In a Rush

Chapter 29

chapter twenty-nine

Ryan

Today’s Learning Objective:

Students will go to war—and win.

“Can you explain this to me one more time?” I glanced at Emme as she redid her hair again, her phone propped on her knees and the camera in selfie mode. Since I knew it was a matter of time until we hit a pothole and this all went to hell, I reached across the back seat and held the phone steady. Bowen was off tonight, and as much as I liked Soto, he drove like he was trying to qualify for an F1 race. “I understand the basic concept of a bridal shower but I don’t see how it turns into a bar crawl.”

“They’re not into the traditional stuff but we still wanted to give her something like a shower,” she said, a few bobby pins held between her lips. “We came up with some different ideas to involve both of them. Trivia night. Wine tasting. Some really cute stuff that seemed like a lot of fun. But I missed the conversation for a weekend and then it was a shower followed by a bar crawl. I asked Grace if that was what she actually wanted because that sounded like something boys would come up with. But she said it was great and here we are.”

I nodded as she plucked all the pins from her hair and started over. “Got it.”

“All I know is that I appreciate the hell out of Audrey for doing the actual work of planning this night,” she said. “Her compulsive need to organize things came in clutch with this one. She sent out a twelve-page PDF with interior and exterior photos of every venue, an itinerary with scheduled bathroom breaks and the contact info of every bar manager, and dress code suggestions to balance the locations with the wedding’s colors.”

I hadn’t been able to place it until now but I realized her simple blue and white dress was nothing like her usual bright, saturated styles. Not that I’d say it out loud but the soft floral print reminded me of my grandmother’s nightgowns.

Still, Emme looked amazing. I loved her summer dresses with flouncy little shoulder straps and long, ruffled skirts that made me want to put her on my lap and see what we could get away with.

“Last chance to back out now,” she said around the bobby pins. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did. You’re going to get mobbed by fans.”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

She cut a sharp look in my direction. “You realize we’re going to a bunch of bars in Boston, right? That’s where they recite the Ryan Ralston lore.”

“I think I’ll be okay.” I nodded to the driver’s seat. “And we’ll bring Soto in with us. He’s not bad at crowd control.”

“Thanks, boss,” he replied.

“I give up. I’m done.” She huffed out an impatient breath and waved away the phone. “If you’re sure you want to do this, can you just promise to save me from another conversation with Clara?”

“I can commit to that only if you’re never more than”—I stretched my arm out across the back seat and brought my hand to her shoulder—“this far away from me.”

Emme dropped a hand to my thigh. “Works for me.”

The party started on the second floor deck at a taproom on State Street. As far as June evenings went, it didn’t get much better than this and everyone knew it. The drinks were flowing and, at first glance, everyone seemed in good spirits.

“Okay,” Emme said, almost to herself. “Audrey was right about reserving the deck even if we’ll have to sell our eggs to pay for it. This is nice. This works.”

“ You’re paying for this?”

She gave me do you know anything? eyes. “The bridesmaids throw the shower.”

“The whole night?” There was no way in hell I was letting that happen. I wasn’t letting any of it happen but first I had to figure out how to settle up here without leaving Emme’s side. I could probably fire off a message to Marcie. “You’re picking up the tab for this and all the bar stops?”

She shook her head as she studied the crowd. “No, Jamie laid down the law with the groomsmen and told them they had to figure out the stops by themselves. She can be terrifying when she wants to. She could command an army.”

“I believe that.” I looked around for the happy couple but didn’t see them. “What do you want to drink? They have one of those weird fruity stouts you like.”

“I think I should start with something lighter than a stout,” she said. “It’s going to be a long night and I don’t want to start the crying in the bathroom phase until later.”

Audrey spotted us then and made a beeline across the deck, a small notebook tucked under her arm and her phone clutched in her hand. She could also command an army.

“You remember the guy?” she asked Emme, ignoring me entirely. I didn’t mind. Sometimes it was nice to watch from the bench. “With the truck? The one who agreed to load up all of the gifts and drop them off at Grace’s house? He got called into work.”

“We have no guy? No truck?” Emme yelped.

“No guy.” Audrey shook her head, sending her white-blonde hair swishing over her shoulders.

Her dress was just like Em’s. The blue was a little darker, the skirt hit at her knees, but the same grandma-nightgown energy. Grace did not strike me as someone who’d choose a wedding with grandma-nightgown energy but what the fuck did I know?

