Chapter 20 #2
“You too, Ed. Congrats on the big news.”
Color dotted high on Eddie’s cheeks. “Thanks.”
“Whenever you need to talk shit about Pearce, I’m your man.”
“Uhm… thanks?”
Cassius nodded as though he was happy to be of service. “And you’ll totally need a best man, Pearce, since you know, I’m your second best friend.”
I snorted. “You are?” Though he did have a point. Since I was marrying my best friend, I’d need someone to have my back.
“Dude.” He grabbed at his chest. “You wound me. You need me there. I will have a killer best man speech.”
“Uhm, yeah, that’s what I’m kinda worried about and why I think I need to keep you as far away from the wedding party as possible.”
Before he could respond, our drinks order appeared, and the three of us carried them over to the rest of the guys. We handed them out as Joel finished talking about his vacation plans.
As he spoke to our group, I leaned into Eddie. “You okay?” I whispered close to his ear. While he seemed more relaxed than when we first entered, I needed to be sure.
“Yeah.” He squeezed my waist. “Are you?”
“I really am. After Thursday’s game, I wasn’t expecting a downer, since the fact we got so far is cause to celebrate.”
Eddie’s gaze softened. “It really is. You did amazing to get so far.”
Not only did it feel good hearing the praise from Eddie, but I felt good about the whole season too.
I smiled, pushing warmth into my voice when I said, “That the guys are rolling with it, happy for all we’ve achieved, is awesome, but I have to admit, I’m fucking ecstatic with just how okay I am.
And you have everything to do with that. ”
“I do, huh?”
“I didn’t ever expect to attend one of these events with you… like this. More than just friends,” I admitted, getting caught up in the emotion of sharing.
His smile lost some of its shine. “I’m sorry I made you wait so long.”
I tugged him a little away from the group, not expecting to be having this conversation.
Not the ideal place sure, but I’d do anything for his happiness to return.
“Hey.” I leaned in a little closer, inhaling his scent and relaxing into the warmth of his body.
“I don’t need you to say sorry. We’re exactly where we’re meant to be.
Every move we made was the right one, because it led to us wearing matching rings. ”
He searched my gaze, the seconds intense as we stood so close, his warm breath caressed my skin. “So no wrong moves, huh?”
My heart stumbled at the lightness in his tone and the way he quirked his lips. “That’s right.”
He glanced around us, taking note that we had a little privacy. “We still need to discuss what happens after the summer.” The hand he held my forearm with trembled a little.
“I know. And there’ll be no wrong moves there either,” I said, stealing his words.
“Okay.” As he exhaled, a bright smile lit up his handsome face. “Let’s get back to your teammates. I have a feeling they’re a little too invested about who’s going to be your best man.”
I side-eyed my friends and snorted. Eddie was right. And knowing these guys, especially if Cassius was at the center of it, I expected a shitshow of chaos.
“—a point system.” Cassius tugged out his cell.
“What are you doing?” Ollie eyed Cassius.
“Making notes.”
Lips twitching, Ollie looked our way. “I hope you’re ready for this.”
“Do I want to know?”
“Probably not,” Joel answered, “but we’ll tell you anyway.” A mischievous smile spread quickly, and he rubbed his hands together.
“Oh God, is this about being my best man?”
“Obviously.” Cassius didn’t bother looking in my direction when he answered, his stare fixed on his cell, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “Right,” he said, finally looking up, “when’s the date so we know how much time we have?”
“Uhm…” I turned to Eddie, who wasn’t looking as shell-shocked as I expected. He’d heard enough stories of my teammates that maybe he had immunity to their special kind of enthusiasm. “Eddie?” I shrugged.
Since we hadn’t sorted out our joined lives in general, the reality of a wedding hadn’t even made our list of life-changing decisions to discuss.
As far as I was concerned, I just wanted him to be mine forever.
Wanted us to exchange vows and live our lives together, as a family.
I didn’t really care how that came about.
“Well,” Eddie said, his voice noticeably careful as he peered back at me, “I’ve already had the big wedding thing.” He eyed me carefully, watching for a reaction.
I offered a reassuring smile. While I didn’t like thinking about him married or with any ex, at least his marriage had resulted in Lottie. That wasn’t anything I could be jealous or even pissed off about.
“I don’t need a big wedding.” My palm slipped from his wrist, and I held his hand. “Or even a long engagement.”
Eyes widening, Eddie stared at me, his grip on my hand tightening. “Really? You’re okay with skipping out on the big stuff?”
“You sound surprised.”
Eddie glanced around, a reminder that every pair of eyes in our group was on us. Rather than tugging me away, he released a soft huff of a laugh, as if simply accepting my teammates’ involvement was a given. “I thought maybe you’d want to. You were in a rush to get our rings.”
“That’s because you wearing my engagement ring is fucking hot.”
My friends chuckled, and Eddie’s cheeks turned pink as he joined in.
“So,” Cassius intervened, “are we thinking shotgun wedding? Trip to Vegas? Marquee in the backyard? And how soon? This summer?”
Tickled by Cassius’s complete investment, I focused on him. “Jesus, you’ll be trying to organize the damn thing next. Why are you weirdly all over this?”
As soon as the words were out there, his face lit up, and I realized my mistake.
“Shit,” I mumbled at the same time Ollie snickered and Cassius said, “Yes, I’ll do it. I fucking love organizing shit. All I need are a few details and leave it with me.” Legit joy lit his face. “Man, right here, right now, I’ve got a heart-on for you something fierce, Malcolm.”
“What—?”
“I don’t think—”
But Cassius had stopped listening to Eddie and my attempted protests.
He hushed us both. “Let me make a call. This is going to be fucking epic.” In the next breath, his cell was at his ear, and he greeted someone with a “Stop whatever the fuck you’re doing.
We’ve got a project…” as he walked away, leaving us with gaping mouths.
“What the hell just happened?” Eddie sounded as confused as I did.
I shook my head, not sure how Cassius had railroaded us in spectacular fashion. It was pretty impressive, to be honest. Not that I’d admit that aloud.
Staring around at my friends, they were all in varying stages of amused and highly entertained.
“Right, new wager,” Joel started, while I was pretty certain Eddie was having second thoughts about saying yes.