Dominic said the pizza wasn’t nearly as good reheated, but I totally disagreed. It was delicious. But maybe that was partly because what we’d just done minutes ago worked up a serious appetite.

I was insatiable… and not just for food.

Comfortably full and totally relaxed, I curled into Dominic’s side on my sofa. I was in nothing but a pair of panties and Dominic’s T-shirt; he’d slid back into his jeans but left the button undone. He was stretched out with his bare feet propped on my coffee table. There was something insanely sexy about a shirtless, shoeless Dominic lounging comfortably in my home. It just felt… right.

Grabbing the remote, I hit Play on the show I’d paused when Dom first showed up at my door.

“Is this Game of Thrones?” He asked, sitting up a bit straighter.

I turned my head and looked up in surprise, grinning maniacally. “Yeah. You’re a fan of GoT?”

“Hell yeah!” he exclaimed. “That dwarf dude is the shit!”

If it were possible, I fell for him even more just then. “You do understand that I’d leave you for Jon Snow if he appeared and declared his undying love for me. It’s nothing against you, it’s just… Jon Snow.” I shrugged playfully.

His chest rattled against my ear as he laughed. “Only if you understand that I’d do the same if Khaleesi showed up on my doorstep.”

“Totally acceptable,” I answered seriously. “I wouldn’t blame you at all. She’s hot.”

His arm around me tightened and lifted me enough that he could press his lips against mine. “You’re, like, the perfect woman.”

I couldn’t help but deepen the kiss. There was no getting enough of him. My arousal grew quickly, and I’d just moved to straddle his lap when my front door flew open unexpectedly.

I let out a startled shriek and Dominic’s arms banded around me protectively.

“I swear to God, this wedding planning bullshit is going to make me lose my mi—what the hell is going on here!”

I shot up from the couch, staring at Lola with my jaw hanging open. Dominic followed, coming to stand next to me as his angry voice rumbled, “Jesus fucking Christ, Lola! What the hell are you doing just barging in like that?”

Her bugged-out eyes bounced between Dom and me like a ping-pong ball. “Sweet baby Jesus in a manger in a barn! What did I just walk in on? And why aren’t either of you dressed?” Her voice rose with each word until it grew so shrill that Lancelot barked from his doggy bed in the corner.

“How did you get in?” Dom barked.

“I have a key,” Lola returned, her tone full of attitude. “She’s my best friend, duh.”

He let out a disgruntled huff and turned searching eyes to me, like he was looking to me for direction on how to answer. “We, uh… we’re just….”

“We’re dating,” I blurted without preamble.

Lola squealed so loud I winced. “Oh my God!”

Dominic wrapped his arm around my waist, and when I glanced up he was smiling down at me with so much love and happiness shining in his honey-brown gaze that I melted further into him.

“Does this… is that… I mean… I can’t believe….” She squealed again, that time doing a little happy dance. “You guys are together! We’re finally going to be sisters!”

His head came down and he whispered in my ear, “I see what you mean about pressure.”

Well, at least there was that. I sighed and moved out from under his arm to Lola. “Calm down. This is new, okay? We’re taking it slow so just… I don’t know, try not to get all Nosey Abbatelli on us.”

She sucked in an offended gasp. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The face I made said “bitch, please” while my mouth said, “You are your mother’s daughter through and through.”

Lola stomped her foot in affront. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms over my chest. “What brings you by? Unannounced? At nine o’clock at night?”

She slid her purse off her shoulder and tossed it onto the entryway table. “I’m in wedding planning hell. And Grayson’s no help at all. The jackass actually asked me if he could just give me money and leave him alone about it. I swear, I wanted to strangle him with the spool of ribbon I was using to tie sample bouquets with.”

I shot an apologetic look at Dominic over my shoulder. “Sorry. This is chick territory. You okay with hanging down here with Lancelot while we go up to the kitchen for a bit?”

My mouth watered at the sight of all his muscles contracting as he bent to pick up my puppy, then flopped back down on the couch. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.”

Lola followed me up to the second story. I pulled a bottle of red from my wine holder and began uncorking while she grabbed two glasses from my cabinet. I poured us each a good amount of wine. “So what’s going on, babe?”

We sat on the stools at the island and got comfortable. She drank half a glass in two large gulps. “Why the hell did I think it was a good idea to make all this shit on my own? Invitations? Centerpieces? Programs? Jeez, Soph, why’d you let me do this? You know I’m not crafty. Pinterest is an asshole! They make it look so easy. The lying bastards!”

I giggled and took a sip. “Hey, don’t blame me. I was the one who voted for you to hire a wedding planner, remember?”

