Chapter 32 #2
Theo smacks Holden upside the head, cutting him off mid-sentence.
“You really think he needs to be hearing about that right before he gets married, dipshit? And need I remind you that your bet is the reason those two wound up in this situation to begin with?”
“How is this my fault?” Holden exclaims.
Of course, that’s the exact moment the door opens again, Logan appearing from behind it. His eyes find me instantly, a soft smile taking over his face before he notices four more sets of eyes staring at him.
“Uh, hi,” he says slowly before Holden snorts.
“Hey, Loge. Not sure if you heard, but vampires are so 2008.”
Jesus take the fucking wheel.
Logan’s confusion is written all over his face at Holden’s comment, only for his eyes to pop out a little when he notices my neck. Which, unfortunately, happens at the exact same time Oakley does.
He pinches his nose, muttering, “I sent you after him so you would talk.”
“We did,” comes from Logan, which, in his defense, isn’t exactly a lie. The bulk of the conversation just happened to be interrupted by multiple orgasms.
“The state of Camden’s neck would beg to differ.”
There’s a muffled thwack, only for Holden to rub the back of his head when I glance over.
“What the fuck was that for?”
“I’m gonna label you the new dunce if you can’t figure that out,” Theo hisses under his breath, though still plenty loud for us to hear.
Oakley ignores the two of them, his brown gaze darting between Logan and me instead. There’s a beat of assessing silence, as if he’s attempting to compile the events of last night with a single look, before he finally speaks.
“At this very moment, all I need to know is if we’re good here,” he murmurs, motioning between us. “If not, it needs to wait ‘til after the reception, because Quinton will kill me if shit hits the fan today.”
“I’m good,” I whisper, though the words taste like acid on my tongue.
Logan nods beside me before saying, “I am too.”
Oakley’s lips purse tightly for a few seconds, likely weighing the honesty in our statements, before his attention lands on my neck.
“You don’t have any of these right?” he asks, looking at Logan now.
Not on his neck.
Logan’s cheeks flush in my favorite way as he glances at me, his mind no doubt in the same place as mine, before he shakes his head.
Oblivious to the exchange, Oakley lets out a long sigh and nods. “All right, good. Explaining to Mom why we needed to borrow her makeup is the last thing I need right now.”
I hear snickering from where my other friends are lingering, and I shoot a glare at them. Specifically at Holden, who is covering his mouth as he attempts to compose himself again.
Fucker.
Oakley claps his brother on the shoulder and then goes back to getting ready. Meanwhile, Logan’s gaze falls back to me, and he reaches up, brushing his thumb over the bruised spot over my collar.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize—”
“It’s fine,” I whisper, shaking my head. “I’ve had worse done on the ice.”
He bites his lip and nods, and I can read a thousand questions in his eyes, each one crawling its way from the fissures in his irises. But now isn’t the time or place to discuss any of it, what with my friends lurking—
“Goddamn, you could cut the tension with a kni— Get away from me!”
My gaze shoots over to where Holden is currently hiding behind Phoenix, likely because Theo is attempting to give him another slap upside the skull.
“Need I remind you of the way you two fuckers—”
“Okay, okay,” Phoenix chides, interrupting as he keeps the two of them separated with his palms. His attention flicks my way before he adds, “We better get to our seats. Maybe being around other people will force them to behave.”
“Fat chance of that ever happening, but, yes, please get the hell outta here. Except you, Loge.” A wry smirk sits on his lips when he adds, “Don’t need you disappearing again before the main event.”
I stifle a laugh and I nod before taking a step toward the door—and away from Logan, whose blush has deepened to nearly red now. His eyes hold mine, though, and I can still see all those unspoken emotions etched into his expression as he watches the four of us leave.
We hustle out to the lawn area where the seats are set up with a pergola for the ceremony—with the city and Lake Michigan as the backdrop—and I notice most of the chairs are already full.
Not that there were many to begin with, only room for maybe thirty people.
Apparently Oakley really meant it when he said the wedding would be just close friends and family, and everyone else would come for the reception.
I say a quick hello to Louis, who is already seated with his wife, before joining Theo, Holden, and Phoenix in the back row.
“So who’s in charge of keeping this one on a tight leash all night? Because he clearly needs to be,” Holden says to Phoenix and Theo while motioning toward me with his thumb.
I frown. “I’m right here.”
“Yes, you are. And it’s gonna stay that way,” comes from Theo, only for him to drop his voice conspiratorially. “I have AirTags. Don’t make me use them.”
I snort despite myself, but Holden snaps his fingers with excitement while pointing at us.
“Oh, better yet: Put a bell on the door of his hotel room like he did for Oakley back in the day.”
“Fuck that. I’ll just sleep on the floor in front of the door. He’s not getting anywhere then,” Theo muses with a shit-eating grin.
I gape at him. “Don’t you have a date to keep you occupied instead of planning ways to be a human chastity belt?”
“His flight got cancelled. Some big storm after their game in Sacramento. Which means you’re my date now.” A sardonic smile appears as he claps me on the shoulder. “I hope you enjoy getting cock blocked all night.”
“Who’s getting cock blocked?”
I glance down the row at the sound of a familiar voice, only to find Kason dropping into the seat beside Phoenix.
“Hey! I didn’t think you were gonna make it with training camp starting today,” Phoenix says, a huge smile on his face.
“Coach let it slide when I promised to be back in time for our morning lift tomorrow. I’ll probably have to head out right after dinner, but it’s better than missing the whole thing.”
I catch Holden’s brow hiking up in surprise as he laughs. “Kase, that’s a seven-hour drive. One way.”
“You can make it in six,” Phoenix and Kason rebut at the same time, only for them to laugh and fist bump.
“I hate when you two do that,” Holden mutters with a grimace. “Six or seven hours, it doesn’t matter. I just don’t understand why you’d drive all that way for a wedding you aren’t even in.”
“Because Hayes is in it,” he says simply before shrugging. “We do stupid shit for the people we love, all right?”
A set of brown, cracked irises come to mind, and I find myself nodding.
Yeah, Kase. We sure fucking do.