Four Day Fling(57)

Another light laugh went through the crowd.

“So, Ro, Mark…” I turned to them. “I can honestly say that I never once doubted this day would come. Of all the people I’ve ever seen fall in love, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone love each other as much as the two of you do. So as much as I mess with you both, I know that nobody on this beach is happier for you than I am. You’re a true fairytale, and if I’m ever loved with half the passion you love each other, I’ll count myself very lucky. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Perkins. May you be together forever. And, if not, I know how to hide a body. Lookin’ at you, Mark.”

I raised my glass to my brother-in-law and sister to toast them. They were both grinning, and Mark was laughing his ass off at me.

Well. That didn’t go too badly.

I stepped off the chair to the sound of people toasting them and cheering.

I did it. And I was still alive. And I hadn’t thrown up.

Bonus.

“Well, that wasn’t too bad,” Adam said, wrapping one arm around me and pulling me against his side. “You didn’t slip, fall, or make a complete fool out of yourself.”

“You could at least pretend to hide your surprise,” I muttered, sliding an arm around his back.

“I could, but then you’d call me out for lying.”

“Maybe. Maybe I would have pretended that I didn’t notice.” I shrugged and finished my drink.

“I think that’s a lie.”

I rolled my eyes because it totally was. There was no way I wouldn’t call him out. Mostly because I, too, was surprised I’d done it without screwing it up.

Mom climbed up onto the chair, mic in hand, and waved her hand to get everyone’s attention. “Hi, hi! Thank you, everyone. The beach has been cleared and the dance floor installed. It’s time for the first dance, so if everyone could head back down, that’d be perfect. Thank you.”

Adam took my glass and put it on the nearest table. “Come on. Your mom will have a cow if you aren’t there at the front.”

I watched as my dad guided my mom carefully down the dance floor. “I think the only thing my mom needs to have is a glass of water.”

She slipped and giggled, gripping onto Dad’s shirt.

Adam snorted. “That, too.”

***

I bit my lip and buried my face in Adam’s chest. His shoulders shook, and the rumble of his laugh in my ear sent chills down my spine.

“Really?” he asked. “You really hid a snake in her bed?”

“No, a snakeskin,” I corrected him. “And that was only because she’d put a rabbit’s foot in my bed.”

“Why would you do that?”

I pulled back from him and shrugged. “I don’t even remember how it started. I think it was with a dare that went wrong and we ended up trying to best the other.”

“Who won?”

“Me, obviously.” I rolled my eyes and rested my cheek against his chest.

The sun was almost completely set now. The sky was a mix of inky blue and deep red, but the beach and surrounding area was lit up by lanterns. The dance floor itself was alight, changing colors every few seconds. Adam and I had long given up trying to get onto it, so now we were on the outside of the dancing group, slowly swaying to the music.

“Want to go sit somewhere?” he asked me softly.

I nodded. I’d been able to ignore the fact this was our last night thanks to the hectic nature of getting to the wedding, and then the actual wedding itself, but now, dancing with him…I couldn’t.

And there was this little hollow pit in my stomach that wouldn’t let me forget it now, either.

Adam slipped his fingers between mine and led me down the beach. We walked until we could barely hear the music from the speakers at the bar and we were in almost total darkness. It was amazingly peaceful, and I was thankful for it. The low hum of the wedding in the background served as little more than white noise when it was combined with the gentle crashing of waves against the sand.

We dropped down to the sand, and I leaned back on my arms. Adam loosened his tie until he was able to pull it over his head and toss it to the side. Neither of us said a word for a minute, and when he leaned back on his arms, too, his fingers brushed mine.

“So you pranked each other all the time?” he asked.

I nodded, looking out at the ocean that was now starting to be illuminated by the almost-full moon. “As long as I can remember. They weren’t cruel pranks—”

“I dunno. The snakeskin thing is pretty cruel.”

“She did the rabbit foot first. When you up the stakes, don’t be annoyed when someone else does the same.” I shrug a shoulder. “It wasn’t my fault I broke her curling iron.”

“I feel like all the fights you had as teens were based on curling irons.”

“Pretty much. Didn’t your sisters fight over stuff like that?”

He tilted his head to the side. “I don’t know. I ignored them for most of the time. They usually argued over clothes or boys or who used all the hot water in the shower. It took them two years to realize it was me, because while they were fighting over who got to use the main bathroom first, I was using it.”

I laughed. “Been there, done that. Bathroom time is no joke. Once, I got in there before Rosie did when she had a date, so she turned the hot water off halfway through my shower. I had to get out with shampoo still in my hair because she refused to turn it on.”