That bad already

When they left the church, he jumped in a cab with Dan, the only other groomsman he knew well, and Dan's girlfriend. He looked down at his phone as the cab pulled up to the restaurant, hoping that maybe he'd missed a vibration and she'd texted to say that she was close, but there was nothing, not even an errant exclamation point.

"Guys, my girlfriend is getting here any second, so I'm going to wait outside for her." He hoped that at least one part of that statement was true. "See you in there, okay?"

His tension rose as other cabs full of the wedding party pulled up and he kept having to explain why he was standing there. He looked down at his phone again and fought the urge to send her a "you almost here???" text.

"Mike?" Stella was standing in front of him. At just the sight of her, his shoulders relaxed. Without even thinking about it, he pulled her into a hug.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," he said into her ear.

"That bad already?" Her head rested on his chest for a second until she pulled away.