Page 44 of Hands off his Dudette

Chapter 20

"Shut up."

Anna swept the room in one glance and. laughed at her friends' expressions. "Come on, it's not like you should be surprised." She rolled her eyes. "For as long as I've known you, you've always said I'd end up with Finn."

"Sure," Lucy replied, "But I expected you'd both need an intervention or something. Just last week, you were going on about dating and—" She interrupted herself. "Oh! That's how it happened. He got jealous."

Anna felt a pricker of irritation, mainly because that was true.

"Yep. So, what dress did you guys order?" she asked, to change the subject.

They were huddled inside a wedding dress store, waiting for the retailer to bring Cassie and Lucy's dresses, so they'd find out soon enough in any case, but the distraction worked.

Lucy groaned. Cassie explained, "Given our timing, we didn't have that many dresses to choose from. We needed them in our sizes, delivered rather fast. The seamstress can make a few alterations, but not many. I like mine. I don't love it. It doesn't matter though." She shrugged. "I want to marry Carter. I'd do it in jeans if I had to."

"Jeans might end up being a better option than these dresses," said Lucy. "I mean, it doesn't look too bad, it's just very..."

Her words died on her lips, because the store assistants were walking in.

"Ms. Stone, Ms. Frank, your gowns are ready."

They were led at the back of the store, to changing rooms.

While they were getting changed, Piper asked, "How are you guys doing with your tasks?"

Tessa was the first to reply. "I'm done with the seating chart, and Cassie approved it. Lucy just needs to look at it."

"I haven't started," said Tori. "But I'll get on it this weekend. Busy week at work."

"Yeah, same," said Anna, although that wasn't quite accurate.

Work had been just fine. She'd been busy because she'd jumped Finn as soon as she got home on Wednesday and Thursday. "Finn and I are moving most of our stuff to the new place tomorrow, but I'll start shopping Sunday."

They'd signed the deed just this morning, and Finn was picking up the keys before heading back home tonight.

Everything had gone so fast, she still couldn't quite believe the last couple of weeks. It felt like she'd blink and wake up from a dream anytime now.

"I'm booked at the restaurant that's going to do the catering to pick the courses on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week," said Amelia. "Any news on our dresses, by the way?"

"Lucy says we just have to pick a color and stick to it—something that suits everyone.

"Black," said Tori.

At the same time, Piper opted for, "Red," while Amelia said, "Blue."

Tessa, who'd remained mostly quiet in the background until then, paging a catalogue, lifted her eyes from the dresses, and stated, "Teal. The obvious answer is teal. It goes with all of our complexions, suits Lucy's red hair, and Cassie's blue eyes."

There was nothing but nods of assent all around. Tessa really ought to speak up more often.

They were interrupted when the two brides came out of their changing room. Neither looked impressed.

Cassie was stuffed ina meringue with tons of tulle puffing out its skirt, and Lucy, wrapped inside a blue-white shiny silk, with little diamantes encrusted everywhere.

Anna managed to prevent herself from laughing, because Lucy was already pissed enough as it was.

The two brides exchanged a glance.

"It itches," Lucy stated.

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