My gaze travels over the room, and I notice Kellen isn’t smiling or clapping either.
He’s looking at me.
Granted, I wish he were smiling, but still. It seems like we’re of the same mind on this.
“Everybody, have a nice time tonight, but don’t stay up too late,” Kylie urges. “We have so much planned this week; you’ll need every ounce of energy if you want to keep up.”
Kellen joins me a moment later. “Gee, I sure do want to keep up.”
I have to hide a giggle, both because I don’t want anybody to think I’m laughing at Kylie and because he doesn’t need to know yet that I think he’s funny. Let him work for my laughter, I say.
“Have you seen the itinerary?” he murmurs while signaling for a drink.
He looks good. Smells good too. Good enough that I can’t resist the urge to joke with him a little.
So, I lift a shoulder. “You mean, the schedule of events that happens to be completely up to us whether we want to join or not, but we all know there’s no option?”
He chuckles. “I thought you seemed like you might be cool, if given the chance.”
“Wow. That’s a backhanded compliment if ever I heard one. I’m cool all the time.”
“Really?” He fixes me with a wry look from under his brows.
“Okay, okay, I’m a total nerd. If Hayley ever talked about me, I’m sure she could confirm that.”
“She already did. Ages ago. Her friend Kitty, the nerdy writer.”
“She would never say that.”
“So you would think.” He’s laughing as he looks around the room. “I swear, if Kylie makes it to the wedding without the top of her head blowing off, it’ll be a miracle. At least this place is nice.”
“It’s very nice. And you should know how nice since you paid for somebody else to join you.”
He covers his chest with one hand like I wounded him. “Ouch! Damn, you’re tough.”
“That was a risk,” I admit. “I didn’t know how you’d take it. I guess the wine has me feeling more confident. Or snarky. Either way.”
“I guess I have a thing for snark since that should’ve pissed me off, but it only makes me kinda like you. I lift an eyebrow. “I said kinda,” he adds.
“You like snark? I can give you snark. I can snark along with the best of them. All day long.”
“Okay, there’s a limit.”
“Suit yourself.” I shrug.
“At least there’s somebody else here who sees this the way I do. Between you and me …”
He leans in a little closer, though he doesn’t strictly need to. There isn’t a ton of noise in here, and I can hear him clearly.
I don’t mind.
He smiles before backing away toward where Zack and a couple of the groomsmen are doing shots. “I’m glad there’s somebody I can relate to. Somebody who isn’t a giggly airhead.”
And I’m glad his would-be guest never showed.
Maybe Hayley was onto something. Why does she always have to be right?
I excuse myself and find her in a corner, talking with her brother. Brandon is pretty much the male version of his sisters—gorgeous and blond with a dazzling smile and perfect bone structure.
He’s prettier than me, in other words.
I’d hate him if he wasn’t such a nice guy.
“Hey!” he greets me with a big, tight hug. “How are you? It’s been so long.”
“I know, right? My editor pretty much keeps me chained to my desk most of the time.”
“I try to get her out into the world every once in a while,” Hayley tells him, elbowing me.
“Yeah, but she’s not much better. Always working.”
“You were made for each other.” He blows out a sigh, his cheeks puffing out. “This is really something, isn’t it?”
I can tell he’s trying to be generous. He doesn’t seem all that interested in appearances.
“It is. I think it’s very, very nice,” I whisper in a chiding way. “Don’t give Kylie a hard time. This is her dream. She deserves it. Every girl does.”
“Spoken like a true romantic.” He kisses the top of my head and then winks. “I need alcohol.”
We watch him walk away, and for Hayley’s benefit, I let out a low whistle. “I swear, if he wasn’t your brother …”
“Watch your mouth, woman.”
“He’s hot. Your brother is certifiably hot. Get used to it.”
“I refuse to hear this.” Then, she nudges me. “What about Briggs, huh?”
“Can we please refer to him as Kellen? I refuse to use his last name if I’m supposed to take him seriously as a human being.”
“If you walk around, calling him Kellen, nobody’s going to know who you’re talking about.”
“Fine, I’ll call him Briggs when we’re exchanging vows someday, just so nobody’s confused.”
It’s good to see and hear her genuinely laugh even if it’s sort of at my expense. “Kitty Briggs. I don’t like it.”
“I’ll always be Kitty Valentine. It’s my brand.”
“Damn straight. Besides, yelling at you and reminding you you’re Kitty fucking Briggs doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
I have to shush her since, hello, there are people around who know who she’s talking about. “Okay, let’s not get any rumors started. It’s bad enough he knows why you wanted us to hook up in the first place.”
“Which you didn’t have to tell him.”
“I needed to tell him something. We didn’t exactly get off to the best start, you know. It was the icebreaker. After what I heard from him earlier, if I wrote about him without him knowing, I’d half-expect him to accuse me of trying to steal from his life or something.”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“I didn’t know that at the time. Heck, I still don’t. You never know how a person’s going to react in a situation like that. No matter how nice they are.”
“He keeps looking at you.” I start to look around. “Don’t!” she hisses, squeezing my arm. “You don’t look when a person tells you that. Jeez, it’s like I’ve taught you nothing.”
“What do you expect me to do when you tell me somebody’s looking at me?”
“Let out a sparkling laugh, like life is so amazing and wonderful and you’re so funny. Obviously.”
“If I’d laughed, it would’ve meant you said something funny. Dork.” I give her wineglass a pointed look. “Are you sure you haven’t had too much?”
“Mind your business.” She finishes the glass and hands it off to a passing server in one single, smooth move. Even now, stressed out and already tired of being compared to her siblings and slightly tipsy, she makes everything look so effortless.
“Okay, fine.” Her parents catch my eye from across the room, and I offer them a smile. “Your folks seem happy.”
“They are. Their shining star is getting married.”
I put an arm around her. “You’re a shining star too. You eclipse me, for sure.”