3. Hollander
three
Hollander
I ’ve spent most of the wedding reception dodging the roaming hands of Natalie, the bridesmaid I was paired with for the wedding. She made sure to let me know her hotel isn’t far if I wanted to slip out with her for a while.
Natalie is one of Ember and Elsa’s distant cousins—one they don’t really know well.
Since they don’t have as many friends as Jack and Trace, they asked Natalie to be a bridesmaid.
If I had known I would be spending the wedding reception hiding from Natalie, I might not have agreed to be a groomsman.
Who am I kidding? Of course, I’d be Jack and Trace’s groomsman.
The two of them, along with Rafe, Jude, Riker, and Maddox, are my best friends.
We served on the same Navy SEAL team—there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for any of them.
We’ve been through a lot of shit together.
Standing with each of them as they marry their true love is an honor and a privilege.
Rafe, Trace, Jack, and Riker have all found love.
Jude and Maddox are still looking. I’ve told them all about Hadley because we don’t keep secrets from each other—ever.
I’d hoped to introduce her to them today, but I was wrong about how she felt about me.
I still can’t believe she shot me down so quickly—she didn’t even give me a chance to ask why.
“There you are.” Rafe takes a seat at the table in the chair next to mine, followed by Trace, Jack, Riker, Jude, and Maddox.
No sooner do I think about my friends than they all appear, somehow finding me at the farthest corner of the reception area.
“Never expected you to back down from a challenge.”
“Here.” Riker sets a glass of whiskey on the table in front of me. “We thought you might need a drink.”
“Thanks.” I pick up the glass and take a long drink before setting it back down. “Why did I have to be paired with the only single bridesmaid?”
“Do you want to tell him or should I?” Riker raises an eyebrow at Trace and Jack.
“Fine. We went by height. Since Natalie is tall and wanted to wear four-inch-high heels, she wanted to make sure she was paired with a tall groomsman, and since you’re the tallest,” Trace trails off, taking a swig of his own drink.
“By half an inch, you dick.” I grab a napkin and toss it at Trace, feeling happier than I have all day, hanging out with my best friends.
It’s hard to believe we’re so close that we even shared that we are all still virgins in our early to mid-thirties.
Or I guess we all were until Rafe, Trace, Jack, and Riker found their soulmates.
Now it’s just me, Jude, and Maddox—the final three of the original virgin squad—a nickname we gave ourselves.
“In our defense, Hollander, we didn’t know about Hadley at the time of the pairing. By then, it was too late.” Jack adds, reminding me that Hadley turned me down.
“Jesus, Jack, did you have to bring up Hadley?” Jude slams his whiskey glass on the table.
“Not all of us have found our happily ever after.” The cracks are starting to show in our relationship —we went from all being single virgins to more than half of us finding love and having sex daily, while the rest of us are miserably alone.
“Maybe I should bed Natalie and get it over with.” He makes a move to get up, but I grab his arm, stopping him.
“You don’t mean that, Jude. You know you want to wait until you find the one, just like those assholes did.” I try to ease the tension, but it doesn’t help—Jude is still wound tight.
“How can you say that after being basically dumped by the first woman you’ve ever been attracted to?
” The pain etching his face makes me realize I don’t have it as bad as Jude and Maddox—at least I’ve found the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.
I couldn’t imagine still searching for the one.
“I guess because I’m not ready to give up on Hadley.” My realization doesn’t shock me as much as I thought it would. Now I just need to convince my Baby Girl she’s mine.
“And just what are you going to do to win her heart?” The normally quiet Maddox asks, his gaze holding mine as if I hold the key to love.
“I’m not sure yet. All I know is I’m not ready to give up on her.”
“Alright,” Rafe says, standing and patting my shoulder.
“I wish you luck. And guys,” he looks from Jude to Maddox and back to me, “someday, after each of us has found love, we’ll look back on today and remember how strong we were while waiting for the love of our lives.
” And just like that, Rafe defuses the tension at the table, proving once again why he was our team leader.
Now it’s up to me to prove to Hadley we’re meant to be together.