Chapter 64
Pure sunshine in physical form tucked her arm in mine, and together we faced the doors that would lead us down the aisle. Meg and Nicky went ahead of us, red gowns swishing as they moved.
The heat of Luna’s hand soaked through my sleeve, the sweetness of her mango lemonade scent barely stronger than the bouquet she clutched. I’d grown attuned to it after the past few months of wedding planning, and now I could pick it out with an embarrassing level of ease whenever she was nearby.
Classical music filled the air from the pianist behind the altar, and I listened carefully for our cue. I made my steps smaller to accommodate for Luna’s shorter stride as we began to walk, and I stole glances at the beautiful omega by my side. It was impossible to not notice all the shades of gold threading through her hair, or her ocean blue eyes I wanted to drown in, or those perfect rose petal lips I’d thought about kissing more times than I could count.
We parted ways, and I took my place next to my brother, the entire congregation rising to watch the bride join us. I had no idea how an accidental bonding had managed to pair up the most perfect match ever. We had all been surprised when Sidney had rolled up with Allie, explaining that their brains had basically gone feral, and they were permanently bonded to each other.
And now they were getting married. They were choosing each other on purpose. There was something so uniquely beautiful about that and about how they had both always seemed so sure about each other.
I wanted to know what that felt like.
My own dating prospects weren’t exactly what you’d call abundant. For years now, I’d been trying to work up the courage to move out. I wasn’t afraid to leave, but I was definitely worried about how my mom would react. Not to mention, I did so much work around the neighborhood that even the thought of moving away from it and having to stop all of that had guilt sitting like a lead ball in my stomach. Most people weren’t too excited to get involved with someone that still lived with their parents at my age and had no real reason to do so. I made enough money from work to afford my own place, I was perfectly able to take care of myself, but I still felt rooted to the spot.
Mom beamed from the front row, watching my sister-in-law move down the aisle toward my brother. I stole another glance at Luna. Her beautiful blue eyes were shiny, unshed tears obvious with the way the sunlight was hitting her. I still hadn’t figured out what was bothering her, but I hoped that as the day wore on she might get more open, even if it took the champagne flowing to loosen her lips. I probably wouldn’t be able to fix whatever was swirling around in her head, but I also knew she wasn’t the type to burden her friends today.
Her knuckles were as white as the bouquet she held, but I couldn’t pick out any scent of distress from where I stood.
I waited quietly for my cue to pass over the rings, and when I had completed my task, and bride and groom had kissed, I was able to rejoin Luna. The bridal party left the ceremony space and retreated together to the bridal suite until it was time for bride and groom to greet their guests. A charcuterie board had been set up during the ceremony for us to eat before dinner. Allie sat in Sidney’s lap and Meg fed her bites while the photographer worked their magic.
Flutes of champagne and fizzy lemonade decorated all the flat surfaces, and Meg made sure everyone was hydrating properly, fulfilling her role as the alpha in charge of managing our group today.
“I can’t wait for dinner,” I said, scooping a bite of food for myself. “My stomach is gonna start going concave if I don’t get a real meal soon.”
Luna snorted. “There’s literally a tray of food in front of you.”
“Yeah, but if I ate as much of it as I wanted, there would be nothing left for anyone else. I’m being polite.”
“It’s true,” Nicky said with a laugh. “Don’t give Luca free rein on any food you want to actually eat yourself.”
“Lucky for Luca, there’s a few things a girl can’t eat herself.” Luna winked at me. “I’d give him free rein on that.”
Heat roared up my spine as my brain made the connection between her words and the salacious meaning. My face flushed so warm it was a wonder I didn’t start dripping sweat. Mental images of her suggestion tumbled through my mind, my throat and pants suddenly tight.
“Loons,” Meg chided. “You promised to behave.”
“Excuse you, I promised no such thing.” Luna popped a cherry tomato into her mouth, her eyes full of mirth as if she could see the valiant struggle inside my brain.
“I vote we not mention either of my brothers eating anything ever again,” Nicky said, thrusting her hand into the air.