Her head fell back on a pained groan. “You should’ve tried harder to talk me out of it. This is all my mother’s fault. She convinced me this would be fun, and then she went and entered the honeymoon phase of a new marriage.” She took another gulp. “Selfish.”

I tried my best not to laugh and rubbed soothing circles on her back. “So what can I do?”

She looked at me hopefully. “Is it too late to run off to Vegas and elope?”

“Seeing as those fancy homemade invitations of yours went out last week and it’s only a month before the big day, I’d say yeah, honey. It’s safe to say it’s too late.”

“Well you and Daphne are my co-maids of honor.” Clasping my hand in both of hers, she begged, “Help me, pretty please? What do I do? There’s still so much to be done. I can’t finish it by myself.”

I place my free hand over hers. “Okay, sweetie. I’m here. Give me a list and we’ll get this finished. I promise.”

Her entire body seemed to sag in relief. “Thank you. You’re the bestest friend in the whole wide world. You think Daph would be down with me delegating to her too?”

“Of course! I can’t believe you’re only asking now, you jerk. You know damn good and well we’d do anything for you.”

One of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows ticked up. “Better late than never, right?” We clinked our glasses, crisis officially averted.

“So,” she started after a long silence, “you and my brother?”

I let out a husky laugh at the gleeful smile splitting her face in two. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

“Can you blame me?” She hopped on her stool. “This is epic, babe. Are you… is it good?”

My eyes went unfocused as I stared out into my kitchen, contemplating her question. “Things are… well they’re pretty great.”

“You’re happy?”

I couldn’t see it, but I had no doubt my smile was just as giddy as hers. “Yeah, I’m happy. We’re still a work in progress, but so far I’m crazy happy.”

“This thrills me beyond belief, you know that.”

I watched her carefully, confused by her sudden change in demeanor. “I sense a but coming. Why do I sense a but?”

“But…,” she dragged out, adding several more syllables to the word. “What about the radio contest?”

For the past several weeks I’d been trying my hardest to push all thoughts of the contest to the back of my mind. It created an unwanted hurdle in what was happening between Dominic and me. I’d been trying to convince myself that we could live in a stress-free bubble regardless of how many times I’d been proven wrong. I still couldn’t help but try.

“Ugh, don’t remind me of the contest. I’ve been trying not to think about it. It’s most definitely a wrench in my relationship with your brother.”

She leaned forward and lowered her voice to match mine. “Why? Are you falling for one of those guys?”

“No!” I cried. “God no, nothing like that. I’m all in with Dominic. Besides, other than BigSpoon, none of them are even worth talking to, and we’ve agreed to just be friends. Turns out he’s still pining after someone too.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

It was my turn to take a hearty gulp of wine. “The problem is the station will lose their shit if I back out of the contest, and Dominic will lose his mind if I take anyone but him to your wedding. I don’t know how to break it to him that in order to keep my job, I still have to take one of those guys as a date.”

“Oh… ohhhh. I see.”

I nodded at her knowing expression. “Yeah.”

“This is bad. Dom definitely has a bit of a temper.”

“See?” Grabbing the wine bottle from the counter, I topped us both off. “So what do I do? How do I tell him without him going nuts?”

“Well… you said BigSpoon is the only one worth talking to, right? And I’m assuming since you know about his ex that he knows about your situation with Dom?”

“Yeah. Like I said, we’ve kind of become friends. He knows about Dominic and he’s happy for us.”

“Then why don’t you just pick BigSpoon? You can explain the whole situation to him prior to the wedding. We’ll have him come in for the live reveal and just let our listeners think something’s starting between you guys. In a few weeks, most everyone will probably forget, and you and Dom can go public. For the sake of the station, just invite Spoon as a regular guest. The wedding’s closed to the public, so no one will ever know who you hang out with inside. And you’re in the wedding party, so it’s not like you’d be able to show up on someone’s arm anyway. I’m sure my crazy big brother will understand.”

My gaze flickered to the stairs leading to the first floor. “Not so sure about that,” I muttered, thinking about the speech I’d given him on honesty, trust, and communication. “But what other choice is there?” I asked around the rim of my wineglass.

“Hey.” Lola placed a comforting hand on my arm, drawing my attention back to her. “It’ll be fine. He’ll probably get an attitude, but you’ll put him in his place like you always did. You guys might fight about it, but you’ll make up.” She grinned and waggled her eyebrows. “And just think about how fun making up will be.”

Lola joined in when I busted out laughing. We spent the next half hour talking, both of us feeling a lot better after we had our heartfelt chat. I loved her with all my heart, but I was happy when she gave Dominic and me her goodbyes and headed out. Not because I didn’t want to spend time with her, but because I wanted to spend alone time with her brother more.

I just couldn’t get enough.