Page 79 of No Rings Attached
Constance shot her a furious look.
I pulled my phone out of my suit pocket and pretended I had a text. “It’s Glamma.”
Celia swallowed hard. She threw a panicked look at her mother. “Right, Mom?”
“Right,” she bit out, her glare glacial.
“Oh, will you look at that?” I tapped at my phone screen to make it look like I was responding. “I was wrong. Glammaisable to help and let you use her house.”
“Perfect.” Celia’s fake excitement had me internally high-fiving myself.
“And just so we’re clear …” I stared at Celia until she met my gaze so that she would know I was dead serious. “There’s no fucking way I’d let Ellie create a slideshow glorifying her asshole ex.”
Celia’s mouth dropped open for a second before she snapped it shut.
“What else needs to be done?” I asked, not allowing her or Constance butt in with another word about it.
I might have been the one to ask the question but Celia directed her response to Ellie. “I need you to book the axe throwing place.”
Ellie blinked, flustered. “I don’t … where … axe throwing?” Her voice pitched too high, and she scribbled something on her paper to cover her confusion.
I couldn’t resist jumping in. “Babe, I don’t think I brought you there yet. It’s attached to the bowling alley.”
Ellie’s relief was instant, her fake smile transforming into something warmer as she leaned into the lie. “Oh, that’s what that place is. I meant to ask you about that.”
“We’ll go to the bowling alley on our next date.” I said.
Constance wrinkled her nose.
“When did you start to like axe throwing?” she asked her sister.
“It was either that or bowling. But my followers chose axe throwing.” Celia didn’t hide the grimace that crossed her face at either choice.
“But it’s so last minute what if they don’t have enough room to accommodate—” Ellie glanced at her sister.
“Twenty people.”
“Twenty? How big is your bridal party?”
“Ellie, they’re all my best friends. And you of course.”
“I don’tneedto be in your wedding party, Celia. It’s really okay.”
“Of course you need to be in it. You’re my sister. Everyone will expect you to be a part of it.”
I didn’t miss the way Ellie’s shoulders slumped.
“Drew … I was thinking … You’d be a perfect fit with our wedding party. You’re handsome and my readers would love it if a small-town guy got involved. Maybe I should make you a groomsman.” Celia’s eyes slid to me, slow and deliberate, crawling over every inch of me like she was shopping for a ball gown she had no right to try on. Heat crawled up the back of my neck. Every muscle in my jaw screamed to snap shut and tell her where she could shove her groomsman idea.
Ellie’s body stiffened beside me. Her pen stilled mid-stroke, knuckles whitening around it. The sound that came out of her was barely more than a squeak. “No, he can’t.”
The panic in her voice shredded me. It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to stand in Celia’s wedding—it was that Ellie needed me to stand with her. And God help me, I wanted to. Not only as a backup. Not just as a shield, which I knew was necessary, but as a way to show I was hers.
“It’s my wedding, Ellie.”
“Because then wouldn’t your numbers be off?” I could tell Ellie was fishing for a reason by the hesitation in her voice.
Celia scowled. “You’re right and that would just annoy me. And it’s too late to order another bridesmaid dress or ask anyone else anyway.”
