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May 2018
“I’ll have what she’s having.”
I’m standing at the bar, having just ordered myself and the maid of honor another shot of tequila to go with the bottle of champagne we are about to pop open when I hear his voice from next to me.
Smooth. Deep. Sexy. Rich.
It’s almost eleven, which means if I recall correctly the wedding reception is almost over and whoever is still standing will be heading to the hotel bar for the after-party. But honestly, I’m not totally sure about where we are in the itinerary; I’ve been riding a decent buzz ever since the wedding party took pictures.
I turn my gaze toward the voice and lock eyes with one of the groomsmen. Most importantly, the best-looking groomsmen of them all. He looked like one of the Hemsworth brothers but with darker hair. Not the one that was married to Miley, the older one, and if I were more sober, I’d be able to remember his name or the name of this particular groomsman for that matter. There were eight bridesmaids and eight groomsmen and last night at the rehearsal dinner was the first time I’d met most of them. So, while I don’t remember his name, I do recall thinking that he may be the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen in my life. Blue eyes, dark brown hair with traces of a lighter brown that is styled perfectly, and a light layer of stubble across his jaw. He’s lost his tuxedo jacket, his bowtie is slung around his neck, and the top few buttons of his white button-down are undone revealing a bit of chest hair.
He is walking sex and the smirk pulling at his lips tells me he knows it.
I raise an eyebrow at him as the bartender pours a shot for him and he leans against the bar, propping one elbow up on the top as he stares at me with a cocky smile that I know all too well. He has a highball glass of whiskey in his hand and I try to inconspicuously search his left hand for a ring. I’m fairly certain, my eyes give me away. He raises his hand, downing the rest of his drink before setting his glass on the shiny mahogany counter.
No ring.
“You going to the after party?”
I hear the subtext in his question loud and clear. I am twenty-one and this is already the third wedding I’ve been in this year. I don’t know what is in the water that all of my friends wanted to spend their twenty-first birthdays getting drunk ‘for the first time’ at their own weddings, but this is my third friend to walk down the aisle and if the third time is really a charm, I’ll be sneaking out of a groomsmen’s bed tomorrow morning.
I grab the two shots and give him my best flirty smile. “Maybe,” I say, but I don’t wait for his responsebefore I start towards the wedding party table where the bride—my friend Alexis who had been my college roommate for the past four years—is sitting in her new husband’s lap feeding him cake in a way I wish I didn’t have to witness.
“Can you guys please get a room?” I ask as I sit down with the two shots of tequila. I pan the table searching for the maid of honor, her older sister Meredith. “Where’s your sister?”
“We have a room.” Alexis flicks her ash blonde tresses over her shoulder. It had long since fallen out of the braid that had been intricately woven with flowers.
“Then go to it.” I blink at her and she rolls her eyes before letting out a giggle as Owen, the guy she just married, squeezes her tighter against him and presses his lips to her neck. I’ll admit they are cute as hell, even though it was a whirlwind romance, a quick courtship, and an even quicker engagement that her parents begged her to prolong. Being cute as hell aside, there is a thirteen-year age difference between them and Owen was just getting out of an almost decade-long relationship when they met.
It was a little under two years ago when we were out at a bar letting loose after just finishing our finals one semester. I still remember it vividly, her dancing with another guy, and Owen marching up to them and asking if he could buy her a drink like the other guy holding onto her hips didn’t exist.
Big dick energy if I ever saw it.
Alexis, who hadn’t believed in casual sex or one-night stands, went home with Owen that night and they’ve been inseparable ever since.
“I think Meredith went to bed,” Alexis says in response to my question and I want to curse her for doing an Irish goodbye without me when we’d been together all night.
“Guess you’ll just have to settle for taking this with me.” I didn’t realize that the hot groomsman had followed me but when I turn to look at him, he’s giving me that same cocky smile revealing his perfect teeth as he holds his shot in his hand.
“Chris!” I hear Owen’s voice shout and when I turn towards him, I’m shocked not to see his lips attached to some part of Alexis. “You met Marissa?” he asks, pointing at me.
His eyes trail down my body so seductively that it causes a tightening between my legs. He cocks his head to the side as one side of his mouth ticks upward in the sexiest crooked grin. “I’m trying to.”
Owen, who I swear is the poster boy for golden retriever energy beams at us. “Marissa, meet Chris, my oldest friend in the world. Chris, this is Lex’s roommate.”
“Former roommate!” Alexis cheers and I roll my eyes, an annoying reminder that in a month’s time, I’ll have very different roommates known as Mom and Dad.
“So, you’re old too, huh?” I quip, realizing that if this is Owen’s oldest friend, then he’s also thirteen years older than me.
“I like to think I’m still young at heart.” He clinks his small glass with mine just before we take our shots. The burn feels like nothing more than a tingle after how many of these I’ve had tonight. “You want to dance?” I turn towards the dance floor that is slowly clearing out but the band is playing a cover of “I Say a Little Prayer.” I start to protest when I feel his hand in mine, tugging me towards the dance floor. “Come on.”
I hear Alexis let out a cheer as we make it to the almost empty dance floor save for some of Owen’s drunk relatives. Chris spins me around the second we hit the shiny wood flooring and I let him lead me around the space.
“You’re a good dancer,” I tell him after a few minutes of silence and he smiles.
“Comes with age, and a lot of weddings.” He winks as he pulls me a little closer, touching the bare skin of my lower back due to the backless bridesmaid dress. The band continues into another song and we don’t stop moving, our bodies moving in perfect synchronization like we’ve been practicing for months. “I’ve been trying to talk to you all night.” He’s at least half a foot taller than me and I’m not short but I still have to tilt my head up to meet his gaze and his eyes twinkle under the low lighting in the tent. “You were the most gorgeous woman in the room tonight. Hell, you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve seen in any room.”
A smile pulls at my lips that I couldn’t hide if you paid me. “You must say that to all the bridesmaids from all those weddings you’ve been to.” I chuckle.