“Can we schedule a car service and request a big family van? Would that work?” Emme asked.

“But then someone needs to go with the family van to Grace’s house and unload everything tonight. And then get a ride back here.” Audrey crossed her arms over her chest. “I could go but?—”

“You’ve done everything for this party,” Emme said. “You’re not cramming yourself into an Uber with a bunch of kitchen appliances and bath towels too.”

“What’s the problem?” I asked, glancing between them.

Emme pointed to the gifts piled on a picnic table. “We can’t leave the gifts here. We have to pack up everything and drive it to Grace’s house outside the city, but the person who had both the truck and the disinterest in drinking all night has to fight fires instead. Now we’re fighting over who gets the short end of the stick.”

“Does it have to be delivered tonight? Or would tomorrow work?” I asked. “I can make a call and arrange to have everything stored tonight and then delivered when they’re home tomorrow.”

“Really?” Audrey asked just as Emme said, “You don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t want to watch you two stress over how to solve this and I’m sure as hell not letting either of you do it all by yourself.”

Audrey pressed her palms together and exchanged a glance with Emme that I couldn’t decipher. Something that had my wife smiling and shaking her head like she disagreed but not enough to put any weight into it.

“Please don’t call Jakobi,” Emme said. “Ines told me they were going on a midnight harbor cruise to see some special constellation and she was extremely excited.”

“Not Jakobi,” I said with a laugh. He’d skin me alive if I cut into his plans for the evening. “Marcie always has someone on hand to do odd jobs. It’s not a problem.”

“It would relieve a massive headache,” Audrey said. “And neither of us would have to miss the rest of the party.”

I pulled out my phone. “Consider it done.”

“Where the hell is Jamie?” Emme asked. “Of all people, she’s the one most likely to have a guy with a truck waiting around to help her out.”

“You also have a guy with quick access to a truck waiting around to help you out,” I murmured as I swiped through some messages on my phone. “Your husband.”

“Your—” Audrey’s mouth fell open as her eyes damn near popped out of her head. She brought her hands to her cheeks as she swung her gaze between us. “What?”

Emme closed her hands around Audrey’s wrists, saying, “Listen to me, sweet girl. I am begging you to take that little morsel of information and tuck it away. This is Grace’s party and I’m not stealing any of her thunder simply because this bull in a china shop boy of mine can’t stay quiet.”

“How long?” Audrey breathed.

“A few weeks,” she said. “And we’re going to tell everyone really soon but I want Grace to have her moment first.”

“My lips are sealed. Oh my god, I’m so happy for you.” Audrey bounced on her toes as tears filled her eyes. “I’m so happy, Em. You deserve all these good things.”

“And so do you,” Emme said, still holding Audrey’s wrists.

“I have everything I need,” she replied. I knew from the way Emme cocked her head that there was more to that story.

I stepped away to talk to Marcie about getting someone in here to handle the logistics and picking up the check for the girls. She was kind enough to cackle in my ear when I asked if she had enough lead time to coordinate all of this.

When I returned, Jamie had joined the group. Her dress was almost identical to Audrey’s but she had a wide navy ribbon tied around her waist. “I’ve looked everywhere,” she said. “Checked all the bathrooms and made a pass through the kitchen too.”

“They wouldn’t leave,” Audrey said.

“Shay would find them in four minutes flat,” Jamie said. “I find it outrageous that her school had to schedule a family dance for tonight.”

“Isn’t the more outrageous part that we didn’t check her schedule before booking this place?” Audrey asked.

“Everything about this is outrageous.” Jamie made a show of glancing around. “I was promised a minimum of two firefighters carrying me on their massive shoulders the whole night and I see none of that happening.”

“Okay, well, we’ve still lost the bride and groom so how about we fix that problem first and then get you some beefy men?” Audrey asked.

“Maybe they stepped out for a second,” Emme said. “Ben and Grace wouldn’t ditch this party. Or us! Wherever they are, I’m sure they’ll be back soon and we can start on the gifts.”

“We’re already seventeen minutes behind schedule,” Audrey said. “They’ll need to unwrap quickly.”

“Such a weird tradition,” Jamie mused as she chewed on the wooden end of a cocktail umbrella. “Sitting there and opening presents while people watch.”

