Dan and Jonathan joined Addison and Zoey. Addison giggled when she looked at Dan since the mustache was so full and ridiculous.
“Hi,” Jonathan said, looked straight ahead, yet standing next to Zoey.
“Hi,” Zoey mimicked. They locked eyes and smiled.
Dan offered his arm to Addison, who was three inches taller than him, and they began down the path to the front.
Jonathan offered his arm by jutting his elbow out dramatically. Zoey obliged and rested her hand on his forearm. Sophie motioned for them to start walking, and Zoey leaned in.
Her whole body responded to being that close to him, close enough to smell the faint scent of his panty-dropping cologne. His body felt hard and warm as she brushed up against him. He pulled her closer as they approached the makeshift altar. Brady’s eyes were large as he watched them walk past, and then she saw a grin come from him as well.
She veered to the left when she reached Makenna to stand by Addison. Sunlight encompassed Jonathan’s frame as they caught eyes again. Her breath caught, and she reminded herself to breathe. They held each other’s gaze for seconds until Zoey smiled with all of her heart. Maybe eleven years could melt away.
9
After the rehearsal, the group transferred to Timberlake Golf Course and Lodge for the rehearsal dinner. Zoey knew of the golf course as a popular place to get married or to eat a fancy dinner while in South Lake Tahoe. At one point, Caroline considered it as a venue, but her parents got a quote and it was a hard pass. Brady’s parents agreed to host the rehearsal dinner there as a compromise.
Large floor-to-ceiling picture windows opened to the ninth hole of the golf course, where there were still golfers out, teeing up even though dusk quickly approached. Crisp, white tablecloths covered long tables in the dining room space with pink and red accents, the wedding colors.
It was customary to have all of the out-of-town relatives at the rehearsal dinner, but Caroline and Brady were adamant that it would be close family and bridal party only. Supposedly, Aunt Lisa had thrown a fit over not being invited and complained about the extra night in the hotel room, but Caroline refused to budge.
Addison sipped water and Derek stayed quiet. It was obvious Caroline had said something to one or both of them and they were on their best behavior. It was also likely they’d had a big fight before coming to the rehearsal dinner and were currently in a deep freeze.
Jonathan and Zoey sat next to each other. She endured more smug looks from Caroline, but she just rolled her eyes and maybe slid her chair a half-inch closer to his just to spite her. Dan sat across from them, a drink already in hand.
Brady’s dad, Mike, stood up and tapped against his red wine glass with his knife to get the party’s attention. “I wanted to thank everyone for this wonderful night, and I know I’m not alone in my excitement for tomorrow,” Mike said, placing his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Angela and I are thrilled to welcome Caroline into our small Brady Bunch.”
Zoey grimaced. She saw that joke coming from a mile away.
“I’m basically Carol Brady,” Caroline said between her teeth.
“Cheers to the happy couple!” Mike said as he hoisted his glass and took a sip.
“How are you?” Jonathan said, leaning in, close to her ear. She felt his breath, so close to her neck, and felt a flush coming on.
“I’m good, how are you?” Zoey asked coyly.
“Great now that I’m in AC. I was hot out there. Wish I knew shorts were okay,” Jonathan said. Zoey looked down at his khakis and scrunched her face.
“Shorts are always okay with this crowd.”
“Good to know. You ladies have it easy with dresses.”
“You could wear a dress too.”
“I definitely have the legs for it.” Jonathan’s eyes were serious as he held her gaze. “I have something I need to talk about with you. Something important.”
Zoey held her breath. She searched his eyes for some clue it was a joke and not the huge thing they needed to talk about. Were they really going to do this here? In front of all these witnesses? She could start crying, for sure, if he talked at all about their breakup. She might start yelling. Jonathan took her hands in his.
Here we go.
“What?” Zoey croaked.
“Can I get your number?”
A flush came to Zoey’s cheeks. His thumbs were ready at his phone as she recited her number. He scrolled and looked up. “You didn’t change your number?”
She sat back. He kept my number? The warm fuzzy feelings came back. Less than twelve hours ago, she would’ve fought them, pushed them away like a pesky fly. Now, she let it wash over her, let the light take over. The pain sat there for now.
“You may want to unblock me, then,” he said.
“I didn’t block you,” Zoey said with a laugh, though she most certainly did. A few quick taps of her screen, and Jonathan was officially unblocked.
“I need to test this,” Jonathan said, typing something into his phone. He looked up to see a tremor come from Zoey’s phone. “What does my message say?”
Zoey laughed and put her phone down.
“Come on, what does it say?”
“‘Hey, you’re hot.’”
Jonathan sat back with an exhaled breath. “Jonathan and Zoey, back in business.”
Jonathan once grabbed one of Zoey’s romance novels from her shelves one Saturday afternoon and flipped through. The heroine in that book said, “Hey, you’re hot” to the hero for the first time at a swanky club, and Jonathan rolled around with laughter for a solid eight minutes.
After they broke up, she donated that book. It was one of the many things that went to Goodwill, including a bunch of stuff that was Jonathan’s or reminded her of him.
Jonathan leaned forward. He lifted one finger to push a loose curl from her face to behind her ear. Jonathan’s hand hung mid-air, his fingertips whispering her skin with their light touch.
“Oh, get a room,” Dan said, with a neat Scotch in his hand.
They both turned back to the table. “We’re just friends,” Zoey said.
“Ha.” Dan kicked back his drink, draining the liquid from the tumbler.
Zoey pointed to Dan’s drink. “Am I going to have to stuff you in a trunk again?”
Dan held up one finger. “That was one time, and I had to check to make sure all the latches worked. I’m easy to kidnap and I’m adorable, so I have to make sure I could escape.”
“Plus, that night you had half a bottle of Crown by yourself.”
“I can’t help it if I get silly,” Dan said. “We’re all going out tonight. You’re both coming.”
Zoey grimaced. She hated clubs. After going hard in her early twenties, spending nearly every weekend night there, sometimes picking up a random guy, it no longer sounded fun. She looked at Jonathan, who had a similar look.
“It’ll be fun.” Dan promised. He pointed to Makenna, who sat four chairs down from him. “And she will be in my arms.”
“You sure about that?” Jonathan said. He settled his arm on the back of Zoey’s chair, brushing against her bare back and grazed her skin with his thumb. She leaned back, hoping for more contact. She could feel the fabric of her jumpsuit rub against her nipples since she chose to go braless. Between his touch and the cold air, she could feel them harden. She caught Jonathan looking, and she gave him the smile she only gave people she wanted to sleep with.