Page 13 of One More Shot
I frown, not entirely sure why she sounds so annoyed. But I don’t get the chance to find out. Cash and Bailey are cha-cha-sliding their way towards us from the dance floor. She’s trying to make it look casual, but I can see the look of warning in my sister’s eyes as she spots Eliott standing in front of me.
Again, very much regretting doing this right in front of the toilets.
I catch Cash’s eye as they approach, but he just gives me a sympathetic little shrug. I return it with a glare. If I’d have known that setting up my best friend and my sister was going to lead to this kind of betrayal on the regular, I never would’ve done it.
Probably.
‘Oh good, you’ve met Eliott,’ Bailey says dryly. She gives Eliott an apologetic smile before glaring up at me. I grin right back at her, unfazed by the death stare she’s currently shooting me. One day she’ll realise it doesn’t work on me.
‘I was just saying hello.’
‘Youdon’t need to say hello,’ Bailey says pointedly, silently reminding me of the conversation we had back at the table earlier. Not that I need reminding.
Eliott is off-limits.
Bailey’s made herself very clear. But does off-limits count when you’ve already trampled right over those boundaries before?
Bailey nudges me aside with her elbow and positions herself between me and Eliott. ‘Tonight isn’t about you.’
I pretend to clutch at my chest, scandalised. ‘I’m the best manandthe bride’s dashingly handsome older brother. If I’m not the star of this wedding, who is?’
‘Me, clearly.’ Amber swans in, closely followed by her boyfriend, Finn.
Amber and I aren’t overly close or anything like that, but you can’t help but want the best for someone when you’ve known them for as long as we’ve known each other. And Finn is definitely that when it comes to Amber. The best. He looks at her the same way Cash looks at Bailey. Like the world could be burning around them and they wouldn’t notice, as long as those two were standing in front of them.
I suddenly find myself feeling very glad that my parents are currently preoccupied with Cash’s mum. Ever since Bailey and Cash got together, they’ve been non-stop with asking when I’m going to findThe Oneand settle down too. I’ve managed to shove most of the comments off with a laugh or a quick redirect, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it’s getting tiring.
I’m happy for them, but there’s an unspoken assumption that everyone wants what Cash and Bailey have. Or even that everyone is capable of finding it in the first place.
But not everyone is.
I know that first-hand, and I’mfinewith it. I just wish everyone else was too. But dwelling on that during the engagement party for my best friend and sister isn’t high on my list of priorities right now. I force a bright smile back onto my face and rejoin the conversation.
‘Since we’re all here now,’ Cash is saying to Eliott, ‘why don’t we get that photo we were talking about earlier?’
‘Sure.’ Eliott gives the group a stiff nod. ‘If you could all just come over here – better lighting.’
We do as she instructs and form a small cluster with Cash and Bailey in the middle. I slide over to Cash’s free side and sling an arm over his shoulder. Amber does the same with Bailey, pulling my sister in so close, their cheeks are touching. Finn hangs back for a second, but Cash quickly calls him over and he joins the cluster behind Amber and deftly wraps an arm around her waist.
Eliott lifts the camera to her face, takes a few shots and then lets it drop again. ‘Amber, if you could turn a little this way for me, that way Finn’s shadow won’t cut across your face. And Cash, can you get a little closer to Bailey and close that gap there?’
‘And me?’ I ask, as Cash does what she says and happilyslides even closer to his future wife. ‘Any notes or am I just nailing this?’
From the way she bites her bottom lip and ducks her head, it’s obvious she wants to laugh. I can’t decide whether to feel pleased that apparently I can still make her laugh, or annoyed that she’s desperately fighting it.
And whyisshe fighting it?
For some reason, she’s acting like I’m the last person she’d ever wanted to see again. Admittedly, there are probably a handful of women who’d probably never like to see me again – those unfortunate enough to meet me when I was young and immature. But I don’t think the way Eliott and I left things was bad enough to warrant that. Was it? I frown, searching through hazy memories as I try to figure out if I’m forgetting something important about our almost night together.
‘You’re fine,’ Bailey says, saving Eliott from having to answer. ‘Just stand there and look cute.’
‘Don’t I always?’
There’s that twitch of her lips again, though this time she brings her camera back up to her face to hide it. She takes a few more shots of us and then gives us a satisfied nod.
‘Got it.’
Cash and Bailey are quickly stolen by a group of our cousins coming to say goodbye, and Amber and Finn take the opportunity to glide back to the table for some morefood. Finn’s hand doesn’t leave Amber’s side as they walk, and it’s impossible to ignore the way she leans into his touch.