“Yeah, now that you mention it,” Emme said. “I’d be so awkward about everything I opened. Like I’d tell a story about what I’d use the pots and pans for, or whatever.”

“I told everyone I didn’t want bridal showers and they threw them anyway.” Audrey grimaced like she was reliving it. I knew that look. It was how I reacted when I saw someone take a bad hit on the field. “But my grandmothers and my great-aunts gave me all these ugly gold necklaces and bracelets. Thick, hideous things I’d never wear. I thought I was doing a good job of being gracious but one of my aunts piped up and said I didn’t have to worry about wearing it but I did have to worry about hiding it somewhere my husband would never find. So that I’d have the money to leave him if I needed to.” She shrugged. “I didn’t need the gold to leave him, but goddammit, I’ve never gone to a shower since without a bunch of ugly bracelets and telling the bride those exact words.”

Emme and Jamie folded Audrey into a hug and I stood there, hating that this thought process had to exist. “Muggsy, you don’t have to hide jewelry from me. If you want to leave me, just take all the money. You can have it.”

Jamie chuckled. “We’ll make sure she does.”

Emme grinned at her friend before glancing back to me. “This isn’t about you, Wildcat.”

“You’re one of the good ones,” Audrey said. “But yeah, if she ever decides it’s time to go, you better believe we’ll get her out.”

A startled laugh rumbled up from my chest. I grinned at Emme. “An impressive line you have here.” I nodded at Audrey and then Jamie. “A strong safety, quick cornerback. And with Grace as your nose tackle? They could fuck up any offense.”

“Don’t you forget it,” Jamie said. To Audrey, she asked, “What do those words mean?”

“I don’t know, honey,” she said.

Emme started to explain but then pointed to the taproom doors. “Look! There they are!”

I saw Grace and Ben emerge, both glancing off in different directions. He shoved his hands in his pockets and she crossed her arms over her chest. They pulled on stiff smiles when friends greeted them. I didn’t know how couples were supposed to look at their pub crawl showers but I didn’t think that was it.

“Finally,” Audrey said with a sigh. “I’ll get them seated to start on the gifts.” She hooked her elbow with Jamie’s. “You have to keep them moving. Be tough! No time for chatter.”

“Believe me, I can be tough,” Jamie replied.

Alone again, I rounded on Emme. “That was really fucking intense.”

She lifted her shoulders. “Sorry? But also it’s real life for some women so maybe just cope with it quietly?”

“Do I need to tell Chloe that she can always come to me if she needs to leave her husband?”

Emme glanced at me before turning her attention back to Grace and Ben, who were not at all interested in keeping to Audrey’s schedule. “I’m sure your sister knows that.”

I stared off into the distance for a moment, watching cars creep by as the sun sank lower into the horizon. I wanted to say something more about leaving marriages and money—even if I really didn’t want to talk about the end of a marriage with the woman I was trying to convince to stay married to me—but then I felt her grow tense.

“ Ryan. Do not fucking leave me.”

Emme balled her hand in the back of my shirt and I found her iron-jawed gaze staring up at me, silently pleading for help. I glanced around and found Teddy and Clara headed straight for us. After a second of flat-out annoyance that this fucking guy thought he deserved a second of my wife’s attention, I looped an arm around her waist and smacked a kiss to her temple. I knew what he was doing and I knew I could do it better. “Let me take this one.”

Teddy strolled up with Clara’s hand clutched in his, all swagger and inch-thick confidence as if he hadn’t spent that whole housewarming party avoiding me. He stuck out his hand like we were old pals with, “Good to see you, man. How’s it goin’?”

“Not too bad,” I said easily. I took his hand but refused to end the shake first.

“That’s a really cute dress,” Clara said to Emme. “You always look so beautiful and put together.”

“Thanks. My stylist gets all the credit.” After a moment of both Teddy and Clara blinking at Emme in surprise at that remark, she added, “You look great too.”

Teddy skimmed a glance down my wife’s body that I didn’t appreciate at all. Then, “Seems like you’re doing all right, Em.”

I hooked my arm around her shoulders and turned her toward me. She reached up and gripped my forearm, tightening my hold and putting her engagement ring on display all at once. “Couldn’t be better,” she drawled.

A group of fans chose that moment to approach us, and when they asked for photos with me and Emme, I said, “Yeah, no problem. I’m sure my friend Teddy here would be thrilled to help.”

