“A little bit,” Jake admitted. “It was a noisy night.” And not the kind of noisy like Stronghold where he could just sit and watch. No, tonight had been all about catching up with family members, talking about Lexie and Patrick, and generally being engaged in the socializing. Well, other than when he’d snuck off with Sharon for a bit. That had been a nice break from all the social interaction. “Where’s Lexie?”

“On the phone with Angel, giving her the update on tonight.”

Adam had appeared for a little bit (he’d only stayed for an hour and had been checking his watch the entire time). Angel had stayed home but insisted her husband attend the party. Jake wasn’t surprised that his sister was making sure that Angel got the full update on the evening. He was just glad she had such good friends. That was something he’d always worried about, since none of her college friendships had really seemed to stick after she’d graduated.

For a long moment, he and Patrick sat in companionable silence. They’d been friends for long enough that they didn’t always feel the need to speak when they were hanging out.

“So. You disappeared for a bit tonight.” Patrick turned his head slightly to eye Jake, amusement curving one side of his mouth. “Right around the same time Sharon did.”

Jake grunted. “How many people noticed?”

“All of our friends, no one else.”

“Well at least that’s something,” he muttered. Their friends already knew what was going on between them at least. That explained why Andrew had been glowering at him even harder during the second half of the night. Jake had suspected, but he hadn’t known for sure.

“Are you going to be her date to our wedding too?” Patrick asked teasing.

“That’s kind of far in the future for planning,” Jake said, balking slightly when he realized that his first impulse was to answer with an immediate ‘yes.’ “Going with her to her cousin’s wedding is enough for right now.”

Before Patrick could answer, Jake’s mom’s voice cut him off as she came down the stairs and Jake groaned. She’d overheard more than he meant her to. “Going with who to what wedding?”

Patrick smirked at him, lifting his beer to his lips while he watched Jake flounder.

“Just a friend… I’m going to a friend’s cousin’s wedding with her as her friend.” Jake winced as he realized he’d said ‘friend’ three times in a row.

His mom reached the bottom of the stairs and tilted her head at him, raising one eyebrow. Her lips quirked as her eyes darted back and forth between him and Patrick.

“A friend, huh?” she asked dryly. “Is it a friend I know?” Then, suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Wait, is it that single friend I met tonight? That cute young woman, Sharon?”