Thankfully, he breaks the heady atmosphere when he says, “Are you done eating?”
I simply nod, the back of my throat clogged with emotion.
He collects our trash and jumps out of the car to dispose of it. On the return he says, “Buckle up. We have a dress to save.”
A single tear slides down my cheek as I watch him drive out of the parking lot. I’m a drunk, emotional mess and Finn has my back like he said he would. I want to climb over the center console into his lap and kiss him with our lips pressed firmly then softly, and my tongue stroking his until we’re both breathless. Then I want to do it a thousand more times.
I don’t of course. I force my gaze out the passenger window and fight to keep my suddenly heavy eyes open.
The last thing I remember thinking is I should have skipped the champagne and waited for cake.
*
I rouse fromsleep surrounded by warm and cozy sheets that smell like the ocean and firewood. I snuggle in deeper, the soft pillow cradling the side of my face like a cloud of feathers. I think I’ll lie here for at least another hour or two. It’s been forever since I’ve slept in, and after the Burger Incident—my eyes fly open as everything about last night comes barreling back to me. Or, almost everything. This is not my bed. I lift the sheet and glance down my body. This is not what I usually sleep in.
I bolt upright, pain spearing through my skull. Looking around the room I venture a guess I’m at Finn’s house. Muted light fills the space through a giant window left slightly ajar, an overcast sky in the distance. Straight in front of me is a wood-burning fireplace, small embers glowing yellow and orange.
The bed is big. The armoire in the corner is, too. There’s a doorway that leads into a bathroom.
I take another peek at myself. I’m wearing an extra-large Landsharks T-shirt and my underwear and that’s it.Think, Chloe, think.How did I get here? How did I get like this? Did Finn undress me? Did I do my Magic Mike impersonation and do a striptease for him? Mortification slams into me. I don’t see my dress anywhere, but on the nightstand is my clutch. I quickly grab my phone.
Jillian picks up on the second ring. “Hey, are you okay?” Her groggy voice tells me I woke her up. Shit. It’s seven a.m. On a Saturday.
“Hey, sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep and I’ll call back in a couple hours.”
“No, it’s okay.” Sheets rustle and then Robert’s muffled voice checking on his fiancée travels over the phone line. “Go back to sleep,” she tells him. “Chlo, hang on a sec…all right, I’m in the bathroom now. What’s up?”
“Are you peeing?”
“You know I have to go first thing when I wake up. What’s going on? How was the party last night?”
Where to start? I give her a quick rundown—champagne in the car, champagne and a shot at the gala, spilling my guts to Finn, eating burgers and fries—but leave out the part about wearing and saucing my bridesmaid dress, then say, “And now I’m in Finn’s guest bedroom and I have no idea how I got here.”
“That’s not so—”
“Clarification: I’m half naked in bed in Finn’s guestroom.”
“Ohhh,” she says, and I can picture her eyebrows raised in excited interest. She’s been to baseball games with me and has seen Finn in action. When I told her I was working with him she started planning our wedding and getting pregnant at the same time. She’s ridiculous like that. “Half naked how? No top? No bottoms?”
“I’m wearing a shirt of Finn’s and have my panties on.” I wasn’t wearing a bra with my dress so that piece of lingerie is unimportant.
“Pretty panties or no-one-will-see-these kind?”
“Pretty.” My bridesmaid dress demands it.Where oh where is my dress and did Finn get the stain out?A vague memory floats through my mind. “I just remembered something! Oh crap.”
“What is it?”
“I think I invited Finn to your wedding. You know, since I’m dateless now.” I fall back onto my pillow. “God, I ran off at the mouth like it was a marathon. How much can I tell Finn before I take off my clothes and slide into bed. Please remind me never to drink champagne again.”
“Maybehetook your clothes off?”
“Not helpful,” I grumble.
“Sorry, but here’s what I do know. You are a fun, smart, kind person and there’s only a fifty-fifty chance you pulled a Magic Mike.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“What are best friends for? Really, though, don’t worry about it. Just talk to Finn this morning and ask him what happened.”