Page 111 of The Wedding Crush

Tugging him to his feet, I dust off his shoulders. Slowly shake my head, feeling a strange sense of calm.

“No, I’m in love with her, actually.”

A unified gasp echoes around me. But then it’s fused in with low chuckles and suppressed smiles.

Marcello scratches his head, barely holding it together. “Damn, so it’s official then.”

Scanning the group, I stretch my shoulders back, sinking into the downward pull of my muscles, and letting my arms hang loose. Lightness blooms in my chest as I scrape my fingers through my hair, taking an easy breath.

“No, but it will be,” I say confidently.

Except Jameson is all smiles as he clutches my shoulder in his grip. “That’s good to know, old man. Now, thanks to my dance partner, who devised this grade-A jealousy plan, we finally got you to admit it, too, so you can do something about it.”

Well damn.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Avery

About three monthsago, Morgan and I both had client meetings ten minutes away from each other. She picked me up. We drove to a snazzy new restaurant that, of course, only had valet parking. Completely normal in the city. Except, she’d also valeted earlier, and spent the last of her cash. Long not-so-story short, she borrowed ten bucks. Just a simple favor between friends.

No big deal, right?

Wrong.

Morgan reminded me, no less than a dozen times, about the money, until she made it to an ATM. Despite my insistence that it was fine, she paid the highway robbery fee, claiming it was worth to show her appreciation for the favor.

It was that important to her.

Same thing when she first found her city apartment, the Sister Circle helped her move. She returned the favor with all four of us. That’s just the cloth she’s cut from.

Morgan Elaine Forster, soon-to-be Fortemani, always returns favors with a smile and a touch of dramatic flair.

No matter how long it’s been.

So, I’m not surprised on Monday night following the parties, when Stefano and I reach the foot of the vineyard staircase, and Morgan and Dante are standing on the landing, fleeced in matching white and black satin pajamas, respectively, for our double date.

Well, not technically.

As far as the guys know, Morgan planned dinner for us to “finalize last-minute wedding to-do list items.” What tonight is about, is returning favors.Of sorts.

In the same vein as the Fortemanis’ vineyard hoax, which they fabricated to light a fire underneath Dante, Morgan is helping Stefano out of his own way by helping me drop my “oopsie, baby” news.

One way or the other, I’ll know just how certain—or not—he is about me, once he realizes my package deal recently got bundled.

So yeah, heavy on the flair and dramatics.

The plan is simple.

She’s already made dinner, plated it, and set it on the coffee table.Something about no barriers between us, physical or otherwise.Once we get inside, we’ll settle around the table, and boom! Stefano in the hot seat.

In her words, “show or go.”

Trust me, there was a whole slew of “shit or get off the pot” alternatives. Order or get out of line. Fish or cut bait. Puff it or pass it. Daddy up or deadbeat.

We went with the least aggressive, most fitting.

“Oh wow! You all came dressed for the occasion.” Dante is all oblivious, charming smile and easy posture as he greets me with a kiss on the cheek. Then he turns to Stefano. “MatchingDream Teamshirts…” He blows out an impressed breath. “This damn sure is one for the books.”

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