Jude pointed at me and introduced me to Seraphina.
“Cousin, her name's Seraphina Whitmore. Isn't she gorgeous?”
I had no interest in making conversation. All I wanted was to get out of there.
But Jude kept blocking my path, refusing to let me leave.
“Cousin, you look like you're in a real hurry to go somewhere. I'm telling you, there's no point rushing off.”
“I'm trying to set you up here! Where do you think you're going?”
He dragged me over to Seraphina's side. The second I sat down, a wall of raised glasses came at me from every direction.
“Come on, Cousin, a toast to you!”
The liquor burned going down, a hundred times more bitter than before.
Seraphina noticed something was off with me and spoke up quickly, waving away the next round of glasses.
“That's enough, everyone. If someone gets drunk and ruins the wedding, none of us can afford that kind of trouble.”
“Oh my! Looks like somebody's already playing protector!”
“Heh, Seraphina, you're not even with the guy yet and you're already looking out for him.”
“Hmph, taking his side over ours already.”
“All right, all right. You all know Seraphina's shy. Why don't we just push these two together and see what happens?”
I wasn't in the mood to listen to any of their banter. Whatever they were saying went in one ear and out the other.
“Okay, rock-paper-scissors! Loser gets a punishment.”
Jude was the first to lose, though someone pointed out he'd done it on purpose. He was supposedly unbeatable at the game.
“Look how eager he is. Lost on purpose so he could make out with his bride right in front of us single losers, huh?”
Jude didn't say a word, but the smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth gave him away.
Beatrice didn't want to kiss Jude in front of me, but he didn't give her a choice. He cupped the back of her head and pulled her in for a deep, lingering kiss.
Everyone clapped and cheered. A few people whistled.
A full five minutes passed before he let her go. Beatrice couldn't bring herself to look at me after that.
It was only then I realized I'd drained three full bottles without even noticing. The alcohol hammered at my skull and churned in my stomach.
Sick and barely holding myself together, I got pulled into the game too, and I lost badly.
Seraphina, who'd never played before either, lost just as spectacularly.
“Ha! Cousin and Seraphina both lost. Rules are rules!”
“You two are literally made for each other. Equally terrible!”
“Come on, kiss!”
“Kiss!”
“Kiss!”
Someone shoved Seraphina toward me. I caught her before she could stumble, my hands steadying her by the arms.
“Oh! And he says he's not interested in this beauty. Beatrice, your cousin sure knows how to play it cool.”
Beatrice stared at us with a smile that never touched her eyes, a flicker of warning buried beneath something sharper.
I was done catering to her feelings. Seraphina's face was flushed but she wasn't pulling away. I was about to lean in when she beat me to it, pressing her lips to mine.
“Wow! No stopping for at least three minutes!”
One minute in, someone shoved me back. It was Beatrice.
“C-Cousin, Seraphina hasn't even dated anyone before! You can't just take advantage of her over a silly game.”
I said nothing. My gaze on her was ice-cold.
“Huh, does anyone else think Beatrice looks a little jealous right now?”
“Shoo, shoo, stop picking on my sweetheart.”
“Hahaha, maybe she just can't wait to get to the wedding night!”
“Jude, you better head back! Your boys sent over plenty of goodies for you two!”
It was getting late. Jude glanced at me, then turned to his friends.
“Hey, check if any of your companies are hiring. Get my cousin a decent job. Being some low-level manager at a hotel? That's not gonna cut it.”
“No problem!”
