33. Don’t tempt me, munch
Don’t tempt me, munch
Zoe
Me: How’s Buck doing?
Leo: He’s so calm — he might be high!
Me: LMAO! Stop it. He is not high.
Leo: I wish he would just go to bed so I can come sneak in your bedroom window.
Me: Leo Bennett, you’re the best man. You’re not leaving your dad’s side tonight.
Leo: Tomorrow then, secret date…
Me: #nakedsleepover!
Leo: You make me laugh, munch!
Me: Good! I always want to make you laugh x
Always . I said always. It’s been less than a week since I showed up outside his shop, and everything’s changed. We’re together, me and Leo. He’s my boyf… nope, not ready to call him my anything, but we are a couple, and I do want always .
‘Quit grinning at your phone,’ Bree says, and I look up to find her smiling at me.
‘I just, I…’
‘I get it. You have a man now, but some of us are still desperately single.’
‘And some of us have only fucked sex toys in the past twelve months,’ Missy adds, smirking.
‘I’m sorry. In my defense, I was single for an entire decade after my husband died ,’ I raise my voice and widen my eyes.
‘She dead husbanded us,’ Missy says, flabbergasted, and silence descends for a moment before we all laugh.
‘You don’t need a defense, honey. We’re so happy for you.’ Bree smiles, and I know that they are. Not that I’ve talked much about it. We’re going on a date next week, and once we do that, I’ll feel like I have more I can tell them. Right now, it all feels a little in the air.
‘So how is this going to work tomorrow? Y’all are just going stay away from each other?’
Missy is staying at Bree’s this weekend so she can come to the wedding. She sings in a band from time to time, and they offered to play for free. I can’t wait to hear her.
‘No, that would be weird. Everyone knows we’re friends, so we’ll hang out like we always have.’
‘So, just so we are clear, I know, Missy knows, and Cara knows, but that’s it?’ Bree checks, and I nod.
‘Yeah, that’s all, and Cara doesn’t have all the details because I don’t want to force her to hide stuff from Doug. Mama suspects something, I think, but she hasn’t said anything.’
‘Are you still worried about people knowing?’
‘Mostly just Buck, but Doug too.’
‘It’ll be fine, sweetie. I don’t think you need to hide this.’
‘I just want it to bed in, you know? And besides, I want Buck and Lu to have their day without distraction. We drop this bomb now, and all eyes will be on us.’
‘Yeah, I get that.’
‘Well, as we’re here and everyone in the room knows you’re bangin’, let’s have some details.’ Missy grins. ‘Come on, I need to live vicariously through your sexcapades since I have none of my own.’
‘I’m not telling you about my sex life.’
‘Zoe,’ Missy pouts, ‘you always tell us. Just because we know the guy this time doesn’t mean you get to keep it from us.’
I laugh, and Bree shakes her head.
‘Okay, fine. It’s fucking incredible.’
And just like that, I relax and spill the beans on the best sex I have ever had.
‘Holy shit. You’re a smoke show.’ Bree calls out before she leans over to hug me as I climb into her car.
‘Me? Look at you. Damn, girl.’ I respond taking in the sight of my hot twin. She grins as I admire her look. Her hair is hanging down in loose curls, her smoky eye makeup and red lipstick are perfection — she looks hot as hell. I just wish there were more single men in this town to appreciate how beautiful she is. I want to see her happy.
‘Leo is going to lose his damn mind when he sees you in that dress.’ She laughs. ‘How are you expecting him to keep his hands off you with that many tattoos on show?’
I cackle loudly. It’s no secret that he’s a sucker for exposed ink, and I may have chosen this short, lowcut, backless dress with the sole mission of driving him wild, and yes, I also may have chosen the beautiful green color because it reminded me of his eyes.
‘Well, I have to look at him in a suit all day, so it’ll be mutually torturous.’
‘Does Lucy still have no idea today is happening?’
‘Nope, I don’t think so. She thinks it’s like a bachelor/bachelorette party before they get it done tomorrow.’
‘Buck is so cute. She’s going to love him even more when she sees what he’s done for her.’
I smile. Buck and Lucy are the sweetest, and they deserve this and more. When my dad died, Buck stepped in to help Mama and support us kids. He was there for Doug, stepping in to be the man he really needed, and he always had a dad hug ready and waiting for me and Bree. When Luke died, I would sit on Buck’s porch, listening to the birds or the rain with his arm around my shoulder. He didn’t say anything unless I asked him a question. He would just be there, holding me when I needed him. It was Buck, and it was Leo. Without them, I wouldn’t have gotten through any of it.
‘You think he’ll forgive us, Bree?’
‘I know he will, honey.’
She squeezes my knee as she brings the car to a stop on Cara’s driveway, and I take a deep breath. It’s party time, and I am waiting for my secret date to arrive.
‘Oh my god, you two look so gorgeous,’ Cara squeals as she greets us at the door. We hug her and follow her inside. Doug and Bowie aren’t here yet. Doug wanted to bring Bo at the last minute so she wouldn’t tear her dress or the place down.
