Page 94 of Truth or Tequila (Grand Slam 1)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

sophie

“Sophie!” Maisie points at me with her bouquet. “Quit being a coward! This is meant for you, and only you.”

It’s time for the most-dreaded wedding tradition—the bridal bouquet toss. I’m the last of our close group of girlfriends to get married, so all of the attention is on me. I hate it. I tried to hide, but Taylor and Savannah pulled me onto the floor. It’s me, a few women I’ve never seen, and a collection of little girls. Maisie points at me again—her eyebrows raised.

“You can’t make me do anything!” I say as I grab Maisie’s eight-year-old niece and try to hide behind her. “Your bridal card expired the minute you said, ‘I do.’ Remember?”

Maisie scowls at me and turns around, so her back’s facing us. She acts like she’s going to toss the bouquet over her shoulder, then she whips back around, takes a few quick steps toward me, and throws it right at my face. I cover my head with my hands, but just before it hits me, someone grabs it. I look up to see Seb standing in front of me, holding the bouquet.

I look quickly from the flowers to his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Well apparently, I have to follow you around the country to keep you from getting hit in the head with flying objects.” He lifts the bouquet up to emphasize his point. “I taught you how to catch, Sophie.”

“I didn’t want to catch that,” I say, backing up a few steps.

“I could tell,” he says, shaking his head. “Are you scared of flowers, too?”

“Just those flowers. The person who catches the bridal bouquet is supposed to be the one who gets married next.”

He smiles. “So I’m getting married next?”

“I think it might only apply to single females.”

He nods and looks down at my fellow competitors. He sees the three-year-old flower girl looking longingly at the bouquet.

“Hey,” he says, squatting down and smiling at her. “Do want to catch these flowers?”

She nods, looking from him to the flowers, her eyes getting wider.

“Okay, do you know how to catch? When I throw them, trap them against your chest like this.” He tosses them in the air and traps them against his chest to show her. “Are you ready?”

He leans closer to her and gently tosses them. She closes her eyes as she throws her arms around them.

Seb looks up at me and laughs. “She catches just like you.”

“Good job!” he says as she opens her eyes. After he pats her on the head, he stands back up and looks at me. “She’s, what, about three? So if she’s the next one married, you have at least twenty years before you have to worry about it.”

He looks around the room. Everyone’s staring at him, as usual. He grabs my hand.

“Come here,” he says, pulling me toward the ballroom door.

I look over my shoulder. Maisie’s grinning at me.

“Was this you?” I mouth to her.

She shrugs and smiles. I shake my head and smile back at her. My best friend is perfect.

When Seb gets me out in the hallway, he pulls me behind a row of planters. “Maisie said you didn’t have a date to the wedding. Is that true?”

“Yeah,” I say, nodding.

“Do you want one?” He points down to his jeans. “I drove over here from the lake house, so I don’t have wedding clothes—”

I throw myself into his chest and wrap my arms around his waist. “I missed you so much.”

“God, I missed you, too,” he whispers as he wraps his arms around me. He rests his chin on top of my head. “Every second. It was agony.”

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