Clara snatched their phone from his hand with a teasing comment about him taking the worst photos. Over the next ten minutes, half the taproom got in line for a pic and she happily accepted every device they handed her while Teddy’s expression grew darker. He repeatedly crossed his arms, braced his legs, worked his jaw. And he never once took his eyes off Emme.

I wasn’t sure who the fuck he thought he was, glaring at her like that but I knew it was time to put some permanent distance between us. The audacity that led him to approach us in the first place needed to be drained like the abscess it was.

I played with a lot of guys who made a habit of cheating and I’d always chalked it up to the ego trip of the game. It seemed like a lot of trouble for a short-lived benefit but I knew other guys didn’t see it that way. They liked having it all but they also felt like they deserved it. That they were entitled to the wife holding it down at home and the women hanging around the hotel bar after an away game.

It hadn’t hit me until now but Teddy was no different than any of them. He expected everything and it killed him that Emme was better off now. I could see the screws twisting in him and the hostility rolling off him in waves.

Yeah, we’d put a stop to this tonight.

When the photo line wound down, Clara pointed over her shoulder. “It looks like they’re going to open gifts soon. We should find a place to sit.”

After a weighty pause where he completely ignored his fiancée, Teddy asked, “How’s the backfield looking this year? Any word on Hersberler?”

Emme glanced up at me, lips pulled together into a delicious pout while I debated how much of a shitstorm I’d stir up if I started a fistfight. “We had a good time with those boys on Nantucket, didn’t we?”

“We did,” I said, grinning down at her adorable face.

“Let’s have them over some time this week,” she said, her eyes sparkling. I played along because that was the game and I needed to stop fantasizing about throwing this guy off the deck, but I kind of loved the idea of having my guys over and letting Emme verbally slap them around while feeding them her home cooking. It filled something inside me that I didn’t know was missing. “Everyone’s in town, right? Pick a day that works and I’ll cook. Bet they’d love my fried chicken. Like a last supper before they have to get on their training camp diets.”

“You don’t need to do that,” I said, and I wanted her to know I meant that. Even if this entire conversation was a work of fiction to fuck with Teddy, I meant it. She didn’t exist to serve me. That wasn’t our relationship. I wasn’t this shitbag ex of hers, I wasn’t the husband Audrey ran from, and I wasn’t her father. “You have enough going on with the end of the school year. I’m not adding dinner for half a football team to your list.”

“But I want to,” she said, and I wanted more than anything to lean down and snag her bottom lip between my teeth.

“All right, I’ll make it happen.” I settled for a quick kiss. From the corner of my eye, I saw Teddy cross his arms again. “But I’m helping.”

“Just as long as you remember I’m the quarterback in the kitchen,” she said.

I let myself drown in her dark, endless eyes. “As if I’d forget.”

Teddy cleared his throat. “Well, we’re gonna get a drink,” he said through a forced smile.

“Great.” I tipped my chin toward the bar. I knew he heard the indifference in my tone when he blinked away. “Have fun with that.”

But this dog didn’t know how to die because he added, “Nothing for Clara though. We’re not telling everyone yet but we figured it would be obvious by the end of the night since she’s not drinking.” He rested his hand on her belly and she beamed up at him like the dawning sun. “We’re due at the end of November.”

What a little bitch.

Under my palm, I felt Emme’s back tense but her expression stayed neutral. It reminded me of the way she gave her students instructions while carefully ignoring the kid sitting under his desk where he pretended to be an animal in a zoo enclosure. She knew what was happening but if she stopped to acknowledge it, the situation would get much worse.

Which was why I couldn’t punch him in the mouth right now.

Yet I couldn’t help the aggravated scoff before saying, “Congratulations,” and leading my wife away.

When we reached the deck railing, she said, “I’ll take that stout now.”

The night progressed much as I’d expected it to after Teddy and Clara’s announcement. Emme insisted everything was fine despite the ever-present shine of tears in her eyes and no, she didn’t need to tell Grace or the others about this news because everyone was having so much fun and she didn’t want to start any drama. She did this while gluing herself to my side, barely saying more than “This worked out better than I expected” and “It’s just the perfect weather to walk the city” to anyone, and working through two beers.

That was about one hundred percent more beer than I’d ever seen Emme drink in one night.

