Chapter 5
T he kitchen was a hive of activity when Tom, the event coordinator, opened the door. Not only was it enormous, but it was bustling with kitchen staff. I mean, I knew it was a working kitchen, but I didn’t expect it to be so big.
The layout just kept repeating itself, station after station. Each was a mini kitchen in itself.
Jenna was working alone at a stainless steel workbench over at the far end.
Tom smiled over his shoulder. “Javier had no problem lending his space to Jenna, although he was put out at first that your brother and his fiancé had declined the wedding cake option. Your friend had only been in here five minutes and it was like they were old pals. She’s charmed the socks off him.”
He stopped and motioned for me to pass him.
“I’ll leave you here.” He handed me a business card. “If you need something, call me directly. We only have a few hours.”
I thanked him and he doubled back the way we came.
“Scott, you’re here.” Jenna looked up from the intricate work she was doing with a sheet of rolled fondant icing and swept some hair out of her face. In doing so, she smudged icing powder over her ear and into her hair.
I reached across to brush it away. Usually I’d leave it, liking her a little mussed up, but we were attending a wedding later and I didn’t want her having a panic attack over her hair when she’d been in here all day rather than having a pamper day with the other girls.
Not that the other girls didn’t deserve that, but I felt like Jenna was missing out on something that would have done her good.
If I couldn’t get back to help her with enough time for her to join in, I’d buy her a gift certificate to a day spa in the city.
She didn’t look like a girl with FOMO though. She looked like a woman in her element, all lit up from the inside out.
Cooking—well, baking to be more precise—brought her joy, but even more than that, watching someone else enjoy her creations brought her a satisfaction I’d never seen her get from anything else.
Food set her soul alight. And I was here for it when it happened.
“I’m here, and you’ve got me for a half hour. I’m headed to the suit vendor with Knox and Nerd, but then I’ll be back.”
“Perfect! I managed to scrounge up this wooden dowel for the middle of the structure, but you know I love to point the end.” She batted her lashes at me.
“Okay. I’ll get some sandpaper from somewhere.” And then I chuckled at the word “structure.”
God only knew what this “simple” cake entailed.
I’d have to speak to someone from the maintenance team here or search for a hardware store close by.
“Oh! And I need something that will work as a-a-a . . .” She looked off into the distance and bit her lip.
“I’ve got it! Bubble tea straws. Yes! That will work. And . . . and I need, erm, you know what, you can just get me twenty. Beg, borrow, steal, Scott. This is a matter of life and death.”
“Can’t I just pay for them?” I asked with a smirk.
“Yeah, I guess you can. But just go to the nearest café. I’ll need them as soon as these have cooled,” she mumbled, thumbing over her shoulder to the ovens.
She went back to her delicate work, and I remembered last night.
“Hey, so you know that club we went to last?—”
The oven dinged and she rushed over to spy inside the glass door.
“Whoop!” she shrieked and twirled around a few times.
I wanted to tell her about seeing Wren and the ramifications of that, but first, she had a cake to make. It could wait until later.
Two and a half hours later, BLT sub in hand, I was walking back into a very busy kitchen. Jenna was now tucked away in a corner, and there were even more bodies than there had been earlier.
“Twenty bubble tea straws and your lunch, Chef.”
She looked up and smiled at me.
“Thank you. If I place them in now will you help put the tiers together?”
I nodded. “Sure thing.”
She carefully and precisely pushed the straws through the largest of the round sponges and then did the same to the next largest tier.
“Okay, here goes. Palm as flat as you can get it and then straight onto the middle of this big fella,” she said, pointing to the first cake she’d poked.
“Big fella.” I laughed and then did as she instructed.
“Jenna. How many people can this beast feed?” I asked.
“One hundred and seventy-four, and then about half of that again for seconds.”
“One hundred and . . . Jenna . . . there’s like fifteen of us!”
“I know,” she sighed but her eyes were shining.
“Come on then, two more layers to go.”
I just shook my head.
Fucking hell.
The wedding cake turned out to be a beautifully crafted piece of art with real and iced flowers cascading down one side in blue hues, the darker shades roaming into teal territory for my brother, I’d guess.
Anna had cried and Casey had been a proud and grateful groom.
