Under the Same Stars(49)

“You sound like your father!” he shouted back.

I only exhaled when I’d grabbed my MacBook and rejoined Marco. In all honesty, I probably should’ve taken the call in my room, but my stomach rumbled for food. Plus, I hadn’t seen Marco in a while. We’d texted a lot while I was away, but it wasn’t the same. I hadn’t been able to see the expressions on his face. I’m not a FaceTime guy, he’d said.

Why not? I’d asked. You were blessed with such a gorgeous face.

Stop making me blush, he responded.

And I admit, I really wanted to see if he was actually blushing. Marco had called me flirty, and maybe if I strengthened my supposed skills now, I’d have more confidence putting myself out there if/when Ready-Set-Date resumed.

Now that Connor was taken, I was thinking about it.

“You don’t need to put in headphones,” he said now, as I started untangling an ancient pair (my AirPods were currently MIA). “I’m not a big eavesdropper.”

“Hmm.” I gave him a skeptical look. “I don’t totally believe you…”

I navigated to my Gmail and tapped on a Zoom link from Amanda Gallant, the subject line reading: Katie’s Bachelorette!

Hopefully no one minds watching me annihilate my breakfast, I thought as I hung out in the virtual waiting room. Sorry not sorry.

Personally, I thought a Zoom was unnecessary. This all could’ve been coordinated over email. Text was apparently too tedious, because for the last few months, there had been two group chats. One that included Katie, and another that was solely the bridesmaids. Amanda had told us that all details of Katie’s bachelorette weekend were to stay in the latter thread, so the bride had no idea where we were off to party for three days.

But then Paige had accidentally sent a Charleston Airbnb link to the chat with Katie.

After that epic fail, Reese had proposed the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. We can rent a house on the lake, follow a wine trail, maybe even rent a pontoon boat…

“Welcome, everyone,” Amanda said now, as if commencing a corporate America meeting. “I hope you are all doing well!”

“I promise I’m listening,” Paige replied. The screen switched to her; she was looking down at her tablet. “But I have to finalize this romance cover. It’s due tomorrow.”

I had to swallow a giggle when I caught Amanda roll her eyes. But she didn’t outright comment. “We’re about a month out from the Finger Lakes, so I wanted to touch base on logistics.”

Logistics, I thought. This definitely could’ve been an email.

“You’ll be getting an email,” Amanda said, “with all this information, but I thought it would be best to discuss it together…”

“Keep talking, Amanda,” a male voice said when she trailed off. “I’m on the edge of my seat.”

“Stephen!” Meredith exclaimed as the bridesmaids broke into laughter. “You said you were going food shopping.”

“You haven’t texted me the list,” her husband replied smoothly.

“You could’ve texted me to text you the list,” Meredith countered.

“Well, I wanted to say hello.” Wit appeared onscreen, impossibly turquoise eyes sparkling and sandy hair wind whipped. “Hi, ladies.”

Across the table, Marco waved his arm to get my attention. Should I say hello, too? he mouthed as everyone warmly chorused, “Hi, Wit!”

I gave Marco the middle finger.

So much for not eavesdropping!

“Okay, I’ve secured the house,” Reese said once Meredith had kicked Wit out of the room. “It’s right on Seneca Lake, and absolutely gorgeous.”

“How much is it going to be per person?” Yasmin asked.

“Six-fifty,” Reese answered.

It took everything in me not to balk. Six-fifty? Six hundred and fifty dollars? Who could freaking afford that?

Well, I guess my fellow bridesmaids could. Except for Paige—who was frowning at her tablet—the others nodded like it was no big deal.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marco quickly scribble something in his spiral notebook. You okay? it read.

I wanted to shake my head, but the best I could do was gulp. These women were adults with jobs; I was seventeen going on eighteen and had never had a job. Austin had been our town’s go-to babysitter, but while I liked kids, I didn’t love spending hours with them. And I was always too busy with field hockey to fold clothes at Lululemon or waitress. I made money over the summer by following Da’s laughably long list of household chores or completing miscellaneous tasks for the Cheval Collective.

I needed that money for the school year, but thanks to the bridesmaid dress, shoes, and my cut of the Airbnb, I could forget it. Not to mention whatever else I spent on the bachelorette trip. Amanda was now talking about each person bringing food and making a meal?

“Breathe,” Marco said when the Zoom finally ended. I slammed my laptop shut so hard that I worried I’d broken it for a second. “You haven’t let out a breath in ten minutes.” He paused to recalculate. “Actually, closer to fifteen.”

“Why do I have to pay for all this?!” I exhale-exclaimed. “Katie asked me to be a bridesmaid! I didn’t ask her if I could be one. I didn’t realize that accepting meant offering up all the money I have to my name!”