‘There are my girls,’ Mama smiles from the kitchen where she and Merv are pouring champagne into glasses. ‘Oh, my goodness. Look how beautiful you both are.’ She walks around to hug us, a little teary-eyed, and I wonder how many of those glasses she might have swiped.
‘Mama,’ I giggle as she holds on to us.
‘I’m sorry, weddings just make me emotional.’
‘Okay, come on, let’s head out back to wait.’ Merv puts an arm around Mama’s shoulders and steers her away, and Bree, Cara, and I follow.
‘Oh my god, Cara. This is so beautiful.’
We all helped pull it together. I arranged the drinks. Mama and Merv arranged the food. Bree coordinated the décor and the music and just so happens to be officiating, and Leo paid for everything, but Doug and Cara took it upon themselves to set it all up. Leo, Bree, and I came up here yesterday to help out, but they pulled it out of the bag, adding lights and flowers and creating the most beautiful space.
‘Wow, guys.’ The sound of his voice has me turning, and holy fuck, I kind of wish I hadn’t, or I wish I had the power to freeze time because that man right there is hotter than hell. His eyes meet mine, then widen, and I see the way his throat bobs as he swallows, and I fight every urge in my body to keep my eyes up when I want to drop them and take in every inch of him in that suit.
‘Leo,’ I say, a little breathlessly.
‘Hey, munch.’
He steps, probably a little too closely, and Bree clears her throat.
‘Um, I need to…’
She backs away, and I notice now that we’re alone. We’re in view but out of earshot of anyone.
‘You look good,’ I say, taking a moment to let my eyes wander, my breath catching in my throat at the all-black suit that fits his body like a glove.
‘You look like I’m about to have a heart attack.’ My eyes meet his, and he arches one eyebrow. ‘You tryin’ to kill me, Zo?’
I laugh. I can’t help it.
‘I just thought it was pretty.’ I shrug.
‘It is pretty.' He nods, 'You’re pretty.’
I smile, my bottom lip caught between my teeth as I fight the desperate need to kiss him. ‘Is it too soon to leave?’ I tease, and he looks up to the sky with a groan.
‘Don’t tempt me, munch. I’d happily get to the naked sleepover part of today right now.’
‘Uncle Leo.’
The bucket of ice water that is Bowie runs into view and attaches herself to Leo’s legs. I take a step back to put some distance between us as Bo releases Leo, and he crouches down to look at her.
‘Miss Bowie, you look like a princess. Let me see your feet.’ He narrows his gaze at her, and she giggles as she picks up her skirt to reveal her little converse. I laugh, and so does Leo. ‘That’s my girl.’ He leans in to kiss her head, then stands as Doug approaches, followed by Cara and Bree.
‘Man, this looks good.’ Doug admires his handy work as he tucks Cara into his side.
‘Daddy, can we dance now?’
We all laugh, and Leo takes her hand.
‘Tell you what, Princess Bo, when it’s time to dance, I’ll come find you, and we’ll be the first ones up there, deal?’
She shakes his hand. ‘Deal.’
Oh my god, swoon… if I wasn’t already gone for this man, seeing him with Bo would do it.
‘Guys, they’re here,’ Mama whisper-shouts excitedly as she passes us with two glasses of champagne in her hands.
Bree nudges Leo’s shoulder, and they head up to the altar Doug and Cara put together. I ignore the pang deep in my belly at the sight of him standing there, and, instead, after one last moment of eye contact, I, along with everyone else, turn my attention to the side of the house, waiting for the guests of honor to come around.
‘Surprise,’ Mama calls out, and whoops and applause erupts around me. I watch as Mama kisses Buck and a stunned Lucy on the cheeks and hands them their champagne, and then Lu turns to Buck, confused, and silence descends.
‘ Honey …’ she asks, her tone questioning, and he laughs.
‘Lucy, I got married young, and I thought it would be forever. I got my heart ripped out and never imagined that I would even date again, let alone fall so completely in love with someone that I’d ask her to marry me. You moved in unceremoniously, we got engaged as part of a casual conversation over tacos, and you wanted just to get it done quietly with no fuss. But you deserve more than that, sweetheart. You deserve it all. So, Lu, if you’ll still have me like this, today is our wedding day, right here, with the people we love most in the world. What do you say, honey?’
‘Buck,’ Lu gasps, then holds up one finger, ‘hold on.’ She raises the glass to her lips and drains half of it. ‘Oh my god, that’s gassy.’ Everyone laughs. ‘Buck Bennett, you romantic fool. I’d marry you anywhere, anyhow.’ She leans in to kiss his lips. ‘But this is perfect.’
‘Let’s get you married then,’ Mama says, beaming.
‘Then we can party,’ I call out, and everyone cheers as Lucy takes Buck's hand in hers and grins as she looks into his eyes.
‘Let’s do this.’