Truth or Dare: A Sweet Romantic Comedy Collection by Laura Burton (free ebook reader for ipad txt) 📗

other for a few moments, then their faces break into identical devilish grins.

“How about a double wedding?” Debbie suggests. The guests applaud with approval as Holly and Michelle both go, “Ooooh!”

“No, no,” I say frowning. “It’s your day. Sorry, go on.” I give a quick smile to the presiding staff member who looks like he has no idea what to do.

“Come on,” Mark bellows so loudly it echoes around the room. “As long as I get to marry this beautiful lady, I don’t care if everyone gets married at the same time.”

I glance at Holly and Michelle and they're both looking hopefully at their boyfriends. The men are looking back with pale faces and the sight prompts a small laugh to escape my lips. But then I look at Ryder and suddenly nothing seems funny at all. “Katia,” he says in a deep voice. The people around us fizzle away and it’s just us. “I’ve missed you every day since the end of high school. In fact, I still have the last picture we took.” He pulls out an old photograph from his jacket pocket and holds it up. The two of us are crammed into a photo booth and a young Ryder is kissing my forehead. I’m looking down with a smile on my face. “I came back to New York, with hopes that we might reconnect. Now I have a good job, and I’m ready to settle down and make that commitment.”

The whole world around me grows light and my chest becomes so tight I can hardly breathe.

I’ve only had an hour of sleep. Maybe this is delirium kicking in and I’m just playing out a fantasy while Mark and Debbie exchange their vows.

“Right. Then it’s settled. You two are getting married. Right here. Right now,” Debbie says. Just like that, everyone in the room comes flooding back into view. I inhale sharply, unable to break away from Ryder’s intense gaze.

I rub my pinky against the cold band on my ring finger to check that it’s really there. Then I bite my lip, trying to decide whether to go ahead with this or not.

“This is perfect," Mark says. "I get to see my best friend marrying my new sister-in-law without having to fly back from Tokyo.”

“WHAT?”

My dad’s voice launches me into action as I catch Debbie’s look of pure dread. “I do!” I shout, looking at Ryder again. A rise of delighted chatter fills the air and Ryder’s face breaks into a beaming smile. “You will?” he asks softly, stepping forward to take my hands.

As his skin touches mine, every part of my body relaxes. Everything about this feels right––as if it was always going to end up this way. From the storm stopping us and Ryder having to stay up all night to decorate, to Michelle’s dare forcing us to face our true feelings for each other.

“Well, in that case. Gentlemen. Do you take these ladies to be your lawfully wedded wives?” The staff member says, clutching his bible as we all turn to look up at him.

“We do,” Ryder and Mark say at the same time.

“And ladies, do you take these gentlemen to be your lawfully wedded husbands?”

Debbie and I glance at each other. “We do.”

“Well, then. By the power vested in me by the state of New Jersey and make me a pastor dot com, I pronounce you all husbands and wives. You may kiss your brides.”

An explosion of cheers erupt as Ryder pulls me in and I rise on tiptoe to meet his lips. Our noses nuzzle, and my heart swells so much it makes me dizzy. Who knows? Maybe this is all a beautiful, whacky, crazy dream? But as we break apart and take turns to hug Debbie and Mark, I decide that if it is, I’m never going to let myself wake up.

Epilogue

Michelle

“Should we tell them that without a marriage license, they’re not legally married?” Jonah murmurs into my ear as we watch Katia and Ryder walking arm in arm down the aisle. I stifle a laugh as we slowly follow.

“No, let them have their special day,” I whisper back.

The storm settles and radiant sunshine pours in through the windows as everyone takes their seats in the dining hall. After what seems like hours of food and drink and laughter, I catch a moment to gather my friends around for a few minutes. We're all sitting at a round table, every one of us blissfully in love, and I swallow against the bubble of pride building up inside of me.

“So, I have a confession to make,” I say.

“Here we go,” Jonah says, rolling his eyes. Everyone looks at me as if they’ve known all along. Everyone knew the dares were a setup. But there’s no way they could have known everything.

“I’m not doing my masters. I dropped out six months ago,” I confess. Holly gasps in her overly dramatic way, and Katia throws her hands over her mouth. I fix my smile and scratch the back of my neck as I let the news settle.

“I started an apprenticeship at Find My Companion, instead.”

“The matchmaking business?”

“I knew it!” Holly says triumphantly as she slams her fist on the table. “I knew you were playing matchmaker.”

“So, what? You set up these dares to get us all to couple up?” Debbie asks, raising a brow.

I sigh, relieved to be finally rid of the burden of this secret. I hadn’t even told Jonah. I glance at him and bite my lip at his look of surprise. “The manager wanted me to show her I could be a matchmaker before letting me assist with a case,” I say. “She’s super impressed that I’ve been able to match all of my friends in a... How did she put it? ‘Creative and imaginative way.’” I rub my forearm, trying and failing to hide a grin. “Because of this, I’m starting my first case next week.”

After a moment of shocked silence, Debbie marches over and kisses me on the cheek. “What a weird