“No.”

She rolls her eyes and smiles. “Love never fails, Chlo.”

I swallow hard. “I don’t know if I believe that.”

She squeezes my arm. “That’s okay. I believe in it enough for the both of us.”

And even though I’m so nervous that I’m seriously considering puking on some daffodils in front of Drew’s entire family, I trust her.

* * *

We return to the wedding, where the D&D guys have done a great job setting everything up. The floral centerpieces are surrounded by tons of battery-operated candles (Annie’s seen enough rom-coms to know the mishaps that lit candles can cause), which flicker romantically in the almost-dark.

In a word, it’s beautiful.

I sit down next to Annie and Drew at the head table; Louis is on Drew’s other side. Everyone else mills around, some people at their seats, most people standing up and eating pigs in a blanket (the traditional Midwestern appetizer) while sipping drinks. My eyes scan the crowd until I see him; at the back of the room, behind a table, pouring a drink for some elderly woman I’ve never seen who must be one of Drew’s relatives. I’m overwhelmingly jealous of this octogenarian who gets to touch his hand for even a brief second as he gives her a drink.

“Chloe.”

I look to my left and see Annie staring at me with concern. “You are, like, vibrating.”

I take a deep breath. “Yeah, well. I don’t handle nerves well. This is why I stay in my comfort zone, okay?”

Annie knocks back a cup of Sprite and then smiles at me. “Fuck your comfort zone.”

I recoil. “Excuse me? Who are you?”

“I’m a woman who just got married, and right now I need you to give me the greatest gift I could possibly receive: a grand gesture.”

Drew leans across Annie and looks me straight in the eye. “This is Annie’s wedding day. You need to give the woman what she wants.”

“You told him?” I whisper-hiss at Annie.

She shakes her head, eyes wide. “Of course not! I swear.”

Drew rolls his eyes. “Give me a break, Chloe. Everyone in this room, and anyone who’s ever been into Nick’s, can tell that a cloud of sexual tension surrounds you and Velez at all times. Annie didn’t have to tell me you slept together; I figured it out.”

Annie and I stare at each other, mouths open.

“What are you, some kind of relationship expert?” I ask when I’ve recovered. Annie lifts her cup of Sprite to her mouth, shaking her head in amazement.

“In case you forgot, I’m married to the greatest rom-com writer of our generation.” He holds up her hand and points to her ring. “I think I can tell when a grand gesture is about to happen.”

Annie snort-laughs so hard that she spits Sprite all over her plate.

The telltale clink of wedding silverware on wineglass cuts through the air, and everyone cranes their heads around to see who it is.