Page 44 of The Dating Game

“Oh somebody snap a picture and print the save the dates!” Belinda exclaims, verbalizing my exact train of thought. “You two are adorable!”

Luke doesn’t even blink at the thought of committing to my sister the way lots of men who have really only been dating a woman for a few weeks might. On the contrary, he squeezes Hannah more tightly and gives her another kiss.

I wonder if they’ll let me choreograph a dance for the bridal party.

Maybe something with a little salsa flavor to it.

My gaze drifts back to Will. Yes, definitely there should be salsa dancing at their wedding. Unless Will is going to take Sarah Bochman as his plus one, in which case they shouldFootloosethat wedding and ban dancing altogether.

“We were just telling Brooke here all about your mission trip.” Belinda turns her attention to Will. “So glad you got that chaperone snafu worked out. Tell me, when do you leave again?”

“We leave this coming Friday morning.” Will looks a little sheepish as he answers, I assume this is because he never mentioned the trip to me. “Heading to Port Isabel, Texas,” he adds. “Near the southern tip.”

“Wow, the southern tip of Texas. That’s far,” I say brilliantly.

“Almost seventeen hours by bus,” he agrees.

“Oh you’re taking a bus? Wow.” Apparently wow is my new favorite way to contribute to a conversation. But really,seventeenhours of straight togetherness? Because obviously SarahBochman is going to sit next to him. Oh my gosh—she’s totally going to fall asleep on his shoulder, isn’t she? Good grief. How disgustingly romantic.

Unless she drools on him. Please God, let her drool on him!

He’d probably just think it was cute, though.

What is wrong with me? Where did this jealous monster even come from, and how do I get rid of it?

“What will you be doing when you get there?” Jill asks Will, saving me from contributing more wows to the discussion.

“The main thing we’ll be doing is running a kids camp, sort of like a VBS. It’s their midwinter break over there too, and lots of the lower income families there don’t have anywhere to send their kids while they’re at work. We’ll also have a team doing some beach mission work: passing out food, praying with people, interacting with them and finding out their needs. That sort of thing.”

“That sounds great,” Jill says enthusiastically. “You know it’s been years since I went on a mission trip. Maybe next year I could chaperone.”

“Well, this is our first year doing this trip with the high schoolers,” Will says, “so we’ll have to see how it goes. But I’m hopeful it could become an annual thing.”

How sweet, he and Sarah will have an annual reminder of how their love began. Gag me. I stick my water bottle straw in my mouth with a little too much force and almost do actually gag myself.

“It’s too bad Brooke isn’t going with you,” Belinda comments with a sigh. “I bet she would look great doing some beach mission work in a two-piece.”

I choke on all the water I just put in my mouth.

“What?” Belinda says innocently as I cough. “Obviously I meant a high-waisted two-piece with a full coverage top. No need to be immodest.”

“They’re actually requiring all swimsuits to be one-piece,” Luke pipes in. “It is a church trip, after all.”

“Oh, of course.” Belinda nods, unperturbed. She did what she came to do: put the idea of me in a swimsuit in Will’s head. How embarrassing.

Having regained control of my breathing I look back at Will only to find him studiously not looking at me, his cheeks as red as mine when he first walked in. From her spot next to Luke, Hannah is grinning madly as her eyes pop between me and Will.

I’ve performed in countless dance recitals over the years, I’m onstage on a weekly basis performing karaoke, and I stand at the front of the room and teach dozens of students dance practically every single day; yet never before have I felt as much like I’m in a fishbowl.

And I’m not alone in this fishbowl either. Will is swimming around in here with me as all of these women (plus Luke) watch us to see what we’re going to do next.

“Brooke, I agree with Belinda– you should go,” Hannah exclaims. “Can she still go, Will? Or is it too late?”

“Oh.” Will finally looks my way. “I mean, we’re staying in a church so an exact headcount isn’t a major concern and we do have the space on the bus, but we do require all volunteers to have a background check completed. That usually only takes a couple of business days, though, but if it got delayed for any reason that would be an issue.”

“Oh, but Brooke already has one!” Jill cries excitedly. “She has to do one every two years for dance.”

“And she doesn’t hold classes over midwinter break!” Hannah adds. “So she could totally go. You want to go, right, Brooke?” She looks hopefully at me, and I gape at her with my big fish eyes. Do I want to go on a mission trip with Will? Before last night I would’ve said heck no. But now…maybe.

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