All The Best Men

But now it was time for the wedding dinner. Suddenly, reality came crashing down. Oh god, oh god. Of course, as members of the wedding party, we were seated at the same round table, strewn with flowers and crystal.

But instead of feeling relaxed and happy, nervous energy gnawed at me from the inside. Why oh why did I have to be wearing this hideous dress? Why was it such a gross-looking shade of green, making my skin look sallow? Why would Tyler, Mason and Kane be interested in me, anyways? Wouldn’t they rather have a model or actress? Or just someone thin?

Oh no.

Kill me now.

Just vaporize my form, and I’ll be forever grateful.

But no such thing was forthcoming. I’d used up my nine lives already and it was too late. So instead, I hid in the bathroom stall for a few minutes, catching my breath and trying to stabilize a little.

There’s magic waiting to happen, the voice inside chimed. Let yourself go with the flow, Katie. Let the real you out.

Bullshit, the devil on my shoulder sneered. Guys like that? They could get anyone. They’d never be interested in a big girl.

But the devil had to be wrong. I knew it had to be wrong, my spidey sense can be off sometimes, but not this off. So forcing myself to stare into the mirror, I took stock of my form. Big and sassy yes, but also attractive in a luscious way. My caramel eyes were warm, the soft slope of my nose pert and delicate. They like me, I reminded myself fiercely. Don’t forget.

And taking a deep breath, my feet carried me back outside. It felt like people were watching, but really, no one noticed. The guests laughed and chatted, glasses tinkling merrily, just like any other party.

Except as I approached the table, all three men stood up causing e to flush with embarrassment and pleasure at once. Chivalry wasn’t dead after all, and this sweet gesture proved it. None of the guys around here ever did that; at least not for me anyway.

“Thank you,” I murmured, ducking my head shyly.

Speak up! scolded the voice inside. Stop mumbling like an awkward schoolgirl. You belong here, now act like it!

So taking another deep breath, I met the gazes of the three men full-on, almost seared by the bright blue. Oh god, they were sexy, their looks knowing and hot, even in the middle of the crowded reception hall. Was it weird? Was it strange? It had to be, there were three of them, and only one of me. What girl does this?

But there was no time to contemplate because the minute we were seated, all the other bridesmaids began throwing themselves shamelessly at Tyler, Kane and Mason. And I mean take-no-prisoners shameless. Stacy, a particularly aggressive blonde, began jabbering on and on about sports, although I knew for a fact she knew absolutely nothing about athletics. She must have read in some women’s magazine that guys like sports, thus her endless prattle.

“Do you follow football?” she cooed, fluttering fake eyelashes. Strangely, there were glittery rhinestones attached to her falsies, and as the woman blinked, one dangled precariously before dropping into her food. Oh my god, oh my god. It winked in the light, everyone watching horrified as the girl jabbered on clueless.

“I love the Tennessee Titans,” she simpered again. “They’re so fast and furious this season.”

Please, girl. You just had a rhinestone drop into your food. Plus, it’s clear you’d rather roll in mud than toss a football and risk chipping a nail. But still, Stacy kept going on and on, reciting this and that with the rest of us immobile.

Because the woman must have gotten up early this morning to comb through Google and search stats or something. She was tossing out names of players, teams and scores like she had her own fantasy football team. Part of me started to feel a little impressed by her dedication to get a guy’s attention. Unfortunately for her, her targets seemed bored with the stream of stats. Didn’t Cosmo tell you when to put a lid on it? The blonde hadn’t paused for a breath, let alone to let anyone else get a word in.

But Stacy wasn’t the only one. Linda was just as bad, even worse truth be told. The redhead kept looking over at Mason, Tyler and Kane, and dissolving into helpless giggles like we were in a junior high cafeteria. I felt embarrassed just being in her presence. Literally, she kept stealing glances at the three men and then giggling behind her hand, like a little girl with a big secret.

But these were just two stars of the show. Because the other ladies were twirling their hair and batting their lashes like they had nervous tics. Or maybe some of them actually were epileptics with a certain type of light sensitivity? I dunno, this was such a weird scenario.