Mismatched Compatibility (A and D Spin-Off)

Mismatched Compatibility (Epilogue)

FRIDAY: Wedding Day

Dana:

I couldn't look away.

I was seconds away from coming over to him and dragging him somewhere else, some place where we could do inappropriate stuff. Now was not the time, though.

We were at Aaron and Dakota's wedding reception. I sat at the table with some of their high school friends. Ethan and Luke were at the bar, getting some drinks. Alyson, on the other hand, was busy being the maid of honor.

"Stop it," I mouthed to Ethan, who kept giving me heated looks from across the room. You would think I didn't satisfy him, but that wasn't the case at all. He couldn't get enough of me, that was the problem.

I was in no way complaining, though.

Ethan raised his eyebrows and shrugged innocently.

"What?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, trying not to laugh while he chuckled at my reaction. I finally looked away and studied the place.

We were at the Wingland hotel in town. They held the wedding at the courtyard, while the reception was inside. There were about eleven round tables around the room, a dance floor right in the middle, and a main stage right upfront.

High Jinks played earlier; the first dance; the father-and-daughter dance; and an upbeat one for everybody. I caught about four of them mingling with the guests, as if they were already part of the family. However, one of them was out of sight. 

I scanned the room and neither did I see Dakota's cousin, Viria. I heard about their story from Ethan. I didn't tell him this, but my best friend Karl also told me about them. Apparently, they had quite a sad ending.

I really did hope they worked things out.

"Hey, you!"

I jumped in my seat in startle.

"Oops, sorry," laughed Dakota.

She looked radiant with her dark hair in loose curls around her shoulders. She had that contagious smile on her, making everyone around feel light and happy.

Aaron was beside her, looking dashing as well. Their blissful aura was oozing off of them and spreading around like a virus.

I got to my feet and smiled at the sight of them.

"Congratulations, you two!"

"Thanks, Dana," replied Aaron, grinning and kissing me on the cheek. When he pulled away, he turned to greet the others.

"I'm so glad you're able to make it today!" said Dakota, before attacking me with a hug. "You're like part of the family now."

"Aw, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

She sent me a grateful look. "Thank you."

"I feel like I should be the one thanking you," I told her truthfully. "You know, for helping Ethan find me earlier this week."

"Hey, it's not everyday Ethan calls for help – especially from me." She tilted her head in wonder. "How'd it go, by the way? I'm sorry, I've been so busy these past few days that I didn't get to ask how it went."

"Don't worry," I assured her, patting her hand. "Everything went fine, really. He got along with my father, and that's more than anything I could ask for."

"What about your friends?"

"Well . . ." I trailed off, finding the right words.

It wasn't that they didn't like him. It was just that they didn't expect him to be so aggressive. The thing about Ethan was, whenever he was in the room, it was as though he was taking up the entire space – everyone's attention was on him.