After the taproom, we hit the old standbys—The Green Dragon and Bell in Hand before crossing into Grace and Emme’s old neighborhood, the North End. In retrospect, stopping at Modern Underground for espresso martinis wasn’t the best decision but it wasn’t the worst of the night.

Emme chugged her martini at the bar while another teacher from the school carried a conversation about the need for more structured play in the school day. I stationed myself behind her, a hand on her lower back and my coldest, most cutting glare burning into Teddy’s back while the bartender told me about going to the first home games of the football season at the old Foxboro stadium with his father when he was a kid.

I was a sucker for those kinds of stories—pretty much anything with dads and football traditions with their kids hit me real hard—but watching the sobriety leave my wife and devising a plan to push her ex into oncoming traffic meant I didn’t have much attention to spare. But I got his name and sent Marcie a note to get him tickets to the home opener.

The next stop was at Twenty-First Amendment on Beacon Hill. It was also the longest trek between bars and by the time we started up the slope of Somerset Street, Emme and the girls congealed into a grandma-nightgown clump of giggles and screams and swearing. They stumbled and staggered, moving at a pace that made me want to toss two over my shoulders and have Soto grab the other pair, and jog the last half mile. Just to be done with it.

The groom ordered shots of whiskey. I plucked the glass out of Emme’s fingers and knocked it back even though I hated hard liquor. I ordered her a soda and sat her at the bar while the boys—and Jamie—went in for another round of shots.

Audrey claimed the spot beside Emme and they leaned into each other with deep, commiserating sighs that confused the hell out of me. I wasn’t even going to begin to guess at Audrey’s problems but I still didn’t get why Teddy wielded so much power over Emme. I knew everything he did was a punch in the gut to her but wasn’t this better? Weren’t we better than whatever the hell she’d had with him?

I wanted to watch him run straight into a brick wall but I didn’t see any reason to let him run the board. We were married to get revenge on this guy so why weren’t we? Why was my wife sitting at the bar with her head on Audrey’s shoulder and tears in her eyes just because that douche got his girlfriend pregnant? Fuck him. He wasn’t in control here.

The last stop was Beantown Pub and it was just around the corner. It was also across the street from the Granary Burial Ground where Samuel Adams of Revolutionary War fame was buried. The idea was to drink a cold Sam Adams while looking out at…a cold Sam Adams.

The group—or, what was left of it after losing a few along the way—scattered to the pool tables and high-tops right away but I led Emme to a quiet corner.

“We don’t have to stay much longer,” she said. “I know you hate this.”

“I don’t hate it,” I said, my hands on her waist as she dropped her head back against the wall. “But I do hate seeing you torn up because of the shit your ex pulled tonight.”

“He’s not pulling shit, he’s having a baby,” she drawled. “He’s allowed to tell people. It’s fine. I’m the problem.”

“You’re nowhere near the problem. What he did was the biggest dick move I’ve seen in a long time but that’s just it—he’s a dick. You know that. I know that. With the exception of his fiancée, I think everyone here knows that. So, I need you to explain why you let it matter so much.”

“I don’t know, Ryan. Like I said before, it’s chewing tree bark. Everything he did cut me so hard, and now—this? This one cuts even deeper than finding out he’s engaged.”

“You want a baby? Is that it?” I tipped her chin up and leveled a gaze on her. Gave her ass a rough squeeze. “Because I can give you a baby. We can get to work on that right now.”

She choked out a watery laugh. “No.” Then, with a sideways glance, “But maybe we can talk more about that later.”

“We can definitely talk about that later. Put it on the schedule. Write it down in your planner.” I brought my hand to the back of her neck, stroked her soft skin. “If it’s not the baby, why are you letting this guy tank your whole night? I need you to explain it to me. I don’t get it.”

“Because I wanted him to suffer,” she said quietly, almost a mumble. “I wanted him to see me and realize he made a huge mistake, that the way he treated me was really wrong and fucked up. I didn’t want him to end up marrying the person he cheated with as if they were meant to be together all along. It’s awful and I hate that I’m saying it but I wanted him to be lonely and miserable. I wanted him to regret all the terrible things he did and everything he said?—”

“Wait. What are you talking about?” My mind was a frozen lake, dead silent and unforgiving. “He cheated on you. That was what happened. Right?”

