Page 134 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“Oh, goodness. ItisAstrid.” Nathalie was beaming as she shot up from her seat.Jesus Christ. To think I was the one who insisted on booking her for the gig. “Aren’t you guys going to say hi? You haven’t seen her in ages!”
Everyone stared at William again, waiting for him to respond, but he remained silent. Meanwhile, Tobias, Joel, and Eric stood to join Nathalie. I snorted, feeling betrayed at how quickly they stood and how happy they seemed to greet her.
Whatever.
“Hej!” she said with the brightest grin, greeting Nathalie first with a warm embrace that almost made me scoff at the familiarity of the gesture. Fuck me. Astrid’s silky, sun-kissed blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders as she unstrapped the cello case and settled it on the floor.
They were talking in Swedish, so I didn’t understand what they were saying, but it was easy to guess from their body language. They were probably sayingit’s been a while, andwhat are the odds.I even caught agrattisfrom Astrid—Swedish for congratulations.
They chatted for a few minutes, and at some point, Astrid pulled out her phone and typed as Nathalie dictated.
I lifted my wineglass and took a long sip. “William, kom hit och säg hej!” Nathalie urged William to say hi to Astrid, but she waved a carefree hand and approached us instead.
“Hej,kille,” Astrid said in a sweet, velvety tone to William, her mouth upturned into a half smile. He stood up slowly to greet her. “Åh! Gå inte upp.”
He replied in Swedish, and added, “This is my girlfriend Billie. Billie, this is Astrid.”
“Trevligt att träffas,”1she said, followed by a longer statement my limited Swedish lexicon failed to account for as she outstretched her hand.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized, trying not to seem clueless as I shook her hand. “But Idon’t speak Swedish.”
“Oops, my bad. I assumed you would by now.” She shrugged and gave me a small, squinty, innocent smile, but the dig was there. “Well, it was the nicest surprise seeing you all.” She waved everyone goodbye. “Congratulations, again.” She rounded the table and picked up her cello case from the floor. Eric helped her strap it back on. “We should grab that coffee soon to catch up, Nathalie.” Of course, she chose English to say her parting words.
“Yes, my dear,” Nathalie replied, waving goodbye. “You have my number now.” Astrid nodded and stared at William with those sky-blue eyes and gorgeous makeup-free face—a natural beauty. She parted her soft pink lips as if wanting to say something. Instead, she turned around and walked away.
Once she was far enough, William said to his mom, “Coffee? Really?”
“I was just being polite! She asked for my number. What did you want me to say?”
“I want you to say no if she ever calls you,” he retorted, the table going eerily quiet.
“You can count on it.” Nathalie winked as the wedding planner whispered something quickly in her ear before darting away. It was time for parent dances. I knew because I’d memorized the order of events for the wedding.
Everyone quickly moved on to talk about something else and redirected their attention to the dance floor.
“Sorry about all that.” William widened his eyes and flared his nostrils, turning to face me.
“Why did she call youkille?” I asked. “What does it mean?”
“It means boy.” He shook his head and gave me a tight-lipped smile. “She used it as a pet name when we were dating. She was taunting me.” William slid my chair closer to his, tracing an invisible line down my arm with his finger. “You’re not jealous, are you?” He smirked at me.
“Never.” I crossed my arms at my chest and playfully lifted my chin. Then, I blew out a breath. “Okay, you got me. Everyone seems to love her.”
He laughed. “They were more surprised about the coincidence than excited to see her, believe me. But yeah, she used to get along great with everyone, but that’s in the past. I can assure you she won’t call my mom for a coffee date.”
“Good.”
His lips met mine for a soft kiss that lingered for a few seconds before breaking it off and pulling slightly back. William grabbed my hands. “Move in with me.”
I laughed. He laughed.
“What?” I cupped his cheeks with my hands and squeezed his face lightly. “Are you drunk already?”
“A little,” he said with a laugh. My hands fell to his knees, and I squeezed them. “But that’s beside the point. I’m dead serious about this. I want to bring down the wall separating our rooms and sleep on the same bed as you every single night.” He tucked a loose, wavy strand behind my ear.
“Does that mean I’ll get a rent increase?” I quipped. “Since I’ll be having a bigger room?”
“Definitely,” he said, stretching the joke. “But I’m sure we can reach a mutually beneficial understanding.”
