What?
My brain short-circuited.
I just stood there dumbly, trying to decide if this was just harmless banter between friends or something else.
But it was hard to tell because Theo hadneverlooked at me like that before.
And with that thought, warmth curled low in my stomach, slow and unsettling in the best way.
“Careful,” Miles said with a grin as Theo opened the front door for us to step out. “I don’t share well.”
Theo glanced at me briefly before looking back at him. “We’ll see.”
29
THEO
The venuefor Ian and Maddie’s wedding looked like something out of a fairytale.
White chairs lined the lawn in neat rows, facing a flower-draped arbor with the sunset glowing beyond it. String lights crisscrossed overhead like a canopy of fallen stars. And flowers were everywhere—petals catching the breeze.
I’d thought Alisha’s and my wedding had been spectacular. But this was next level.
“Are you saving this seat for anyone?” I asked Bash when I found a chair open beside him and Alessi about four rows from the back.
“Oh no,” he said, scooting slightly closer to his girlfriend. “Please sit.”
I lowered myself into the chair, adjusting my jacket as guests continued filing in.
“Did Ian not have any groomsmen aside from his best man?” I asked when I noticed Owen was Ian’s only non-family member standing near the officiator at the end of the aisle.
“Just his brothers and Owen,” Bash said with a shrug. Thenleaning closer with a sly grin, he added, “Word on the street is he didn’t want Maddie accidentally falling in love with Miles or me when she walked down the aisle.”
Alessi snort-laughed immediately at that comment before patting Bash’s knee placatingly, “I’m sure she’s pretty content with Ian. I mean, he didn’t earn the nickname Heartbreaker Hastings for nothing.”
To which I had to chuckle because, yeah, I had definitely heard talk of Ian’s shenanigans before he became an honest man for Maddie.
The string quartet started then, playing something soft and classical, and that was when I spotted Miles and Nora making their way through the crowd, his hand resting at her waist.
“Did Miles bring Nora as his date?” Alessi asked Bash, apparently noticing them, too.
Bash glanced back and shrugged. “Looks like it.”
“Interesting,” Alessi said, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Interesting how?
As far as I knew, Nora and Alessi were friends. Hadn’t they bonded on Ky’s European tour last summer?
But before I could dissect her words and how she might feel about her stepbrother dating Nora, Lucy rushed past my seat in a blur, heading straight for Nora who had stopped in the aisle just a few feet from me.
“Oh my gosh,” Lucy exclaimed, pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Hi to you, too.” Nora laughed softly, hugging her back.
“I still can’t believe what happened.” Lucy pulled away and looked Nora over from head to toe, like she needed visual confirmation that her friend was unharmed. “I woke up to Theo’s text and almost had a heart attack.”
“I know. I’m sorry I didn’t call you myself. Last night was just a lot. And today was a blur of errands.”