Their romantic song reaches its final notes and the fifteen-piece band slides right into another romantic slow number. One of the singers invites all couples onto the dance floor and Ryan silently slips his fingers through mine, pulling us into the mix. I link my arms around his broad shoulders as he holds my hand and waist. We leave zero room for the Holy Spirit as we both instinctually step closer, swaying and spinning to the soft melody.

“I’m just sure,” I say. “Jason and Cristina both know what they want and they know who they are.”

“That must be nice.”

“What makes you say that? You don’t know who you are?”

“I used to think I did. I was positive I was exactly who I was supposed to be.”

“And then what?” I ask.

“And then, you.” Ryan gives me a twirl and I try to channel my inner Ginger Rogers as he pulls me back in. I probably look closer to Big Foot. “When I went out with the guys the day we got our tuxes, Jason and Beau told me I was different. They said they had forgotten I was funny.”

“Ouch.”

“Honestly, I wasn’t even offended because they were right. After we broke up, I think I went into a kind of survival mode. I’d go through the motions with everything, but nothing felt as good as it should. And now I don’t know if I’m going back to who I used to be or if I’m changing into someone different.”

“Maybe you’re just acting like who you really are.”

“And maybe that only happens when I’m with you.”

The music fades out, the song ending. I can tell Ryan wants to kiss me as bad as I want to kiss him, but we both hold back. There are too many eyes around us, and too many questions would follow. Instead we stand there, in the middle of the crowded dance floor, grinning and looking at each other with an intimacy that only we can see.

The band whips into a lively salsa song next, and Ryan takes my hand, leading me back towards the tables.

“I’m going to head for the bar. You want a champagne or are you trying to get wild with a bay breeze?”

“Let’s just go full throttle and start with a bay breeze. You only live once.”

“I like where your head’s at, Sullivan. I’ll be right back.”

I sit down at our assigned table and take a much-needed sip of water. Looking at the delicate calligraphy on the place card in front of me, I chuckle when I see that Cristina once again seated me next to Ryan. Good thing we’re at the point we are in our relationship. If we weren’t, we’d probably be royally peeved with the arranged marriage my best friend is trying to force us into.