The cake wasn’t what had taken my breath away, though, it was the baker herself.
Turns out the dress she thought would work “okay,” ended up being the thing that would kill me.
On the hanger in the bathroom, it looked like any dress might have. I could tell it was pretty, but on, god damn she was a smoke show.
The color was like this grey, or maybe it was more silver . . . and there was this slit that went from the floor right up her fucking thigh. The straps crossed over and I just could not tear my eyes away.
Skin. There was a lot of skin. Soft and creamy and . . .
“Careful, bro, your boner’s showin’.”
“Shut the fuck up, Ace.” Knox gave me a shit-eating grin and I gave him the finger, but I was happy he’d been able to make a joke. Last night could have sent him spiraling, and I was glad it didn’t.
“Where are we sitting?” my baby brother asked.
“Mama said to spread out. We’ll be together for photos, but we’re not to choose a side, otherwise . . .”
“Right. Yep. Roger that.” Jason saluted and went and sat on the opposite side from where I was standing.
The rows were set out with four chairs on one side of the aisle and four on the other, repeated three times over.
It was small but intimate, and the place looked nice.
“Scott. Shall we take our seats?” Jenna asked.
“Yeah, okay.” I led her to the second row on the left.
She sat down and let out a breath. “How can something so beautiful be so sad, but not?”
“I know, hard to fathom, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Anna is so strong.”
“My brother loves her.” I shrugged and she nodded.
If she wanted to do it this way, he was going to move heaven and earth to make sure it was as perfect as it could be.
Anna had lost her parents and younger sister in an accident two years ago when a drunk driver T-boned the fucking car they were traveling in. It pained me to call it an accident—someone was to blame, and it was the sick fuck who’d gotten behind the wheel of his car drunk.
The ceremony was short and sweet, but my brother’s smile was wide and happy. He was a good guy, the best, and he and Anna were going to have a very long and happy life together.
What would I say when Jenna eventually got married? Would I be able to watch her promise her life to someone else? She’d probably ask me to give a speech—how the hell would I keep it together?
The thought sent a shiver through me, and Jenna chuckled.
“You can’t really be that averse to getting married.”
Ah, yet another lie I’d told her when we’d talked about our futures. I told her I didn’t see the point in getting married. Had a whole argument for why it was an outdated tradition.
She always looked at me so puzzled.
And I knew why. I was surrounded by big love. The way my parents felt about each other. The way Aunt May still loved my uncle. But I’d needed to pad out my story about wanting to be an eternal bachelor, and I’d woven lots of little lies in to make the biggest one more believable.
So, I was never getting married.
“Nah, I get it for them. I mean, you ever seen someone as happy as Casey in this very moment?”
She shook her head. “I honestly haven’t.” She placed her head on my shoulder, and we watched as Casey twirled his bride around the makeshift dance floor. Anna beamed, her white dress floating out as she turned, laughing.
“I know it’s practically against your religion, but will you dance with me?”
I shuffled in my seat so I could look down at her. “I might be persuaded.”
It was my brother’s wedding after all.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s it gonna take?”
“A promise that you won’t step on my feet.”
She slapped me on the shoulder. “I’m trained!”
That made me laugh. “You lasted one month at ballroom.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Which is one month longer than you.”
She stood up and then bowed over a little, tipping her invisible cap and holding out her other hand.
I pulled her and she lost her balance. “I’ll be doing the leading,” I told her and then swept her into my arms and onto the dance floor.
We messed around a bit while she made me stand all stiff and proper, but the song changed and slowed, and I tightened my hold on her.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and placed her cheek against my chest. Right over my heart.
We stayed like that, her enjoying herself, me dying a little inside, until I couldn’t take it much longer. I was going to kiss her. I could feel my resolve slipping. Her perfect lips were right there. Plump and glossy. She was so close I’d only need to place my fingers beneath her chin . . .
“Shots,” I barked out.
“Huh?”
“Wanna do shots?”
She studied me and then a smile detonated on her beautiful face.
“You know I do! Especially with you! I love loose Scott. I haven’t seen him in forever. Come on!”
She dragged me over to the bar and clapped her hands and stamped her feet. She always did that when she couldn’t contain her excitement. She’d done it since I’d known her.
