Chapter 19
Nate
Ian shoves a bottle of beer into my outstretched hand. I take a long sip before observing the group gathered around the brewery. Jack and Ella are weaving through the crowd, greeting their guests with smiles and laughs.
It’s the epitome of happily ever after.
And it makes me uncharacteristically depressed to watch it.
Out of the three of us—Jack, Ian, and myself—I always thought I’d be the first to find my soulmate. I’m the one who actually believes in that. In fate. In true love.
I would’ve bet a lot of money; these idiots wouldn’t know love if it punched them in the balls.
And yet, here I am, watching one of my best friends mingle with the fifty or so guests at his engagement party, with his beautiful fiancée on his arm.
I’m not bitter at all.
I take another large swallow of beer, frowning.
“Why do you look like you smell shit or something?” Ian bumps my elbow.
Not wanting to admit my thoughts, I lie. “Nothing, man. I think I’m just exhausted.” I look around. “I’m going to go say hi to my sister.”
“Oh, which one? Is Pamela here?” Ian asks, his voice bright and annoying as hell.
“Not fucking cool, dickhead,” I call over my shoulder as I stalk away.
I plop down in a chair next to Joseph, Pamela’s husband.
Pamela is on the other side of him, talking to a woman I don’t know.
She’s short and has blond hair and glasses.
She’s cute, but the exact opposite of the woman occupying every brain cell I possess.
The only thing they have in common is their curves.
I wonder what Olive is doing tonight.
Pulling out my phone to unlock it, I scroll through the contacts. My finger hovers over the one I’m searching for.
Olive Moore.
Three days ago, when Ian and I were ushering everyone into the waiting vehicles after the show, Cade stopped beside me. He looked straight ahead as if he wasn’t talking to me directly.
“She would kill me if she knew I was doing this,” he said casually.
“Doing what? Talking to me?” I asked, confused.
“If your memory sucks, you better get your phone out very quickly. I have about forty-five seconds until I’m caught.”
I was curious enough to do what he demanded. Holding my phone, I raised my eyebrows at him in question. He rattled off a phone number, and I entered it in my phone, repeating it to him to make sure I got it right.
He gave a quick nod of confirmation. “Now, you have Olive’s number. I suggest you use it wisely.”
The grin that split my face was instantaneous. “Thanks, Cade. I owe you big time.”
He finally turned to face me. “All I ask is that you treat her right. She’s the best person I know, and she deserves the world.”
Easiest promise I ever made. “I promise, Cade. I mean it.”
A knowing smile pulled at his lips. “I believe that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here talking to you.”
My name being called pulls me back to the present. My sister is staring at me with an annoyed expression, trying to get my attention. “Sorry, what were you saying?”
“I was asking if you’d met Maggie. She’s Ella’s friend.” Pamela gestures to the woman sitting next to her.
I haven’t met her, which surprises me. I’ve definitely heard her name mentioned, but our paths haven’t crossed. “Maggie, Ella talks about you all the time. It’s good to finally meet you.”
Maggie smiles at me. “It’s nice to meet you too, Nate.”
Pamela and Maggie start chatting again. I glance down at my phone one more time before locking it and setting it on the table.
My gaze roams around the room, hoping to find some distraction.
There’s no question that I’m going to reach out to Olive, but now isn’t the time, no matter how tempting it is.
My eyes freeze when they find my best friend.
Ian’s white-knuckled grip on his beer bottle is evident from here.
With his intense stare on Maggie, his shoulder muscles bunch with tension and his jaw tics.
I shift in my seat to see if Maggie knows the glare being sent her way.
It’s shocking that guests aren’t diving out of the way of the daggers being thrown in his direction with how severe her returning stare is.
“What in the hell?” I mutter under my breath.
Ian stomps over to the table, and I ready myself to break up an argument.
That’s the last thing Jack and Ella want at their engagement party.
Ian bends down, one hand on the back of her chair and one on the table.
Maggie’s eyes narrow skeptically as he whispers something in her ear.
Her cheeks flush, and her eyes drift shut in response to whatever he says.
Then, like he was never here, Ian straightens and stalks out of the room.
Maggie watches him for a moment, and then, as casually as she can, rushes out in the same direction he left.
I shake my head in confusion as I stand and walk away to find Jack and Ella. Standing next to the bar, Jack’s arm is looped around Ella’s waist. She’s cuddled into his side, her hand on his chest as she looks up at him, her face consumed with love.
Tendrils of jealousy weave their way through my veins once again.
As happy as I am for them, I can’t help but wish that was me and a certain dark-haired, candy-loving flight attendant.
Pushing away the unwanted emotion, I hike my thumb over my shoulder.
“I don’t want to alarm either of you, but I’m somewhat concerned there will be a murder at your party. ”
Jack and Ella exchange a confused look.
“Care to elaborate?” Jack asks.
“I’m not sure which one will be the victim, but I was getting some weird vibes from Ian and Maggie.”
Ella heaves out a deep breath. “I think we should lock those two in a room until they figure out their shit.”
Jack hugs her tighter into his side and kisses the top of her head. “I know, baby.”
My face scrunches. “Wait, I don’t understand.”
Jack shrugs. “We don’t either, honestly. Neither of them will really talk about it, but apparently, they knew each other before I even met Gisella.”
Staring at the door they exited, I wonder if I can pry information out of him when we’re back on the road. “Interesting.”
We continue to talk about their wedding planning and honeymoon until our attention is pulled to the doors. Maggie walks in, her hair slightly wild, her cheeks flushed. She smooths her hands down her dress, looking less angry than before but somewhat more miserable.
“Uh oh, I think that’s my cue.” Ella raises up on her tiptoes for a kiss from Jack. He presses his lips to hers before whispering something against them, drawing a smile from her. She squeezes my bicep as she passes by.
Jack sips his beer, his eyes tracking Ella. “How’s the job going?”
I rub the back of my neck. “Shit, man. All this travel is wearing me down, but besides the incident at the airport last week, it’s gone surprisingly smoothly.”
He nods slowly. “That’s good to hear. We’ve gotten a few calls from other management companies that want to discuss possible contracts.”
My eyebrows jump. While we chat almost daily about work, either on the phone or by email, it’s been hard to keep Ian and me up to speed on everything with us being gone. “How have the training and interviews gone?”
“Honestly, I don’t know how I would’ve got through the last couple of weeks without Tyler. He’s stepped up big time.”
Tyler is Jack’s younger cousin. He lacks the military or law enforcement background that most of the people we hire have, and Jack only hired him to keep him out of trouble when he fell in with the wrong crowd, but Tyler has grown up in the blink of an eye.
He’s become a man all of us are proud of and knew he could be.
“I knew he had it in him. That makes me so happy to hear.”
Jack’s face beams with pride. “Me too. But since training is going well, we might be able to send two other guys out so you and Ian can come home.”
My stomach sinks. I regret saying the travel was hard on me.
I should’ve said I was loving every moment of it.
My mind races with every reason to convince my friend that it’s a terrible idea, because I’m not sure I’m ready to tell him about Olive.
“Oh, uh, well, you know it’s probably best that you keep me and Ian there for at least for a little while longer.
We haven’t officially been hired by those other management companies, and the last thing we want is something to go south at this point. ”
Jack stares at me suspiciously, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I suppose that’s true. Maybe we can give it another week of training, then replace you two.”
Sipping a large drink of my beer, I force a smile. “Yeah, sounds like a plan.”