God, was there anything worse than showing up late to a wedding? Add to that, your best friend from high school’s wedding? Lily sighed, flattening the pink cocktail dress to her thighs. She hadn’t missed a single bridal shower, or even Rachel’s surprise engagement party. She had been there for all of it.

She had suffered through the looks of pity from the girls from high school at every one of Rachel and Ben’s wedding parties. She didn’t need a reminder that she was single and completely unattached. They had no idea what her life was like any more. They had no right to judge her. But they did it anyway.

Before she opened the doors to the church she dabbed at her lipgloss one last time and took a deep breath. It helped steady her. She could get through this. She had to. She would watch the end of the ceremony, have one glass of champagne at the reception, and then head back home to her lonely apartment.

The church was quiet. The woman in the foyer handed her a program, but not without casting a disapproving glance. Lily smiled tightly.

She tried to slip into the last pew as if she had been there the entire time. Maybe no one else would notice she had missed the procession of bridesmaids and flower girls. The aisle was littered with red and white rose petals.

Rachel and Ben stood at the front of the church, holding hands and gazing at each other. At least she hadn’t missed the vows. The older woman next to Lily sighed and lifted a tissue to the corner of her eye. She sniffed and dove into her purse.

“Tissue?” she offered Lily in a whisper.

“No thank you.”

Lily had never been sentimental. There wasn’t time for hope and romance. Her life had been about survival. The woman sniffling next to her needed to get it together. As she scanned the wedding party, she was more thankful than ever she had been skipped as a bridesmaid.

Rachel had chosen a horrible bright yellow satin for the girls. Rachel liked everything vibrant. It matched her personality. The flower girls looked adorable. One of them was still dumping petals in a pile by her feet.

But then Lily’s eyes locked on the groomsmen. Holy shit.

There were three men in Ben’s party, along with his father and a ring bearer. She remembered Adam Sykes from high school, but who were the other two? They looked vaguely familiar, but as if she had seen them in a movie, not toasting her friends at a shower.

Where had they been leading up to the wedding? She didn’t recall Ben’s friends at any of the events who looked like that. She would have remembered drop-dead gorgeous men who made her silk panties wet. She bit her lip, hoping the woman next to her hadn’t noticed how her skin was now flushed. Lily needed a fan, not a tissue.

The minister pronounced Ben and Rachel married, and the entire congregation stood, clapped, and smiled while the organ music blared from the balcony. Lily rose, grinning at her friend when passed by the last pew. Rachel looked genuinely happy.

“I love weddings,” the woman said. “Beautiful bride. Such a beautiful bride.”

Lily nodded. “Yes, she is.” But her eyes hadn’t left the groomsmen as they each took a bridesmaid by the arm and walked in the procession.

Was it wrong that she thought they were both insanely hot? She was certain one of them caught her gawking when he strolled closer. Lily quickly looked away. She wanted to stare a little longer. Drink them in. Their faces looked so familiar, she just couldn’t place them.

As the guests began to leave, one of the church ushers stood in front of Lily, guiding her and the weepy woman behind her out of the church and on to the reception. Luckily, the party was only a few blocks away from the church. Lily decided to walk instead of fight the downtown traffic.

By the time she reached the ballroom, her feet ached and she wished she had taken an Uber. She wandered from table to table, looking for her name.

She gritted her teeth when she saw that Rachel had put her in a corner table at the back of the hall. She could barely see the dance floor. She realized they had drifted apart over the years, but this was humiliating. They used to be best friends. Now she was regulated to the farthest table from the newlyweds.

Part of her understood why. She wasn’t like the rest of Rachel’s new friends. There was always going to be a cloud hanging over her no matter where she was. She couldn’t escape that she was a Francini. Her name haunted her.

Before she could feel sorry for herself the band’s drummer tapped a few beats to get everyone’s attention. It was time to introduce the wedding party.

Lily’s eyes were glued to the door. This was her chance to find out who the hot groomsmen were. It was probably out of the question, but she wondered if she would be brave enough to ask one of them to dance. Maybe aske them both?

The idea was enough to make her blush. Dance with two men? Who was she kidding? She wasn’t that kind of girl. She wasn’t a flirt. She wasn’t sexually wild. She wasn’t even bold enough for a first date kiss. Looking at those two, she wanted to be the opposite of everything she truly was.

They were both strong and athletic looking. One had dark hair and dark eyes. His square cut jaw was like something out of a sculpture museum. And then there was the taller one. He had dark blond hair and green eyes that seemed to shimmer.

It didn’t hurt that they were wearing tuxedos. That seemed to take everything over the edge. What was sexier than a man dressed to the nines? For a brief second Lily closed her eyes before the bridal party was announced.

In that quick flash, she imagined the dark one leading her off the dance floor after she had finally mustered the courage to ask him to dance. She would follow him. Her hand in his strong warm grip. She knew exactly where he would take her. There was a private lounge behind the band. It was tucked away where no one would hear her, when she was screaming with cries of ecstasy. Her belly tightened with the idea, knowing he was leading her to a den where he wildest dreams could come true.

He would open the door and lock it behind them. As soon as she turned around, the taller one would be there. His tux tie was draped around his neck. He pressed her backward until she was sandwiched between them both. Their mouths covered her throat and neck while their hands snaked under her dress, drawing moans as she soaked her panties. It was unreal. It was incredible. It was the dirtiest waking fantasy she’d ever imagined.

“She’s wet enough for the both of us,” they growled.

She nodded in agreement. “God, yes.”

Their fingers pressed and pried until she would beg for them to fuck her. She wanted them to take her and fuck her senseless. One groomsman behind her. One under her. Oh shit. She was losing her mind.

And then the vision ended abruptly.

“Shit,” she whispered when her phone began to ring. One of the wedding guests cut her a nasty side eye.

Lily smiled apologetically, grabbed her clutch, and raced out the back door into the side hallway. She needed a deep breath or two after that explicit daydream.

“Uncle Gino?” She tried to cover the mouthpiece.

“I’ve been calling all day. Where are you?” he barked.

“It’s Saturday. I have plans.” She tried to keep her voice calm. She wanted to tell him it wasn’t his business, but she knew that would only cause more problems.

“I don’t give a shit about your plans. I need you to be in my office in thirty minutes.”

“That’s not possible,” she answered. There was no way she could walk out of Rachel’s reception this early. She hadn’t even had a chance to congratulate her, yet.

“Then make it possible. I expect to see you in twenty-nine minutes now, or there will be another debt you owe me. I’m keeping track. You owe me more than you realize.”

She bit the inside of her cheek to stop the tears. “All right. All right. But I’m downtown. It’s going to take me a while to get to my car. But I’ll be there.”

He hung up and she stuffed her phone into her sequin clutch.

Lily opened the door to the ballroom just enough to see Rachel and Ben taking the dance floor for the first dance. She had missed the entire introduction of the wedding party. There was no way she could interrupt her old friend now.

Just before she let the door close, she saw the two groomsmen standing on the side of the band. They looked up. It was possible she was hallucinating, but she swore before the last sliver of her view disappeared they each winked at her.

Lily turned quickly and hurried out of the hotel. She didn’t have time to think about sexy groomsmen, or being pinned between their gorgeous bodies. She had to get to her uncle’s house. Or face the consequences.