Page 54 of Monsters, Vows, and Growls
He simply stared at the exact spot Ben’s lips had landed, like he was calculating the tactical risk of launching himself across the centerpiece.
Oh no,I thought.Here we go.
I looked at Ella. She looked at me. We both looked at Gabe.
He sat down very slowly, very stiffly, reminding me of a robot entering low-power mode. Carol didn’t glance at him. Not even once. But she smiled. The small, infuriating kind. The kind that probably kept Gabe up at night.
Gabe cleared his throat, voice tight. “And Ella…”
She turned to him, kind as ever.
“I’ve always wanted a sister,” he said. “I’m glad it’s you.”
Ella's sweet smile lit up her face. “Thank you.”
I let out a long breath. That was it. I felt like I just dodged a bullet. He sat back, picked up his drink like nothing had happened, and stared directly into his whiskey glass like he was trying to astral project out of his body.
Thorne groaned.This is going to explode eventually.Not tonight,I hoped. Because tonight wasn’t about whatever mess was still simmering between Gabe and Carol. Tonight was about Ella.
I leaned over to Ella and murmured, “Okay, that was a really good speech.”
She nodded. “He meant it.”
I looked across the table at my brother—my stone-faced, emotionally armored, potentially imploding brother—and smiled. “Yeah, he really did.”
The dinner was perfect and the speeches heartfelt. The wine flowed, and we took a small break before cutting the cake, which, surprisingly, hadn’t collapsed yet; also, surprisingly, Gabe hadn’t tackled anyone—yet. I was just starting to believe we might actually pull off the perfect wedding day when I noticed Carol slipping away with a mission in her heels.
“Where’s she going?” I murmured to Ella, who was laughing with her head on my shoulder, mid-sway.
“I don’t know,” she said, without much concern. “She said something earlier about changing shoes.”
That explanation was normal enough. Until three minutes later, when Carol came barreling out of the barn doors looking like she’d seen a ghost.
“Uh-oh,” Ella said instantly.
“Uh-oh is right,” Carol announced. “So… funny story.”
That alone was enough to make half the guests turn.
“I was going to change shoes, but I accidentally opened the wrong closet and—"She stopped, biting her lip, her expression somewhere between horror and laughter. “Okay, so you know how you guys asked everyone not to bring gifts?”
“Yeah?” I said slowly.
“Well,someone didn’t listen.”
Carol jerked her thumb toward the barn, and that’s when we heard it. Abuzzing.Low at first. Then louder. And then…
“Oh God,” Ella whispered. “No.”
“Yep,” Carol said, barely holding back a snort. “There’s a gift basket. Unlabeled. Wrapped in white satin. Containing what can only be described as… marital aids.”
The guests were catching on now. Heads turned. A collective ripple of curious murmurs moved through the ranks.
“Someone left us asex basket?” I asked too loudly.
“Oh, I haven’t even gotten to the best part,” Carol said brightly. “It’s… animatronic.”
“What?!”
