The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date, #3)(12)

She squeezed him hard and let go.

“We did it.” She laughed. “Don’t think that I’m trying to be modest here—it sure as hell was my idea and it never would have happened without me—but I needed everyone here and more to make it happen.”

He gave her another quick hug and glanced at Drew.

“Sit down, we’ve got a lot to celebrate.”

Drew pulled up extra seats for him and Alexa, and everyone scooted around and rearranged themselves to give them space at the table.

And somehow, as all of this happened, Theo found himself sitting next to Maddie. Of course.

Why had Olivia chosen just the wrong moment to go get another drink? If she’d been sitting there when they all moved around, Maddie could have just made sure Olivia was between her and Theo. Or if Maddie had thought quickly enough, she would have gotten up then and moved over to talk to Drew. But no, Olivia came back right when everyone was scooching around to make room for Alexa and Drew, and there was nothing Maddie could do to avoid sitting next to Theo without making it obvious.

It was probably better it happened this way—they couldn’t avoid each other forever. They might as well get the awkward thing over with now, so that the next time they saw each other at a party, they could go back to cheerfully ignoring each other like they had for years.

It had been six weeks, and she still couldn’t believe she’d slept with Theo Stephens. If she hadn’t been sore for days afterward, she would have tried her best to just chalk it up to a fever dream.

Why did the sex have to be that good? Why did even that first kiss have to be so good? If Theo had been a shitty kisser, there was at least a ninety percent chance she would have taken a step back, said, “You know, Theo, we both know this is a bad idea, don’t we? Happy birthday, and thanks for the dance,” and walked out of his apartment.

But noooo. Her whole body had hurt for days, because of the way he’d pushed her legs apart, and . . . No, stop it, Madeleine. She could not sit here right next to him and fantasize about that again. She needed to get ahold of herself and remember this was just Theo. Boring, full-of-himself, pedantic Theo. That night had been some wild aberration.

“Hey,” he said.

She turned toward him, and his smile was neither the sexy grin from that night, nor the smirk from the next morning. It was nervous.

“Hey,” she said back.

“Thanks for coming tonight. I know Alexa was glad to have the support.”

Yeah, Maddie knew that, too, since Alexa had been her best friend for more than twenty years. What was he even doing, thanking her in that condescending way? Did he think she would have missed this?

Her face must have shown her thoughts, because the smile dropped from his face.

“I didn’t mean . . . I mean, obviously you were going to come. I just meant . . .” He sighed. “Sorry. I was trying not to make it awkward, but I’m not great at that. I should have texted you the next day, just to, I mean, I don’t want to be that asshole, but I didn’t have your number, and I obviously couldn’t ask Alexa for it, but . . .”

As delightful as it was to see Theo stumble like this, she needed to put this guy out of his misery. She smiled and put her hand on his arm.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. And thanks for everything you’ve done for Alexa tonight, especially getting Olivia here. I know that meant a lot to her.”

Now he smiled that same goofy smile she’d seen on his face a few times at his birthday party.

“That’s so nice of you to say, thank you.”

Why was he so strangely attractive when he smiled like that?

Ugh, what had gotten into her? Why was she suddenly finding Theo attractive? A man dances for you ONE TIME and you just want to take his clothes off every time you see him after that?

Maybe it was just something in the air tonight, what with whatever had happened with Alexa and Drew back in the city council chambers. Or maybe it was that Theo’s clothes tonight were excellent, even better than usual. She’d never seen him in a suit before, and his gray suit was immaculate. His tie, a blue one with a leafy green pattern on it, was loose at his throat. His hair was shorter than it had been the night of his birthday. He must have gotten a haircut for the city council meeting. She hated that she found that so charming.

Good Lord, this was absurd. It was just because she’d been too busy over the past few months to go out with anyone else, so her brain was stuck on the last guy she’d slept with, who happened to be sitting next to her. All she needed to do was get out of here and text one of the dudes in her phone and by the next morning she’d never think this way about Theo again.

At least they’d both successfully managed to not tell Alexa about what happened. Maddie hadn’t told either Alexa or her mom, the two people who she told basically everything. It was weird to have a secret like this from both of them.

Someone at the other end of the table called Theo’s name, so he turned further toward her to shout back at them. Perfect. If only he’d gotten up to move back there, everything would be fine. Time to think about something else.

Maddie beckoned to Alexa, who leaned in behind Theo.

“I’ve been very patient,” Maddie said, “but if you don’t give me at least the CliffsNotes version of this Drew thing right this second, I’m going to start throwing things. I hope you realize that.”