“Hold it right there!” Grace shouted as they walked up to the table. She had a chunky, retro Polaroid camera in one hand that apparently the guests were allowed to use. Seb and Shelly dutifully posed, and then Shelly rushed forward for the photo, shaking it.

“Now, you two,” Grace demanded, hauling Via up from her chair and launching her toward Seb.

Apparently, Grace had quite the arm because Via stumbled forward on her spiky heels, and Seb just had time to catch her. One of his hands gripped her elbow, and the other splayed across her waist. He pinned her against him to steady her.

“Smile!” Grace called and Seb was dimly aware of a camera flash. He was sharply aware of the warm woman simultaneously slipping and settling against him. Via looked up at him, straightening, and Seb had the strangest feeling that his life had just become an abstract painting. The light and lines blurred and pixelated around him; everything was fuzzy and bright at the same time. The world was made of strokes of concentrated color. Everything was a gift tonight. The music, the scent of flowers, the sheer, contagious joy of the brides. All the energy of it funneled and tornadoed around Seb and Via.

And then Grace shoved the Polaroid into Seb’s hand.

“It’s a beaut,” she crowed.

“Oh,” Via whispered, looking down at the picture that was just developing.

Seb stared at it as well, horror trickling through him like a drop of poison in an IV. He felt like the clothes on his back were slowly freezing, starting at his shoes and working all the way up to the collar of his shirt. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at. He felt sick. And so fucking angry at himself.

Realizing that his hand was still on Via’s hip, he slid away from her, taking the picture with him. He shoved it into the pocket of his slacks. He didn’t want her to look at it anymore.

“Seb?” she asked.

Both she and Grace were looking at him like he’d just broken out in hives. Maybe he had. He felt hot and scratchy. Either his clothes were shrinking, or he’d just made a complete and utter fool out of himself. Via was looking at him, confused as hell, and she was so gorgeous there in her green dress that he was almost tugged back into their cloud of yum. But the picture pulsed in his pocket, and he was reminded of reality.

A familiar buzzing ring had Seb jolting. He pulled his phone from his pocket. “Sorry, that’s Matty calling from Tyler’s phone.”

He flashed the phone toward the women and strode out of the hall. He took one back hallway and then another, striding up a set of back stairs that led toward the Botanical Garden gift shop. Everything was dark and quiet. Huge windows lined the hall, and the gardens were stark and spooky outside. There were no lights on in the hall, so Sebastian could just barely see his reflection in the glass.