlit night, she gave no protest. Her eyes were drawn and tired, like she had a headache, and I wanted to get her back to the bungalow before someone else who was half drunk trapped us in conversation I didn't care about. Three hours of this was more than enough for any Best Man. Where Sebastian and Vik ended up, I had no idea. Somehow, I’d only caught glimpses of them all night. My friends hadn’t even crossed my mind since I saw Dagny on the beach in her tankini and wanted to spend time with her. What a strange feeling.
Dagny tugged me to a stop.
“S-sorry,” she mumbled. “Just a s-sec. I need to f-fix my flip flop.”
She withdrew her arm from mine and bent over to fix something on her shoe. I glanced to the bungalow, glowing behind us with strings of lights and green fronds. Melodic music filtered from the atrium at our backs, a gentle form of island reggae, and the sound of laughter rolled with it.
“Oh, sh-shoot.” She muttered something under her breath. “It b-broke.” She straightened up, holding a flip-flop with one side popped loose.
“Do you have others?” I asked.
“Yeah, j-just back at the b-bungalow.”
“We're heading there anyway.”
When she straightened up, she kept an eye on her other shoe while she started forward and didn’t see the couple just ahead. I opened my mouth to warn her, but couldn’t speak fast enough. Dagny crashed into Anthony Dunkin with anoomphand started to fall backward. Before she crashed into the sand, Anthony reached out and caught her arms.
I swore under my breath as I helped her stabilize.
“Are you okay?” Anthony asked.
Dagny froze, her eyes wide, and stared at him. Her mouth dropped into a shockedoand she made no sound. I put a hand on her shoulder as Anthony looked her over.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “I wasn’t paying attention. Are you hurt?”
“Oh, hello!” Alison Dunkin called with a smile brightened by a few glasses of wine, I'd bet. “Dagny, was it?”
Dagny’s mouth bobbed open and closed for a moment before she nodded. With effort, she looked to Alison.
“Y-yes. G-g-g-g-ood to s-s-see you.”
Alison beamed at me. “And Jayson, so good to see you again.” Before I could check on Dagny, Alison pulled me into a quick, warm embrace. “I’m glad you were able to make it. You mean so much to Grady.”
“Thank you for inviting us,” I said.
Anthony stepped away from Dagny, but kept a wary eye on her. His gaze tapered, then he shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Forgive me,” he murmured to Dagny. “Do I know you? You seem . . . familiar.”
Dagny dropped her gaze, but she looked back at him now. She shook her head, mute. Her expression had become very pale.
Something was definitely wrong.