Thank god for Nicky crashing through to drown out the thoughts Luna had inspired.
“Pretty sure you’d get outvoted between Allie and I.” Luna snickered. “But I’ll take pity on you for the moment. Besides, it’s all Allie’s fault.”
Allie squawked. “How is it my fault?”
My brother looped his arms around her waist but wisely stayed quiet as the ladies chatted.
“Because you’re all cute and happy and it makes me sad about my own very single life.”
Meg glanced over at me and I dropped my gaze to the floor, a protective measure, though she couldn’t possibly see into my thoughts.
“Loons, I’m gonna need you to keep your skirts down for the duration of the wedding. Tomorrow you do what you like.”
Luna sighed dramatically. “Fiiine.”
I ran through a list of decidedly unsexy things in my head—anything to calm my body down after Luna’s statement. I had no illusions that she would actually let me. I knew it was only a joke between friends, but now I couldn’t stop imagining what she would taste like—heaven—and what she would sound like—also heaven.
It put the craving for her in my blood. It wasn’t fair that someone as smart, beautiful, and funny as Luna was basically off-limits in every possible way. Allie would feed me to a colony of rabid squirrels if I got involved with one of her best friends. Or, I guess, maybe that’s only what would happen if I managed to fuck it up. She already thought of Luna like a sister. Who was to say what her exact feelings on the situation would be? I could definitely foresee a shovel talk.
I buried all of those thoughts.
Luna didn’t want me, jokes or no. She was about a million leagues above me, and the odds of her ever being interested were spectacularly low. Realistically, if it weren’t for the bridal party, she probably wouldn’t have even given me the time of day.
But reality or not, fate had given me an opportunity to spend time with her. We hadn’t hung out outside of the bridal party yet, but I hoped we had gotten close enough that she might accept an invitation to do something once the wedding was over. I didn’t know if she liked dogs or not, but if she did, I could always invite her for a walk, and let her spend some time with the two I walked for neighbors.
I ate as much of the salami and cheese cubes as politeness allowed, desperate for the meal that would be served shortly.
A knock at the door had Meg rising from her seat to answer it. One of the venue staff let us know that everything was ready for the announcement of the happy couple.
Allie bounced off of Sidney, tugging at his hand. “Time to greet our adoring public.”
Meg led Nicky, and I followed with Luna to the double doors that opened into the reception hall where the guests were gathered.
“Here’s the couple of the hour!” the DJ announced. “Please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael-Marino!”
The four of us swept inside and stepped out of the way for Sidney and Allie to take their spotlight, my brother spinning his bride, her laughter loud enough to reach above the music. They flowed through their first dance, and I couldn’t help but marvel at the soft expression my brother wore as he looked at his bride. He’d always been pretty chill, but with Allie it was like that chillness had elevated to peacefulness.
“Druncle to the east,” Meg said, her gaze trained on the opposite side of the hall.
Nicky and I both turned to see. “Are we going to have to cause a scene?” Nicky asked.
Allie’s uncle Ted was carrying a bottle of champagne, drinking straight from the bottle as he made his way through his crowd, toward the line of sight of the bride.
“Shit. Intervention. You get the bottle; I’ll get the douche.” Meg marched toward him.
“Roger that.” Nicky took me with her, and Luna trotted behind Meg. The maid of honor football-tackled Ted and hoisted him over her shoulder, never pausing for a moment as she carried him straight out the venue doors. Nicky caught the champagne bottle before it clattered to the floor.
“Holy shit!” Luna shut the doors behind us and raced over to where Meg had dropped the uncle into one of the chairs. “You’re a beast.”
Meg rotated her shoulders and stared down at the offending uncle. “Been a while since I’ve had to carry someone like that.”
Ted was already pretty deep in the bottle, if his glassy eyes were any indication.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Luna snapped, fury bright in her eyes. A sharp edge to her scent denoted how pissed off she was. “You’re not invited to this event. You need to leave.”
