Testing Recipes for Disaster (Emberwood #2)

Chapter 22- Jeremy

E verything seemed to spring into fast-forward once we got to Lauren’s house. She shrieked when she saw herself in the mirror but declared I had to make her stop working on her makeup in twenty minutes no matter what, or we’d be late. She shoved me into her guest room-slash-office to get dressed. My outfit wouldn’t be a surprise since Lauren had thrifted the vest and the blazer for me and told me exactly what to wear with it. Even when she was kind of avoiding me, she was committed to her aesthetic.

I pulled on a pair of charcoal pants, a cream-colored button-down, and a dark green vest. The woven blazer was different shades of gray, and I had to admit I looked good. I was glad I’d had the forethought to throw my deodorant and cologne into my bag, too, because carrying those damn heaters around the house had me sweating.

We were nearing the twenty-minute mark, so I went to her fridge and pulled out all the desserts. Everything looked great, but I was in my head about strangers eating my food. Before I had too long to think about it, though, I had to force Lauren to finish getting ready.

“Hey! We’re at almost twenty-five minutes, just so you know,” I called through her door after knocking.

“Can you come in here?” she called back.

I opened the door. The only time I’d been in her room was fumbling through a drawer for a condom, so seeing it in the light was a new experience. It was a lot like the rest of her house, full of color, but this room was a little softer. There was only one large abstract art piece on the wall above her bed and several lamps giving off low light.

“Can you get the rest of these buttons?” she asked, emerging from her bathroom.

I swallowed hard. She was in a dark green dress, similar to my vest, but it was sheer across her chest and down her arms and fuck, all the way down her back to her waist, I realized as she turned around. There were tiny buttons all the way up her back, and the top half was still undone. She swept her hair up to give me access, and I felt like a teenager because my fingers were shaking slightly, trying to put the loops around the buttons. I wanted to do the opposite of securing this dress on her. I cleared my throat.

“You look gorgeous.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself. You should think about adding vests into your wardrobe more often.”

“For you? Anything,” I agreed, finishing the last button. “You ready?”

“Against all odds, yes. Let’s go.”

AS IT HAPPENED, WE made it there twenty minutes before everyone else. Lauren’s mom had come through in the clutch, and we were able to step in and divide and conquer. I set up the dessert table, which had already been loaded with tablecloths, flowers, and delicate floral plates and platters.

“Don’t forget to take pictures of everything set up before people destroy your creations,” Lauren said as she breezed past me with even more vases full of peonies and other flowers I didn’t recognize.

Shit .

I pulled out my phone and hastily took some photos.

“Guys... this is beautiful, ” Sam’s voice said from behind me.

I turned in time for her to throw her arms around me.

“Did you doubt me?” I asked, knowing full well that I doubted me.

“Not for a second, no. But still amazing to see everything in real life. I’ll have Zin get good photos before anyone touches it, promise. I’ll even edit them for your portfolio.”

She kissed my cheek and continued to see the rest of the space.

“I’m not going to kiss you. But thanks for doing all of this with Laur.”

“You’re missing out, but no pressure.”

I grinned at Jesse and pulled him in for a hug. Seeing him and Sam as happy as they were after watching Jesse struggle through coming back from his injury was nothing short of heartwarming, and I wasn’t at all embarrassed to admit that. It made me think maybe it was possible for a situation to change that drastically. Under the right circumstances, anyway. My eyes automatically scanned the area for Lauren, and I found her greeting guests as they made their way out to the back deck, directing them to find their tables and get champagne. No one would have known that she was in tears two hours ago.

Good.

She deserved to have a great night, too. I knew it was for Jesse and Sam, but we’d also worked our asses off making it happen, so it was fair that we had some fun too.

I recognized most people—it wasn’t going to be a large affair, and it dawned on me that since Jesse and Sam had moved back to Emberwood, they’d built a whole community for themselves. Besides their families, there were coaches from the rec league, people from the hardware store, Christian and whomever his plus one was, Sam’s friend Gen and her husband... it was small, but there was a lot of love all in one place.

Do not cry. I thought.

It was bad enough that I had cried at the proposal, but no one had even started making toasts or anything sentimental yet.

Jesus .

The feeling that settled into my chest wasn’t jealousy, but it was a want . And that presented a problem because it directly opposed to everything I’d claimed to want for literal years. Regardless, that thought was going to have to wait until after tonight was over to sink its claws into me.

A small hand made its way into mine, and Lauren tugged me away from the table.

“Come, mingle, enjoy. You saved the day enough. You can relax.”

My mouth quirked up into a smile. Saving the day was not something I was accused of often, but damn it if it didn’t feel good.