Page 22 of Pierced Pages
“Funny you say that.” Morgan pushed her doubts away as she barreled forward. “My sister has a wedding coming up.”
“That’ll be fun for you. When is it?”
“In three weeks.” Morgan hesitated. Once she said these next words, there was no taking them back. “Wild idea… would you maybe want to come with me?”
She could hear the fear in her own voice, and she didn’t like the sound of it. It sounded so small. So pleading.
Was she really this terrified to go to her own sister’s wedding? Or did she really so desperately want this woman’s company?
“Me?” Danielle’s expression was confused, but at least it wasn’t horrified. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m not understanding. You wantmeto go with you to your sister’s wedding?”
“Yeah, if you want to. I just thought, you know, we had a good time last time, and I could use the company. I promise, knowing my sister, she’ll serve top tier-food and drinks.”
“Wedding food does sound better than boxed mac and cheese.” Danielle waved a hand between them. “But this…”
“Still just as friends,” Morgan said, probably a little too quickly. She had a feeling she was going to be reminding herself of that on repeat for the next few weeks. “Just a fun, friendly night of music, food, and conversation. You might even convince me to dance if the right song comes on.”
Danielle’s eyes lit up. “And what’s the right song?”
Morgan gave her a sly grin. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
“But if I go,” Danielle said, her expression turning serious, “even if we’re attending as friends, you know everyone there will assume otherwise. Didn’t you say something like that might be an issue with your family?”
“My sister will be the only person there that I care about. She and I have our issues, but she won’t say anything about whoever I bring in whatever arrangement we have.” Morgan let out a re-centering sigh. “The rest of my relatives will gossip about anything, and this way I don’t have to answer their questions about why I didn’t bring some lovely young man with me.”
Danielle gave a knowing smile, then raised her brows. “I remember you mentioning an issue with your mother?”
“My mother will be unhappy with me no matter what I do,” she said. “At least this way I can piss her off.”
All the amusement left Danielle’s face as her brow furrowed, and her lips curled downward. “So you want me to go with you as a friend to a wedding where everyone will think we’re a couple, so I can annoy your mother and deflect the other guests. Do I have this right?”
When she put it that way, Morgan had to admit it sounded like a terrible offer. Her heart clenched as she realized this was probably the worst offer ever, and she was going to miss her chance to spend this event with Danielle.
“Did I mention the top-tier food, drinks, music, and conversation?”
The hint of a smile cracked through, but the look of concern on Danielle’s face quickly returned. “Why me? Surely there’s someone else you can take. I know you don’t want a relationship, so maybe not an actual date. But a friend? Someone you’ve known for more than two occasions?”
It sounded sad having to admit it, but Morgan’s circle was tight. She liked it that way, but people always seemed to think it was some kind of flaw in her system.
Besides, her circle of one was more support than Morgan’s whole family ever was.
“The only other person I’d consider is my best friend, Jen. She works here too. Tattoo artist. You’d like her.” Would she? Morgan didn’t know why she had even said that. “She already has a client booked that evening. She books out pretty far, and it’s someone who has multiple sessions scheduled in advance.”
Danielle narrowed her eyes slightly. Not in an angry way. More in a puzzling way. “So why not just go alone?”
That was a good question.
“Because I know I’ll enjoy it more with you.” The admission filled Morgan with a shaky sense of vulnerability. “We already agreed we make good company.”
Danielle’s hesitancy softened some as she nodded. “That’s true.”
The wait that followed was excruciating, confirming that this had indeed been a terrible decision.
“You know what,” she said. “I’m sorry. Forget I said anything. This whole thing has me stressed, and I shouldn’t have asked you to be in the middle of it all. Plus, we don’t know?—”
“Yes.”
Morgan blinked at her, processing that one little word she was sure she must have misheard.
