Page 94 of Gin and Bear It

“Do what?”

“Snag a man. Out of fucking nowhere. A husband, no less.” She huffs and slumps in her seat. “Full disclosure, Scott convinced me to hire a fucking private investigator to look into you guys and see if it was real. If they got evidence that you were faking it, then we were going to submit it to the lawyer to contest the will.”

So we were right. At least she seems somewhat embarrassed by it. I’m so damn relieved that Ash is more observant than me. I wouldn’t have noticed someone following us.

“But nope. Of course. They just got a bunch of footage of you two being cute and doing normal-ass couple stuff.” She glares at me, like she’s finally realized that we aren’t actually friends. “Do you know how he looks at you? Like you’re fucking perfect. Scott has never once looked at me like that and I’ve tried getting candid pics like every other day of our whole relationship. Half of the file the PI sent us is pictures of you guys making googly heart eyes at each other and snuggling.”

And that was months ago at this point, probably at the drive-in. I’d been so focused on the past that I didn’t realize that Ash and I had a spark back then. It’s only grown into something that I want to hold onto.

But how? He’s clearly afraid of taking us out of this weird limbo state of basically dating casually while being married. I was, too, until recently.

Danika sobs in front of me. I’ll deal with my issues later.

“Danika,” I say, as gently as I can, even though I want to smack her as much as I want to get her to stop crying. “I know this hurts now, but what if him not showing up is a blessing in disguise?”

She looks at me like I’m an absolute moron. “Um. What?”

“I know it sounds cliché as hell, but you’ve just told me that he barely gives a shit about your relationship. If he’s like this before the wedding, what about a year from now? Or ten years from now?”

Danika swallows.

“But being left at the altar is so embarrassing,” she says, her voice small. “All our families are here, and all of my friends. Some of his friends are here, but the others are probably in on it.”

I bite my lip and play with my earrings. “I know. But no one knows that you’re back here. They don’t even know if you’ve arrived yet. You could just leave and tell one of your bridesmaids to say it was mutual.”

For the first time since I’ve seen her today, brightness comes into Danika’s eyes.

“That’s less embarrassing, for sure,” she says. “And I could go out there, find him, and chew him out.”

Uh-oh. I mean, Scott deserves that, but I don’t want to be around when she finds him.

“He’s here!” One of her friends bursts into the room, making us both jump. “He’s drinking a cup of coffee to sober up, thank god. He said he and his boys were just blowing off some steam and lost track of time.”

Danika sags with relief, then sits up as if she didn’t have a minor mental breakdown moments ago. “I knew it. Let’s go. We only have the place until midnight.”

“Wait, you’re sure?” I blurt. I have whiplash from the change of heart. “You don’t have to do it if you’re unsure.”

The old Danika is back and rolls her eyes. “He’s here. He was just blowing off a little steam. Why wouldn’t I be sure?”

I make eye contact with her friend, who’s still in the doorway, then look back at Danika. I can’t say that she probably shouldn’t get married to a guy who had to get drunk to even fathom showing up for the alleged love of his life.

Danika glares at me with a very clear message—shut up—and I stay quiet even though I want to tell her to do the right thing for her heart.

She’s made her decision and there’s not much I can do about it. I doubt I could convince her otherwise, anyway.

Maybe Scott will change and give her the love she’s craving someday. That’s all I can hope for deep down, because she’s about to walk out that door and marry a guy who barely loves her.

“Let’s go, then,” I say.

“You go out first so no one sees us together,” she says. “Wait, actually, get me coffee. I need to sober up a little bit. Someone get Scott so we can talk.”

No please or anything. All the home training my dad and aunt got didn’t trickle down to her, apparently.

“No, I’m not a bridesmaid. I’m a guest. Good luck, Danika.” I step out first, mostly so I can get away from her.

Is she going to tear into Scott, or will she just save that for later so he doesn’t actually run? I don’t know. I can’t do anything about it now, anyway.

“Everything good?” Ash asks when I get back to the reception space, sliding an arm around my waist. “You were gone for a bit.”