Becca took the seat beside Sally as they all shuffled around the long tables set up in the beer garden. Pete raised his hands in offended abandonment until she laughed at him and he sat next to Chris instead.

"Have I thanked you yet?" Becca asked once they were settled, waiting for their men to finish reading the menus when everyone involved knew they were just going to choose the steak.

Sally watched Leo snatch a menu from Dutchy and then have it taken back by Kate with a harsh scowl. She glanced over at Becca who was ignoring them with a half smile.

"I would pretend not to know what you're talking about but we both know that's a lie." She smiled. "It's working out between the two of you then?"

Becca's smile was quiet but pleased and Sally felt a warm rush of pleasure.

"He'll do."

Sally laughed and drew a suspicious look from Chris from across the table.

"So," Becca said after a moment, leaning in conspiratorially. "What do you think about the Nav?"

Sally glanced over to Nikki who was sitting with Kate, their heads together as they looked at something on her phone. She watched the two women laugh as Nikki pointed to something and considered how much happier it sounded than even a few months ago.

"Maybe," She shrugged, still uncertain. "It's hard to tell if she'd appreciate it."

"She's on Tinder," Becca said plainly with a jerk of her head.

"What?" Sally stared at her. "How do you know?"

Becca laughed at her. "I'd forgotten you'd been married since the dark ages and never had the displeasure of Tinder." She nodded towards Nikki and Kate. "They're swiping left and right." She smirked. "And there's a lot more left, so I'd say it's not going well."

Sally glanced over at the two women with a new focus, noticing the disgusted amusement on Kate's face as Nikki turned the phone towards her and then pointedly swiped left.

"Soooo," Becca asked once Sally had looked back at her. "Got any ideas?"

"Remind me why we're hosting a dinner party?" Chris asked plaintively while bringing the last of the extra dining chairs in from the garage.

"Apart from because I wanted to?" Sally shot back from the kitchen, stirring the risotto before replacing the lid.

Chris huffed a laugh, dropping the two chairs in the dining room and sidling up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist and press a kiss to her neck. Sally leant back into him, tilting her head.

"What I was really asking," He muttered into her skin. "Was who you're setting up this time."

Sally smiled smugly to herself as his lips trailed across her shoulder. "Maybe I was just wanting to be social?"

Chris' laugh tickled its way across her nerves. "Keep your secrets then."

"Nikki, you already know Kate, Dylan and Leo and I think you met Alice at the last pub night." She led her into the dining room, nodding towards the rest of the Navy contingent. "Let me introduce you to an old friend of mine, Jessica and Chris' best man, Jonathan."

Sally watched them greet each other and smiled internally at the way John's eyes lingered on Nikki.

Nikki took her seat between Kate and John and Sally offered a first round of drinks before taking her own seat next to Chris.

"So," Chris said, leaning close to her ear. "Johnno is your target."

Sally smiled smugly at him and grabbed a samosa from the centre of the table, watching the way Nikki and John had already turned toward each other.

"You really think a Navy lieutenant who nearly married a man like ET is going to be interested in a lawyer?"

"Maybe she'd prefer a bit less excitement in her life?" Sally shrugged and turned her attention back to the rest of the party.

By the time she brought out dessert, Nikki was focused entirely on John, Kate not even bothering to engage with her, instead involved in a lively argument with Dylan.

"Were you less obvious with Leo and I or was I just easily distracted?" Alice leaned in from the other side of her, following Sally's smug gaze.

"To be fair," She told her. "I knew that the moment I dropped him under your nose that you'd have trouble seeing anything else."

Alice considered her words and the man sitting across from her, better dressed than Sally had ever seen him but with just as much manic energy.

"Well, I can't argue with your results."

Chris draped his arm around Sally's middle as she stacked the last of the washing up on the bench. She looked out into the living room where Nikki and John were finishing their coffees as Alice corralled a somewhat tipsy Leo.

"How did you know to set her up with Johnno?" He asked, it being abundantly clear that her setup had worked.

Sally shrugged and leaned back into him.

"He hasn't settled down and I could tell how ready he was even at the wedding. I wondered if it was just that he'd been trying the wrong kind of woman."

"And the Nav?" He asked.

"If I ever lost you," He made an unhappy noise into her hair and she patted him on the arm. "I don't think I could handle loving someone who was at risk like that again. I thought Nikki might feel the same." His arm squeezed tighter around her and they stood quietly like that while they watched Leo dip Alice messily before taking her hand and leading her off down the hallway. Nikki and John didn't appear to notice, still talking quietly over their mugs.

Chris huffed a laugh into her hair and she could hear his smile.

"I'm going to run out of single crewmates and then what will you do for fun?"