“I broke up with him because I found out he was cheating on me,” she said, her eyes filling with tears all over again. “Which was my mistake because I never asked if we were exclusive.” She sniffled, glanced down. “But I should’ve ended things because he only wanted to see me when I cooked for him and did his laundry, and he’d always forget to tell me when something had shellfish in it.”

I felt my heart rate slow down the way it did when I walked onto the field. The cold, silent focus that filled my head when it was time to destroy my opponents. “Excuse me but what the fuck ?”

“I know, it’s so stupid,” she continued, seemingly unaware that I was going to put that boy in the ground before the night was over. “He’d toss a whole bunch of crab into scrambled eggs or broccoli cheddar soup or something else that didn’t make any sense. When I’d ask about it because my throat started closing, he’d say I shouldn’t be eating those things anyway because I was putting on too much weight.”

My knuckles cracked as my hands curled into fists. “How many times? With the shellfish?”

She sniffled. “Three.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” She shook her head and I wanted to press my hand to her chest just to make sure she was breathing right now, to prove that she was okay. The back of my neck prickled. I wanted to kill him—but I also needed to hear the rest of this. “What else, Muggsy?”

“He’d pinch me”—she motioned to her side and reality shifted into the kind of slow motion where I could see plays before they went into effect and my body knew how to respond—“and tell me to go easy on the sweets. Or say my clothes looked too tight when we were going out or slap my hand away if I reached for the bread?—”

“I love you and you’re perfect and you can have all the bread in the world.” I leaned in, pressed a quick kiss to her lips and brushed away her tears. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She grabbed my hand as I turned to leave. “Ryan, no. Whatever you’re thinking, don’t. He’s not worth it and?—”

The resignation in her eyes almost killed me. “But you are.”

I made my way through the bar, Emme’s hand locked around my wrist, and found her ex near the dart board with a few of the groomsmen. One of the guys elbowed him when I stepped up to their group.

Teddy turned around with that shifty-eyed look of his. He glanced at me and then Emme over my shoulder. “How’s it goin’, man?”

“I want to thank you,” I started, “for being such a phenomenal bottom-feeding parasite. Because if you’d found even an ounce of sense in that empty tuna can you call a brain and kept your dick in your pants, I wouldn’t be making this gorgeous, irreplaceable woman my wife. If you hadn’t shown her what rock bottom looks like, hadn’t made it really fucking clear that knowingly triggering a life-threatening allergy multiple times is as low as someone can go, she wouldn’t have left your ass and I wouldn’t be marrying my best friend. Thank you. You gave me an incredible gift by showing her exactly who the fuck you are, and paving the road she walked right out of your sorry life.”

Teddy glanced around but his boys had all taken several large steps back. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Ben closing in. He didn’t look happy. I didn’t care.

I leaned in, dropped my voice so no one else could hear. “I’d like nothing more than to take you outside and kick your fool ass around until the only thing you can do is piss yourself and cry for a mother who probably doesn’t like you very much. But my arm is worth more than seventy million dollars a year and you have proven you are worth nothing.” I stared at him for a beat. “If I ever find out that you have so much as breathed in my wife’s direction, I will bring my entire offensive line to your door and teach you about what lies beneath rock bottom.”

He gulped.

“Do we understand each other yet, Teddy?”

A nod. Sweat glistened on his forehead.

“It’s good that you’re scared.” I tugged Emme to my side. “Now you’re going to apologize for not only being the kind of juvenile piss troll who’d break rocks on his own head but also attempting to kill my wife.”

He wet his lips and kept his gaze low. “That was an accident.”

“Once, maybe.” I could make that concession. “But not three times.”

“What the fuck, man?” Ben asked.

It was good to see his furious attention trained on Teddy. I wasn’t sure which side he was on until now. Ben crossed his arms over his chest and shot Teddy a stare that smacked of disappointment.

“There are no accidents,” I said. “Just fools who don’t give a fuck about anything but themselves. You know which one you are.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I—I made a mistake. Lots of mistakes. And I am sorry.”

“Thanks for saying that, Teddy,” Emme replied. Her fingers twisted in the back of my shirt. She gave a little tug. Time for this to be done.

“You’re going to be a father in a few months. A husband. Time to grow the fuck up, young man. Find Jesus, go to therapy, whatever the fuck you need to unlearn this toxic shit. Because the last thing the world needs is more of this.” I jabbed a finger at him. “Stay the fuck away from my wife. Listen to me when I say I’m keeping score and I never forget.”