“Barkeep. Your finest tequila, please,” and then she stage whispered out the side of her mouth, “this is all still on the big guy, right?”
I chuckled. “Casey said open bar all night.”
“Great. Make it two a piece, kind sir.”
The bartender flashed her a toothy smile. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Ooh, I like that.”
I shot the bartender a look, making it clear his flirtatious customer service wasn’t needed here. He smirked but dropped the act, placing four shot glasses in front of us and pouring the liquor with swift accuracy.
“Thank you. We’d also like the traditional accompaniments.”
He smiled again, this time, though, it wasn’t overly flirty, and he gave Jenna the saltshaker and lime wedges.
“Race or one at a time?”
Fuck it. “Let’s race.”
“Okay. I’m gonna need a long strip.” And then she fucking flattened her tongue and licked from the inside of her wrist all the way up to her thumb.
My dick twitched and I saw Knox choke a mouthful of beer back into his glass behind her.
When he looked back at me his eyes were like saucers. “Oh, fuck, your face,” he wheezed through a coughing fit.
Jenna turned at his voice. “You wanna do shots, Ace?”
“Nah, I think big brother’s got all your fun covered.”
He was such an asshole.
I forewent the salt and picked up my glass, trying to ignore the way Knox was watching.
“On three,” I said.
“You going one, two, three, or three, two, one?”
I raised a brow. “When I start counting you’ll know.”
She giggled. “Right. I’m just so happy right now.”
I shook my head but started anyway. “Three, two, one.”
We both pounded back our shots, the burning liquid torching my throat and esophagus as it slid down. My shooter hit the bar top first.
“Bleagh.” She winced and took a big swig of her icy gin and tonic.
“Again?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Two more.” She sent the bartender a peace sign.
We repeated our race and I won again.
“You know what you’ve gotta do now?”
“Do I have to?” I made a face, and she squashed my cheeks with her soft hands.
“Yes, you have to.” And she rushed off to the DJ playing at our private party.
The DJ nodded—he’d been taking requests from the girls all night. He was going with the flow, and I saw a big tip making its way to the back pocket of his baggy jeans by the end of the night.
“Come on, then,” she screeched when she was back in front of me, kicking off her heels and ridding me of my jacket.
I unhooked the cufflinks Casey and Anna had given me as a wedding token and rolled up the sleeves of the powder-blue shirt I was wearing.
It was identical to every male member of my family.
As the opening bars to “She Likes It” started up, I heaved a sigh of relief that this song existed because before it, no matter where we were or who we were with, if we drank tequila, she’d make me sing “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off”.
It started as a dare when we were younger and just snowballed from there.
Theo, Lexie, Coralie, and Gunner joined in the madness. Then Casey and Anna appeared out of nowhere.
Jenna and I both sang the words to each other, bumping and grinding, spinning and laughing—me a lot looser than I was a half hour ago.
There was nothing I needed to protect anyone from.
There wasn’t anyone we didn’t know here.
We were in a safe place.
My dad sent me a knowing look and I sent him back a two-finger salute.
He knew it was hard for me to let go. He said he used to walk in through the front door of our home no matter if he’d been gone a day a week or a month and I’d visibly shrink.
I’d let my guard down and be able to just, be. Almost like subconsciously I was stepping down from my watchpost.
My parents worried, I know they did, but it was just the way I was wired.
We’d been on the dance floor for a while. Jenna was shimmying her way back over to me, hamming up her dance moves, and I cracked a smile.
She could be such a goof.
Said goof lept into my arms and wrapped her long limbs around me. I caught her under her butt and her eyes sparkled as our faces aligned.
“Don’t give me that look.” Yet another familiar tune filled the space, and I just couldn’t. NO.
I shook my head.
“What look?”
“You wanna do the thing but I’ve already done our tequila ritual and that’s it for tonight.”
She gave me her most innocent good-girl look.
I rolled my eyes in fake annoyance.
“It’s easier on ice, and I’m not warmed up,” I tried.
“And I’m about forty pounds too heavy for this, put me down.”
I hated when she said shit like that, and growled, “I can bench press?—”
“Yeah, yeah. Your guns are so huge.” She winked.
“Why are you always giving me shit?”
“Come on already.”
I shook my head and held her tight. “This tux is a rental.”