“My sister invited me.”
I might’ve felt bad for Ted if he hadn’t been about two seconds away from causing a scene at my brother’s wedding.
He argued with Meg until the alpha said my name, and I stepped forward on instinct, wrapping my arm around Ted’s shoulders to escort him back to his hotel room.
He went without a fuss and once we were on the elevator, he turned to me. “That alpha girl is scary. Don’t get on her bad side.”
I had no intentions of doing so. Ignoring his statement, I said instead, “Remind me what room you’re in.”
Ted shrugged and took another swig of his champagne. With a sigh, I pulled out my phone and called down to reception, letting them know I had a wedding guest with me who had forgotten his room number. I didn’t relish having to dig through a drunk man’s pockets for his hotel key, but I eventually got Ted settled, ordered him some room service, and filled up two glasses of water to leave on his bedside table for the hangover I could only assume he would be nursing come morning.
By the time I returned, they had moved on to the bouquet toss and Luna caught the flowers out of the air with a whoop of joy.
“Next up is the garter toss,” said the DJ. “Let’s get a chair out there for the bride and groom.”
I tried not to look too closely as my brother got his hands under Allie’s skirt. When he eventually held the garter in the air, the crowd cheered.
“All right, you know the drill!” The DJ’s voice boomed over the speakers. “Single alphas, and any remaining single betas on the floor.”
Meg grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me onto the dance floor, situating me toward the center. Before I could protest, the garter landed right on top of my head.
My brother spun around to see where it had landed, letting out a snort-laugh. “You’re up next, Lulu!”
Embarrassment flooded my system, and I groaned, removing the garter from my head. I tried not to think about any of the symbolism of Luna being the bouquet catcher.
I was about to step off the dance floor to get myself a drink but then the DJ announced, “There’s one more step to this tradition, folks. Our garter catcher has to put it on the bouquet catcher!”
Aw, fuck.
My cheeks burst into flame. As much as I wanted to get my hands on Luna, I didn’t want the first time to be in front of an entire crowd at a wedding. Luna didn’t seem nearly as affected as she sat down in the same chair Allie had used, spread her knees, and crooked her finger to summon me over.
Holy shit.
I followed like a hooked fish, sank to my knees before her, and took the offered foot she stuck out toward me. The red of her shoes matched her dress. I looped the garter around her ankle, feeling the heat move from my cheeks to my entire body as I did so. I couldn’t look away, Luna’s ocean eyes holding me captive as I inched the garter up her leg. More muscle than I’d expected flexed under my touch. She’d never mentioned if she did dance, but she definitely had calves like I’d seen on ballerinas
It was impossible to miss the soft hitch of her breath when I settled the garter snugly on her thigh. We both stayed frozen for a moment, until the clapping from the crowd jolted me, and I whipped my hands away, stood quickly, and offered my hand to help her up as well.
Dinner being served gave me some time to regain my composure. By the time we’d finished eating and guests were filtering back onto the dance floor, I’d been stuck in a cycle of remembering her comments, boosted by the knowledge of what her skin felt like. I absolutely shouldn’t be thinking about her the way that I did. The thoughts came unbidden, and were made worse by her agreeing to dance. I’d already danced with several guests, plus an obligatory dance with most of my relatives.
Sidney and Allie had departed for their wedding night a little before midnight, leaving the rest of us to dance the night away.
“Luca.” My name was soft on Luna’s tongue.
“Yeah?”
“Offer still standing?”
“Oh, yeah, of course it is.” My heart flipped dangerously as we wove through the crowd and over to the bar where Luna got herself a glass of water. Navigating into the hall cut off the raucous sounds of the reception hall, bringing us into silence by comparison.
“Would it be bad if I asked you to distract me?” she said softly, not quite looking at me. I hadn’t expected any shyness from her since I’d never seen it before.
“Distract you how?”
The answer came when that absolute goddess of an omega rose up on her toes and kissed me so fiercely that fireworks went off in my brain, my whole body tingling from the rush of endorphins.