I turned, wrapped an arm around Emme’s shoulders, and led her toward the door. Behind us, I heard Ben echo, “What the fuck , man?” We were almost there when Grace stepped into our path, her hands held out and her gaze panicked.

“What just happened?” she asked.

“I’m so sorry, honey, but I can’t do this tonight,” Emme said. “I’ve had a lot to drink. Probably too much, but at least I didn’t mix it with allergy pills this time. I need to go home. Okay? I’m sorry to leave your party early. You should throw me out as your maid of honor. Put Audrey in first position and knock me down. I’m the worst. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Grace pushed her fingers through her dark hair. “Can you at least tell me if you’re all right? Because I don’t know what’s going on and I’m kind of freaking out about it.”

Emme dropped her head against my chest. “I think I might be okay. Finally.”

Grace spared me a glance, her brows pinched and her lips twisted into a severe line. Then, “You’re not the worst. Don’t say that shit to me. You’re the only maid of honor I’d ever want. Even if you keep getting drunk and leaving my parties early.”

Emme folded her into a hug and they said a few things I couldn’t hear. When she returned to my side, I scooped her up and carried her out to where Soto waited at the curb.

When he pulled away and it was just the two of us in the darkness of the back seat, I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me about all of it?”

“Because I started thinking he was right about some of it.” She lifted her shoulders. “I felt foolish. Like I should’ve known better. Like it was my fault. And I didn’t want you to tell me I shouldn’t have let that happen to me.”

“You didn’t let anything happen, Em. And none of it was your fault.”

The city lights streaked by as she nestled into my shoulder. “Thank you for not starting a fight. It would’ve ruined your deals.”

“Fuck the deals.” Soto turned toward the private garage attached to my building. “I didn’t start a fight because he would’ve milked it for his fifteen minutes of fame and we’re finished giving that guy anything.”

Emme’s breath hitched. “You’re a really good husband.”

“Good,” I whispered into her hair. “It’s the only job that matters to me.”

We ended up sprawled on the deck sofa after arriving home, Emme’s head pillowed in my lap while I peeled tangerines for her. She didn’t say a word as she ate each segment and I didn’t push. The city was dark and quiet, and a cool summer breeze blew in off the water.

It was late and we both had places to be in the morning, but it didn’t seem like either of us were finished processing this night. I was furious that I hadn’t realized how much he’d hurt her. I should’ve put the pieces together and noticed something was off in her single-minded quest for revenge. She’d had plenty of bad breakups and always took time to lick her wounds after, but she never wanted to make them pay for what they did.

I should’ve known there was more to the story. Should’ve read her pained, broken reaction to Clara at the housewarming party as proof I didn’t know what was going on—and not that she was just taking it too hard.

And I should’ve punched that guy in the face.

The last thing I needed right now was that kind of drama in my life, but someone had to do it.

When Emme finished with the tangerines and I had nothing left to do with my hands, I assigned myself the task of rubbing her back and shoulders. Her dress was confusing in many ways and I had to ask, “What’s the deal with this dress?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean”—I ran a hand through the ruffles—“this isn’t your usual style.”

“Ah. Yes.” She laughed as she sat up and snuggled into my side. Her cheek was lined with creases from my jeans. I pulled her in close and ran the backs of my fingers over her face. “Bridal party secret.”

“Anything you could share with your husband? Or would I need to wear a nightgown to a pub crawl in order to qualify?”

“Give that a try and tell me how it goes.”

“You think I won’t,” I started, “but you’d be wrong.”

She rested her head on my shoulder with a laugh. “Grace is an aggressive planner. There’s always a plan and a backup plan and five more plans after that. But when it came to the wedding, she decided she wanted to take an easy, breezy approach and just…do whatever felt right. Let it happen.”

“That doesn’t sound like a great approach for someone who thrives on control,” I said.

“It wasn’t. It lasted about a month before Grace had a complete meltdown. They had a hodgepodge of ideas, nothing really went together, and since they have big families, the guest list spiraled overnight.”

She shifted again, chasing out every last inch of space between us. When that didn’t seem like enough, I hauled her into my lap and lashed my arms around her torso. “Better?” I asked.