“Pleeeeease. This floor is perfect for it.”
I closed my eyes. “Everyone is here, I’ll never live it down.”
“No, this is the perfect time. Knox isn’t even in the room. Casey only has eyes for Anna, so what if anyone else sees? Since when did you care?”
This wasn’t even technically the song, but I knew that wouldn’t get me off the hook either.
Her caramel eyes implored me to play along.
“Ugh. Fine. One go. One time. Once.”
“Yes.”
“Right now?”
If I could just keep this up a little while longer the song would end and the whole thing would be pointless.
“Yep, just feel the beat, Scott.”
She wasn’t giving up.
So I hung my head, defeated.
I needed about ten feet to do this stupid move. The move that had never seen the light of day until now, and fuck, I was just drunk enough to do it.
But if Knox or Troy were to see, my life would be over.
I did a quick scan, unable to spot them, and when I turned back around there she was, ready, her dress scooped up in her hands, long legs all on display just for some silly move out of a stupid movie that was decades old, and nobody had ever heard of.
She’d spent an entire summer watching her parents’ VHS collection— Strictly Ballroom being a top feature—before they threw them out to make way for all the DVDs they were buying.
Sometimes it was hard being best friends with a girl, but I’d survived.
“Okay, quickly then, for fuck’s sake,” I grumbled.
This really did work better on ice, but I hoped the tiles would do if I gained a little momentum.
She was giggling as the song ramped up, yet she managed to yell “Go” and I ran into a skid, lowered to my knees, and spun my entire body a few times as she twirled backward, inches in front of me.
I looked up at her as I went, my heart beating wildly in my chest at just how amazing she was. Everything faded and I forgot I was making an idiot of myself. I just watched her whirl, transfixed on how stunning she was in her silvery-grey dress, barefoot and happy.
And when I came to a stop, I wanted to stay there forever. Down on my knees, worshipping the ground she walked on.
This was us. She was fun and ridiculous, and she reminded me not to take myself too seriously. There wasn’t another person on this planet that could get me to do the shit she roped me into.
She squealed and bent down to hug me, pulling me out of my dizzy haze, and I stood us up.
“You were the better Scott of the two, always have been.”
The main dude in the film was called Scott and it only made her love it even more.
I hugged her back. “The shit you make me do.”
“Thank you. That was so much fun.”
“You’re welcome.”
My eyes flitted across the dance floor, and I was met with my mama’s gaze. She flashed me a knowing smile and I found myself unable to look away. Unable to lie just this once as I held my Jenna close.
Mama had my number, and I knew it.
The song changed again to another slow one. Baggy pants was obviously trying to kill me.
Jenna sighed and pressed against me. “I hope my wedding reception is as good as this one.”
I stiffened, the air in my lungs burned as I held it there.
“I want everyone to have as much fun as we are right now.”
Why the next words came out of my mouth, I don’t know. But I guess there was nothing I didn’t want to know when it came to her.
She tilted her head so she was looking up at me.
“You still want the horse-drawn carriage?”
She smiled and shook her head. “No.”
“How about your groom landing his F-16C in the parking lot?”
“Will I ever live that down?”
“Nope. You were going through your hotshot phase. You used to make moony eyes at Mitchell Bardsley every chance you got.”
She snorted. “How old do you think he is now?”
“Fifty ei?—”
She swatted my chest. “Stop.”
I smiled and she smiled back.
“I’d want my food to do the talking. Everything else I wouldn’t be too fraught over. Intimate, with lots of candlelight, and a handsome and kind man to walk down the aisle to. This DJ, ’cause he’s the best. Oh, and I want to make my own cake, obviously. I have that creation stored away.”
She tapped at her temple with two fingers.
I looked over at the one she made today for Casey and Anna.
“You did so good today. I don’t know how you do it.”
“Come on, it’s easy. I’m not flying around on skates or running into infernos. I’m not taking on huge cases like Lexie or helping to guide the youth of today like Coralie.”
“Hey, you’re the most creative and talented person I know. Look how incredible that thing is.” I carefully tilted her chin to the side, her gaze roving over her hard work.
“Look at what you did to make it happen.”
“I know, I know. I just really wanted it for them.”
She nuzzled back into me, and I held onto her for dear life.