Damn, that man had a great smile. And he knew it. A dimple in his left cheek, some fantastic pearly whites he wasn’t shy about flashing, and his whole face lit up with his smile.
As if he sensed her looking, he snuck another look in her direction.
Busted, again. She scrunched her nose and tipped her head as she kept grinning, shifting from smiling over the woo-hoo-worthy kiss to sharing a bit of that enthusiasm with the hot guy flirting across the wedding.
Still smiling, he shook his head subtly, as if to say he knew heshouldstop.
Finn and Haley finally disengaged, but kept gazing at each other the entire march down the aisle.
Instead of moving forward to take Evan’s arm for a formal walk back, Trace was totally distracted talking to Grady, and absorbed into the crowd to join their friends. Happy to shirk tradition as much as she was, Evan turned and wrapped his arm around her shoulder and smacked a kiss on the top of her head.
As they started down the aisle, she reached out and grabbed Scott’s hand and tugged her dad up. He rolled his eyes, but he didn’t argue. With her brother on one arm and her dad on the other, she felt like a shrimp, thanks to inheriting her mother’s height. The Y-chromosomes got to be towering football players, and although she was used to being the short one, the high heels were a perk.
“One down,” Pops said as they made it out of the chattering crowd.
“Don’t say two to go,” Zoe said, leaning into her dad to punctuate the point with a teasing squeeze. “Finn has always been the overachiever.”
Evan was quiet, and Zoe glanced up at him. Huh. He quickly shook it off and nudged her, and she had somehow turned into a ping-pong ball as they riled each other. “Foothills is a very small pond, and it seems to drain faster than it refills. Finn got lucky.”
“I wouldn’t mind getting lucky.Tonight,” Zoe snorted as she mumbled to her brother.
On her other side, Scott lovingly rolled his eyes. “Sometimes, I think we share too much in this family.”
“Nah,” Evan said, winking over at him. “Your youngest two aren’t exactly social enough to amass a group of friends like Finn, so who else would we over-share with?”
“I guess that’s true,” Scott said. As they neared the door to the ballroom, he glanced back and nodded appreciatively. “Maybe a small pond locally, but there’s half a damn football team added to the pond today. So, there are options.”
“And other out-of-town guests.” Evan snorted and hooked one side of his mouth up in a devilish grin at Zoe. Shit. He’d totally witnessed the little whatever-it-was with Ryder.
She pinched his arm.
He just laughed at her, then cleared his throat and said, “So my pond has increased by one, and I am not remotely interested in an anything with a professional football player, and absolutely not a quarterback.”
“Yeah, quarterbacks are all egomaniacs.” Arms linked with two such arrogant beasts, Zoe knew she was playing with fire.
Evan ignored the dig, used to the teasing from his favorite tackle. “I don’t think Zoe’s interested in the football player type anyway.”
“Been there, done that a few times over, and even bought several t-shirts. Too many resent that I’d rather be on the field than on the sidelines waving pompoms and shaking my booty.” Zoe glanced back and saw Ryder had stood, but was waiting for the crowd to clear out first.
A little hop, skip, and a jump of flutters dinged in her chest.
“Tell you what,” Scott said as he exhaled and paused before heading inside to join the bride and groom. “You both at least dance once dance with someone who interests you… and I’ll do the same.”
A jolt shot up Zoe’s spine. Jaw dropping and eyebrows drawing together, Zoe glared over at her dad. Way too soon. It had been a year. Just a year. How could he even think about it? She quickly schooled her expression to a smile, but it was too late.
Evan said louder, “That is a great idea. I’ll ask my one option in the crowd to dance, and Zoe will find someone worth more than a few passing glances.” He winked at her, and she rolled her eyes. “And Pops, whenever you feel ready to dance with someone new, tonight or whenever, we will be so proud. Won’t we, Zoe?”
“Of course,” Zoe said with bright eyes and an overeager nod in a poor attempt to bolster the lie.
“The pond isn’t much bigger for a forty-nine-year-old widower.”
“Come on Pops, isn’t that like, a classic age to start picking up divorcées?” Evan teased with his notorious lopsided grin lifted high.
Scott shrugged and rolled his eyes, not bothering to match either of their smiles on either level of authenticity. “I hope so.”
Just inside the ballroom doors, Haley leaned back against Finn, his hands splayed over her belly as he nuzzled into her hair and whispered undoubtedly sweet things. That, right there, the thrill on both of their faces, set a clutch in Zoe’s chest. A good one. Familiar, the look was like so many her parents had shared, naturally affectionate, but a sweet intensity that said any hurdles in their way would be faced head on and together.
Chatter loudened behind them as the guests began their descent toward hugs and food. Zoe glanced back and saw the impending rush, and tugged Evan and Pops ahead.