She nodded. “From the start, she’d said she wanted the bridesmaids to have looks we liked and could wear again. She’d talked about letting us choose any dress as long as it was in her color palette. Everyone was happy. Jamie already had something picked out. But then Shay offered the tulip farm.”

“I know you’ve said you’re not fucking with me on this, but is it really a tulip farm? That just doesn’t seem practical.”

“Oh my god, Ryan.” She sighed. “I swear to you, it’s a tulip farm. Shay and her husband have built a gorgeous event space on the farm and the whole place is pure magic. You’ll understand when you see it.”

“I hope so.”

“Grace’s mom visited the farm with her and Ben, and fell in love—which is not hard to do at Twin Tulip. But then she decided she was going to make the bridesmaids’ dresses. She insisted . There would be no way around this. She does a lot of sewing, but she believed deep in her heart that we needed to wear soft, flowery, cottage-core dresses. There was no convincing her otherwise.” She laughed, a light, bubbly sound that did my heart good to hear. “Grace spent a full week hyperventilating over that idea until Audrey came up with a compromise. She’s an expert negotiator when it comes to complicated families.”

I toyed with the ruffles. “I’m not sure I see how this is a compromise.”

“Since Jamie already had a dress, we threw her to the wolves and made that the reason we couldn’t have flowery dresses for the wedding day. We offered the rehearsal dinner, but Grace’s mom thought the shower was a better choice. Don’t ask me why.” She shrugged. “That’s the story.”

I ran my hands up her legs, dragging the flowy skirt as I went. “That’s a lot of backroom bargaining.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” She watched as I slipped a hand between her thighs, savoring the silky soft skin there. “These dresses are just one of the many, many reasons I couldn’t let her call off the wedding.”

“Even though holding it all together for her was killing you,” I said. She nodded, turning her gaze out toward the sleeping city. “I never want you to feel that way again.”

She shifted, dropping her knees on either side of my hips and sinking into my lap with her nightgown-dress settling around us. She looped her arms around my neck as she rolled her lips together. “I didn’t realize how bad it was with him until it was over,” she whispered. “I thought it was good enough.”

I reached under her skirt and gripped her backside, rocking her against me. “And now? Do you see that good enough isn’t close to what you deserve?”

She stared at me for a moment, her brows pinched and her eyes dark like she didn’t understand the question. Then, she turned her attention to unfastening my belt and shoving her hand into my boxers. She gave my shaft an urgent stroke. “I don’t know what I deserve.”

I leaned in and captured her lips with mine. “But I do,” I said between frenzied kisses. I held her backside hard, my fingers tracing the damp line of her panties. I tugged the fabric aside and urged her closer, to where her small fingers worked me over. “Let me take care of you, wife.”

She gasped as I boosted her up and then dragged my cock through her wet heat. Her hands went to my shoulders as I eased inside her, her nails biting into my skin through my shirt.

“Ryan,” she cried out.

“Too much?” I forced myself to hold steady as she adjusted to me. We hadn’t done much to warm up and I didn’t have any lube stashed out here.

She shook her head, her hair falling in front of her face as she rocked against me. “No, I just needed a second.”

“Take all the time you need,” I said. “There’s nowhere in the world I’d rather be.”

She found a rhythm, slow but deep, and I let her set the pace for a few minutes. But when her moans increased and her pace faltered, I gathered her close and took charge.

“ Yes , that’s my girl.” I fisted a hand in her hair and kissed her neck as I thrust into her. “Look at you taking my cock. Do you see this? Do you see how hard you make me? No one does this to me. Just you. Just my wife.”

“Oh my god,” she whispered, her mouth hanging open on an endless moan. “I can’t?—”

“You can,” I growled, my fingertips digging into her ass. “Let me give it to you. Let me give you everything.”

She dropped her head to my shoulder as I felt her walls clench around me. “Ryan,” she gasped.

“I don’t know why you think you don’t deserve better,” I said, thrusting into her with each word, “but that ends now.”

A cry broke free from her chest and I felt the great spasm of her release shudder through her. She slumped against me, her chest heaving as I barreled toward my own orgasm and heat pumped through me. I came with a shout, bucking into her for another minute as I poured my entire soul into her.

When I could move my limbs again, I smoothed a hand over her hair. “That’s my girl. Don’t forget it.”

She stared up at me, her eyes wide and shiny with unshed tears, and she said, “I’ll try.”

I kissed her forehead. “That’s all I want.”