#scolia

Preview:

“I think Julia wants to talk to me,” she said softly, directing his gaze back up to the head table. Sure enough, her cousin was looking right at them, and beckoning covertly with her right hand. Patrick was looking their way too, which probably meant it was important. “I should probably…” She nodded toward them, but he couldn’t help but note she looked about as disappointed to have to let him go as he felt. “See what they have to say.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Clearing his throat, he stepped back, shot her a strained smile. “I’ll, uh, I’ll be nearby. Just in case.”

Her eyes briefly darted to her aunt, who’d finally looked away, was chatting with one of her daughters, but was still standing close to the bride and groom. “Thanks,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze. “See you in a minute.”

For a moment after she finally let him go, Scott just stood there, in the middle of the dance-floor, watching her walk away. Not because he was trying to stare, looking for or at something specific—though he rather liked the view—but because he was thinking. Was lost in thought. One thought in particular.

He was in trouble. Serious trouble.

Preview:

“You were right about something else too.”

He arched an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“We really are cursed. I mean, look around.” She waved her hand around, a deep frown twisting her lips. “We’re at a wedding and you’re covered in blood. You had to beat the shit out of the groom and his brother. Like I said, I’m glad you were there and everything, but I’m pretty sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen to regular people.”

Shrugging, he rocked his head from side to side, lips pursed. “Eh, I’m not so sure about that. The cursed part,” he clarified, when she tilted her head quizzically. “This definitely doesn’t happen to regular people. But I don’t think our curse can take the credit, or the blame, or whatever you want to call it in this specific situation. I mean, kinda feels like this was going down whether we were here or not.” Shaking his head, he shrugged again. “Family issues. I guess everyone’s got them.”

She let out an amused huff. “Yeah. Some more than others.”

Preview:

When he reached the hallway, she was standing there, one eyebrow raised in silent question, clearly waiting for an explanation as to why he’d summoned her away from her cousin. And he would have been happy to give her one, except he was a little too busy staring to say anything at all. Staring at her, because she’d changed into her dress at some point since they’d parted, and she looked fantastic. He didn’t know a whole lot about fashion or dresses, but the one she was wearing was red and kind of slinky, and he whole-heartedly approved of everything about it. It wasn’t the kind of thing he’d seen her wear very often, and in that moment, he truly believed that was a terrible shame, because she was really wearing it well.

“Wow,” he said, as he reached her, “that is—you—I think—you’re, uh…” Trailing off, he shook his head, running his eyes over her as he searched for the right thing to say. “You look beautiful—I mean, you always look beautiful. I—” Meeting her eyes, he cleared his suddenly dry throat. “You look great.”

He wasn’t sure what kind of reaction to expect from her, was more focused on himself, embarrassed by how he’d stumbled over his own words. About as far from smooth as he could have done it, barring tripping over his own feet and face-planting right in front of her instead. It was more than a little gratifying to see her straighten up slightly, a hint of a pleased smile touching her lips and a slight flush coming to her cheeks. Apparently, his faltering attempt had been the right thing after all.

“Thank you.” Her smile morphed into a smirk, one corner of her mouth ticking up noticeably. “You look… the same as you did two hours ago.”

Grateful for the chance to get back to the comfortably familiar ground of teasing, he snorted, shook his head. “Why mess with perfection?”

Preview:

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Scott, who’d thrown out the line originally as mostly a joke, looked at her and arched an eyebrow. “Well, we’re us. Come on.” She just looked at him expectantly, and after a moment, he chuckled and shook his head. “I’m just saying trouble kinda follows us around. How many regular people do you think have just been having a normal day until we showed up, and suddenly everything just exploded into chaos around them? Like, at least a couple every month, right? We’re cursed, I’m pretty sure.”

It wouldn’t be fair to say he was being completely serious, but there was definitely a thread of truth in what he was saying. He knew it, had accepted it a while ago. Bad things happened around him. Not always because of him, but that didn’t really matter. And he could tell, as she went still and her frown deepened, she knew he was right.

“You’re not wrong,” she said, after a moment. “But not today. Today’s not about us. It’s about Julia and her fiancé and their happiness.” Fixing him with a severe glare, she spoke very carefully and deliberately, saying, “No trouble today, Scott. None. Anything crops up, and we deal with it, quickly and permanently. She’s the only one on this side of the family I give a shit about, and I’m not letting anything ruin her big day. Understand?”

He had to bite his lip to keep from grinning at just how adamant she seemed, but he managed. “Understood. Anything happens, we handle it.”

“Damn right.”

Preview:

“Just think,” Malia said, a moment later, drawing his eyes back over to her. “Tomorrow, we’ll be the ones on a dance floor. Hope you brought your dancing shoes.”

Grinning, he wiggled his feet. “Hey, all my shoes are dancing shoes. I’m like Swayze out there.”

The snort she let out then was so full of amusement, he was almost insulted. “Yeah, right. You do remember that I’ve not only seen you dance before, but have actually danced with you, right? Swayze, you are not.”

“Ouch, that hurts. Also, come on, be reasonable. I’m pretty good. Maybe not Swayze-level,” he conceded, as the disbelief in her expression just got more and more pronounced, “but close. I’m—I’m like a poor man’s Swayze. A Swayze-lite. A…” He searched for another good comparison, drawing a blank on actors known for their dancing. Kevin Bacon in Footloose, but that felt like the wrong direction to go. “Uh, who was the worst stripper in Magic Mike? I’m probably better than that guy. Can you at least give me that?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you go ahead and do his routine for me right now, give me something to compare him to?”

Preview:

“So, listen, I’m glad you agreed to help me out and everything…”

“Well, you kinda didn’t leave me much choice,” he pointed out, flashing her another smile to make sure she knew he was joking. “The whole ‘helping me out and then immediately asking for a favour’ thing. You remember.”

“I do. That’s actually my other talent. Remembering actors and knowing when to take advantage of an opportunity.” They shared a grin at that, before she cocked an eyebrow, and jabbed a finger at him. “And you totally did owe me, for the record, because you were just drowning on your own. It was brutal. Seriously. It hurt me to watch.” He shrugged, not about to argue the point. Not exactly his finest moment. “That’s what I wanted to ask about, actually.”

“Okay…”

“Why?”

He hesitated for a beat. “Uh, gonna need you to be a little more specific than that.”