I didn’t really care what table we were at, just as long as we weren’t in direct view of the bridal table. Justin still hadn’t made eye contact and I was hoping to keep it that way. And with this many people in attendance, avoiding him shouldn’t be a problem. Round tables cover three sides of a large wooden dance floor, the bridal table elevated on a platform and overlooking the guests. The tables are draped in white linen with coral ribbons running along the edges and beautiful calla lily filled centerpieces. The DJ is already playing music and a few people are dancing while others mingle around the tables, talking and enjoying themselves.
“There you two are.” Juls comes skittering over to us in her dangerously high heels and grabs onto our forearms as we admire the sculptures. “How was it? Be honest.” I c**k my head to the side and scrunch up my nose as Joey rubs the back of his neck, seemingly in pain. Juls panics, her eyes bug and her fingers immediately rub her temple.
“It was brilliant!” I yell as relief washes over her, followed by a stern I’m going to kick your ass look.
“As usual, you are one bad ass bitch, Juls. If I ever get married, you’ll be running that show.” Joey rubs her bare shoulder and she winks at him.
“Well, I only have a few minutes to spare before I have to get the bridal party lined up to come in so---,” she steps in between us and loops her arms through ours, “---let’s go introduce you to some hotties.” Oh shit. I almost forgot about hot lap guy. Almost.
“Oh my God, Juls you missed it,” Joey says through a laugh.
I lean back and hiss. “Shut up, Joey.”
“What? What did I miss?” She flicks her head back and forth between the two of us as I stare him down.
Don’t you dare. I’m still your boss and will fire your ass right here. He must have read my thoughts because he never finishes his sentence, or maybe it’s because we are now standing in front of the hot Chicago man candy club. The four of them are standing near a table conversing amongst themselves, but all conversation comes to a halt as we walk up. All of them, and I mean all of them, are way too attractive to properly function around. And now it is suddenly feeling a thousand degrees hotter in this room.
“There’s my girl.” Ian reaches his hand out and Juls steps into him, placing a quick kiss on his cheek before she steps back. I keep my eyes on Ian; not wanting to drift to the man whose eyes I knew were on me. I can feel them burning a hole into my profile.
“Boys, I would like to introduce my very best friend, Dylan.” Her hand grabs mine and pulls me forward as I glance up and run my eyes down the row of men, stopping on the one closest to me. Damn, he keeps getting better looking. “And this is Joey, the hottest g*y man in Chicago.”
“Oh please, Illinois bitch. Let’s not downplay my sexiness.” Joey straightens out his tie as I try not to laugh. My assistant has no modesty.
Juls glances down at her Tiffany watch and her eyes go wide. “Crap. Ian, will you finish the introductions? I need to take care of some shit.”
“Sure thing, babe. Be quick though.” He holds onto her hand tightly, making her tug away playfully before his smile lands on me.
“Christ, you’re so pu**y whipped.” The blond man standing next to Ian says softly. I glance at him quickly, smiling at the idea of Ian being completely caught up in my best friend. The two of them started dating a few months ago and she is already head over heels for him. Due to our busy schedules, this is our first time actually meeting and from what I can tell by the way he looks at her, he seems just as infatuated.
Ian glares at the blond who laughs around his drink before he turns back towards me. “Dylan, it’s nice to finally meet you.” He holds out his hand to me with a genuine smile as I shake it. Ian is tall and built, very muscular with nearly jet black hair that is barely long enough to pull into his pony. His brown eyes regard me kindly.
“Yeah you too, Ian. I’ve heard such lovely things from Juls.”
He shakes Joey’s hand and exchanges some pleasantries while my eyes strain to not look at the man standing directly to my left. “And these are my work associates and mates, Trent, Billy, and Reese,” he says, motioning down the line of men. Reese. Of course that’s his name. A guy looking like this wouldn’t be named something not sexy like Ted or Joe. I shake Trent and Billy’s hands as they say how nice it is to meet me. Trent, who made the pu**y whipped comment, is the shortest of the group with almost white blond hair that curls at the ends. And Billy, who only has eyes for Joey at the moment, has sandy blond hair that is kept super short, diamond stud earrings in both ears. I begin biting the inside of my cheek as I turn my body towards Reese.
“Dylan, I believe we’ve met briefly.” He extends his hand and I place mine in his without hesitation, feeling his callused fingers tickle my skin. I have to look up into his stare, even though I’m wearing one of my tallest pairs of heels. He’s got a torso that stretches on for miles, one that I’d like to wrap myself around. His perfectly tailored dark gray suit frames his hard body almost unfairly and as he smiles, the tiniest little lines appear next to his eyes. I sigh. His attractiveness is a bit unnerving.
“Yes, briefly. I’m so sorry about that.” Not really.
Still holding my hand he leans in a bit, his breath warming my face. “I’m not. Let’s go get a drink.”
I stumble a bit at the closeness of his face to mine, but somehow manage a quick nod in agreement to his request. Finally dropping my hand, I meet Joey’s eyes and he winks at me before I turn and walk side by side with Reese to the bar. I want to reach out and slip my hand back in his but I don’t. That would be weird. Stay strong. Resist the urge.