“Whatever,” I reply. She steps up and opens the double doors, allowing Sara to walk through with her father.
I spend the rest of the ceremony staring down into my lap at my fingers. They are freshly painted a deep plum color and I smile at the sight of frosting, which is smudged on my left ring finger knuckle. Popping it into my mouth and sucking, I moan softly at the sweet taste of sugar as Joey weeps like a baby next to me. To my surprise, I’m not emotional at all. Weddings usually turned me into a blubbering idiot, but today, at this particular wedding, I’m emotionless. I guess a part of me should feel a bit sad. Not because my ex-boyfriend is getting married to someone other than myself, but because I wasted two years of my life on a relationship that almost broke me, and seeing him again is a reminder of all that time wasted. An annoying reminder. Why the hell did I even stay with him for that long? It definitely wasn’t because of the sex. Sex with Justin was bland and boring. He never once brought me to orgasm. Not once. I would have to finish myself off after he rolled out of bed and stalked into the bathroom. Of course, I always let him believe he got me off. I had to give the guy something. Raising my head, I glare at his profile. You’re welcome, dick.
“And now it is with honor that I present to you, for the first time ever, Mr. and Mrs. Banks. You may now kiss the bride.” Everyone stands up and cheers and, of course, I follow suit. It would be rude not to, and I’m not bitter, so, whatever, I cheer. Justin and Sara share a lingering kiss and earn a few whistles from the audience. I feel Joey’s hand squeeze mine and I glance up into his big, blue eyes.
“I cannot wait to go drink my weight in booze,” I whisper to him.
He bends and presses his lips to my ear. “And I can’t wait to get my hands down the pants of this playa next to me. Maybe play a little just the tip.”
“Jesus. You would.” Everyone is watching the bride and groom walk down the aisle, but I’m lost in silly conversation with one of my closest friends. I’m giggling so hard that tears are starting to fill my eyes. And these will be the only tears shed from me today.
“Come on, Dylan, you know you want to slip off into a dark corner with your mystery man whose lap you accidently fell into. Maybe do a little something else in that lap of his.”
I raise my eyebrow and lean back, seeing piercing, green eyes flick to mine instantly. A small smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. Sweet Mother, he is gorgeous. I quickly lean forward and try to play it off, but fail miserably as a wicked grin smears across my face. “Hell yes, I do. I fucking love weddings.”
The guests file out of The Great Hall and up the grand staircase to the second level. Once Joey and I reach the top, we stand there a moment to take in our surroundings. The entire second floor is the reception hall, and ridiculously decked out in coral and calla lilies.
“Holy hell. Are those ice sculptures?”
My eyes follow Joey’s gesture toward the right side of the room. “Isn’t that a bit over the top? Ooohhh, there’s the cake.”
“Told you I delivered it. I feel you doubt my capabilities as your trusted assistant.”
I nudge his shoulder as we walk to the place card table. “And I feel you really love Sam and are just afraid to admit it.”
Tilting his head back, he laughs loudly. “How badass would it be if we started doing our deliveries out of a Lamborghini.”
“Badass and extremely impractical. Maybe when we make our first million we’ll splurge on a luxury delivery vehicle.” I grab our place card. “Come on, we’re table twelve.”
I don’t really care what table we’re at, just as long as we aren’t in direct view of the bridal table. Justin still hasn’t made eye contact and I’m hoping to keep it that way, and with this many people in attendance, avoiding him shouldn’t be a problem. Round tables cover three sides of a large wooden dance floor, the bridal table elevated on a platform and overlooking the guests. The tables are draped in white linen with coral ribbons running along the edges and beautiful calla lily filled centerpieces. The DJ is already playing music and a few people are dancing while others mingle around the tables, talking and enjoying themselves.
“There you two are.” Juls comes skittering over to us in her dangerously high heels and grabs onto our forearms as we admire the sculptures. “How was it? Be honest.” I cock my head to the side and scrunch up my nose as Joey rubs the back of his neck, seemingly in pain. Juls panics, her eyes bug and her fingers immediately rub her temple.
“It was brilliant!” I yell as relief washes over her, followed by a stern I’m going to kick your ass look.