Smiling, I slide my phone back into my pocket and pick up one of the glasses to take a shot. I’ve hardly put it down before the first of many guys approaches the table, asking us what we’re doing here. It’s patently obvious that Lara has a wedding veil pinned with condoms on her head.
We’re not exactly on a nun’s night out.
By the time we’ve shaken our heads at the third hopeful guy, it?
?s clear we’re all feeling weary. We’re about to call a taxi when another man offers us a drink. Lara stiffens, and she’s about to launch into a diatribe when she realises who it is. Alex leans down and kisses her, before taking a condom off her veil and throwing it on the table.
“We won’t be needing those,” he says smugly.
“Why, are you shooting blanks now?” Niall, Beth’s husband, asks. We all start laughing at Alex’s horrified face, while he mutters something about having super sperm.
I stick my fingers in my ear. “La la la, I don’t want to hear this. You’re my brother, for heaven’s sake.”
When I look up, Callum is staring at me from the crowd of men. He’s wearing a sexy, knowing grin that makes my whole body light up inside. We may have been living together for the last nine months, but one look from him still sends my heart racing.
“Hi,” he mouths, his smile deepening.
“Hi,” I mouth back.
The next instant he’s walking over to where I’m sitting, pulling me out of the chair and onto my feet. “Why didn’t you tell me where you were?” he whispers in my ear.
I turn my head until my lips reach the corner of his jaw, and murmur, “Where would be the fun in that?”
Before I know it, he’s dragging me onto the dance floor, pulling my body tightly to his as he starts to move to the rhythm of the music. The bass is low and sultry, and Callum has enough skills for the both of us.
“You okay, babe?” he asks, his cheek pressed to mine.
“I am now.”
He puts his hand just above the swell of my bottom, leaning me backward as my hair cascades down my shoulders. “I missed you,” he says, dragging his lips down my neck.
“Missed you, too,” I gasp. “Did you have a good time?”
“Not really. We spent most of the night talking about you lot, and wondering how many guys were hitting on you. Eventually we decided to call it quits.”
“You were lucky, we were about to leave,” I tell him. “How did you know where to find us, anyway?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’ve been tracking your phone by GPS.”
“What the hell?” Why would he do that? The invasion of privacy riles me.
He shrugs. “It’s just a precaution. I barely use it.”
“You can’t do that!” I start to yell, and he steps back, surprised. I’m considering whether to slap him or stomp away when he starts to laugh.
“Your face is a picture.” He grins, making him more impossibly handsome than ever. “As if I’d track you. I’m not a stalker.”
I punch him lightly on the shoulder. “No, you’re an arsehole.”
“It was payback for the trick you played on me earlier. The one about the bedrooms,” he says. “Except this was so much better.”
“Says you,” I mutter, already planning my revenge. “And for that, you’re definitely sleeping in Alex’s room.”
* * *
The following day we’re standing in the churchyard, waiting for Alex and Lara to emerge onto the stairs. Though the rain has gone, the cotton wool clouds remain, stubbornly hiding the sun with a greyish lemon glow. Max is running around the graveyard while Allegra—Niall and Beth’s adopted daughter—picks up her skirt and chases him, leading to loud giggles as he gives her the slip.
I turn to Callum, who’s standing next to me, his hands stuffed awkwardly in the pockets of his suit trousers.