Page 68 of Make-Believe Match

“Married?” Veronica’s head tilted. “Like, legally?”

Lexi giggled. “As legal as it gets in Las Vegas.”

“You eloped?” Austin asked.

I nodded. “We sure did. On Tuesday.”

“Our officiant was an Elvis impersonator,” added Lexi.

Another moment of stunned silence.

“Well, my goodness!” Kelly jumped down from her barstool. “Congratulations, you two!” She hugged Lexi, and then me, and then gave Xander an elbow in the gut. “Isn’t this great news? They got married!”

“Sure, it is!” My dad finally recovered and came forward to embrace Lexi. “Welcome to the family, sweetheart.”

“Thank you.” Lexi laughed. “I know it’s a bit sudden, but—”

“That’s okay.” My father released her but held her by the shoulders. “Sometimes the best things in life happen out of nowhere.” He turned to me and gave me a hug, thumping me on the back a few times. “I just wish I could have been there to see my son tie the knot. The first one of my kids to take the plunge.”

“Sorry about that, Dad,” I said, swallowing back the guilt. “It—it just all happened so fast. We didn’t really slow down to think.”

“This is incredible!” Veronica slid off her stool and hugged us both, followed by Austin and Xander. Even Ari came around from behind the bar, giddy with excitement.

“I can’t believe it,” she gushed, her brown eyes huge. “Does Mabel know?”

“Not yet,” I said. “You heard it first.”

“Eeep!” she squealed. “She’s gonna be so mad she missed this!”

“Let’s have a toast!” Veronica grabbed her wineglass and held it up. “To the newlyweds!”

“To the newlyweds!” everyone chorused, raising their drinks.

“So how did this happen?” Kelly asked before I’d even swallowed the sip I’d taken.

“Well, we met a few weeks ago at The Broken Spoke and really hit it off,” I said.

“Oh yeah.” Veronica nodded enthusiastically. “I remember that night. You left early.”

“And sweaty,” added Austin under his breath, a grin on his face.

I ignored him. “Anyway, we ran into each other a few days later and kept in touch when I went back to Boston.”

“Talked every night for hours,” Lexi confirmed.

“And the more we got to know each other, the more we realized we had in common,” I said. “We grew up near each other, family is really important to us, we both love the outdoors and waking up early.”

“Just not to ski,” Lexi added with a laugh. “That’s the one thing we don’t have in common. I couldn’t believe it when I realized I fell for someone who hates skiing.”

“It’s not the skiing so much as the chairlift,” joked Xander, and Austin laughed.

“The chairlift?” Lexi sounded confused. She glanced up at me. “You don’t like chairlifts?”

All eyes were on me, and I was forced to admit the truth. “I don’t like heights,” I said. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Wait. You’re afraid of—” Lexi stopped. Recovered. “Oh right, you did tell me about the heights thing. Now I remember. We’ve just had so many conversations over the last few weeks, my mind is a blur.” Then she smiled up at me and patted my chest. “It’s okay, babe. I won’t make you ride the chairlift if you don’t make me speak in public.”

“Devlin is great at public speaking,” my dad said proudly. “He was on the debate team in high school and college. So you two will be perfect together.”