Page 65 of Always Yours

“Have a nice time. I’ll see you guys at the reception.”

Everyone says bye to him as I look straight ahead, my body shaking with all kinds of crazy things. Nervousness, fear, excitement, and a giddiness I’ve never experienced before. When my phone chimes, all four of my sisters’ gazes whip to me. Why didn’t I put my phone on silent? I take it out of my little pearl-studded bag, and I see a text. I don’t have to open it to know it’s from him.

Dimitri: Does your dress have a slit in it?

My lips twitch. Me: It does.

Dimitri: I thought so. Listen, Superior Janie, I need to tell you something very important.

My breath catches.Me: Should I prepare myself for something highly unsuitable for a wedding?

Dimitri: I think I can be on my best behavior with this important comment.

Me: Doubtful.

The girls giggle beside me, all crammed over my shoulder to see what I am writing him.

Peepaw looks over at us. “What are y’all doing?”

“Nothing,” we all sing at once, and I know he thinks we’re all up to something we shouldn’t be.

And maybe I am.

Oh, how that excites me.

His text bubble comes up, disappears, and then finally, his comment appears.

Dimitri: I think teal is my new favorite color with you in that dress. You are the most beautiful woman at the wedding, and I even saw the bride ten minutes ago. I need you to save me a dance.

My stomach flutters with excitement, and the girls all gush beside me.Me:Need?

Dimitri: Fucking need, Janie.

My lips twitch once more, and my heart does a skip, jump, and then a backflip.Me:Maybe.

When I hear his laughter from across the church, I fight the giggle that wants to escape my lips as my sisters all giggle around me. They’re talking, but I’m not listening.

I will dance with Dimitri tonight. I will have no clue what I’m doing, and I may look dumb as hell, but I will do it because it will be fun. Because I’ll be with him. As I tuck my now-silenced phone into my purse just as the wedding starts, it doesn’t take long for me to realize, for this being my first wedding, I already know it’s going to be a night to remember.

Oh my goodness, what am I doing?

And why am I not scared in the slightest?

twenty-two

Dimitri

Wes and Stella’s wedding is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it is because Stella is so stunning in her crystal-studded dress that hugs every single one of her curves or how badly Wes cried, but even I found myself a little teary-eyed. The love blazes off them, and I couldn’t be happier for my friends. My mom, of course, is crying like a baby as my dad holds her tightly.

While my parents didn’t get the fairy-tale start like a lot of their friends, their love story ismyfavorite. I guess because it was me who brought them together after my dad knocked her up. It makes me feel good knowing I was the reason they fell in love. I know that might not sound right, but I feel special anyway. I don’t know if they planned Katarina, but sometimes I wonder why they had her. Given the look on Katarina’s face, though, you’d think she hates everyone and doesn’t give a shit about anything.

Which may be true.

I hate how much her attitude bothers me, but it’s hard to stay upset about how my sister feels when my gaze can’t stop falling back on Austen. Even sitting two pews up from her, I keep looking back at her sitting in the middle of all her sisters. It is beyond rude, and my mom gets frustrated with me, but I can’t help it.

I have to keep taking her in. The way her hair falls down her shoulders, fanning out on either side of her round face, the dress hugging her in all the right ways, makes me wish this were a standing-room-only wedding so I could see that slit that has been teasing me since the moment I walked up to them. Then there’s the way her lips are glossed with such a pretty purple color and, of course, the blush along her cheeks. She catches me watching her, and the tone of her skin makes that teal shine.

She is beyond gorgeous.

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