Chapter 9
HANNAH
“You’re not going to last,” Tucker, who saved me from myself, says, once we climb into the limo. “Who gives up sex for a year?”
“Shut up,” I say. “This is why you have to come to Paris.”
“No can do, sweetheart.” He stops my campaign. “You’re bailing on us. What happened to Cabo? My grandparents lent us the house for the weekend.”
“She’s choosing her bestie over us,” Rocco complains.
“Traitor,” my guys say at the same time and start to chant the word as they clap.
I smile and enjoy their little childish display, but in no time, it gets out of hand and becomes a stupid song.
Tucker starts pretending that he’s holding a mic, while Zeke begins to drum his thighs with his hands.
Ethan and Rocco play air guitar. Men, they never grow up, and it’s okay.
Some nights I need this. The feeling that nothing changed. That we’re still playing together.
Thankfully, we’re not on our way to a concert or heading to the airport to travel to the next city or state where we’d be performing. It’s just one night, supporting a charity so near and dear to our hearts.
“Who’s the guy?” Ethan asks, once they stop with their nonsense. “I didn’t recognize him.”
I shrug. “June’s brother.”
“Golden Boy,” Tucker interjects.
That’s what they call him since they learned about him. It’s the whole gold medalist thing that’s in his bio.
“June’s the hottie next door, right?” Rocco wiggles his eyebrows. “Such a shame she’s off the market. The woman was my cougar wet dream. Why would she want to get married?”
I don’t remind him that she’s only three years older than him.
“There’s nothing wrong with marriage,” Ethan protests.
“Says the guy marrying the ice queen,” Zeke says. “I’d rather be alone.”
“Stop it, fucker,” Ethan warns him. “This is why Hannah thinks Lori isn’t good for me.”
The driver turns and looks a little scared. Four tall, mean-looking, loud men yelling at each other can be overwhelming.
“If we were still playing, she’d be the Yoko to Sinners of Seattle,” Tucker declares, and everyone goes silent.
These guys and I go way back. We met when I was sixteen, and most of them were seventeen. When we were all lost, the Deckers thought it’d be a good idea to bring the broken teenagers together to create a band and keep them out of trouble.
Tucker and Ethan have known each other since they were in diapers, or maybe it was kindergarten. The thing is, that if we’re all siblings, those two are twins. Siamese twins attached to the hip.
I look at Ethan, grab his hand, and tell him, “Nothing and no one can come between us. We promised.”
“They’re crazy, it’s nothing like that. If you’re there, you’d see it.”
“So, what’s happening with this guy? We saw you, Nana.” Zeke changes the subject and calls me by the stupid name they gave me when we started the band. “This wasn’t just a let me save the miserable guy. You were looking at him like a piece of chocolate cake with extra frosting.”
Why wouldn’t I? Alexander wearing a shirt is hot, a tux is extra yummy. That decides it. I can’t go to France. It’s a formal wedding in the most romantic country in the world.
“He’s the guy she’s been doing for the past couple of years,” Tucker reminds them.
“One of you has to go with me to this wedding,” I say firmly.
“Nope,” they all say at the same time.
“Please,” I beg, almost pouting.
“There’s nothing wrong with dating the guy,” Zeke says. “You like him, that much was obvious. You almost punched the woman who approached your guy before you walked to the dance floor.”
“I’d pay good money to see that,” Rocco says. “Women fighting is hot.”
“You think everything is hot,” I say, annoyed at his comment.
“Give this guy a chance,” Zeke proposes. “Try something new, you know you want to.”
Zeke is onto something. Unlike Tucker, he knows this is about more than breaking the resolution.
Alex makes me...feel. My body experiences too many sensations at once when he’s around. Accelerated heart rate, butterflies fluttering in my stomach, and shivering are symptoms I don’t get when I’m close to any other guy. Alex has done that to me since the first time we met.
“Look, we adore you, and you know that we’d do almost anything for you. Forfeiting a vacation to go to a wedding is not one of them.” Tucker makes his case. “Just don’t go and come to Cabo with us.”
My loyalties should be with these guys, but June is getting married, and she’s my best friend. I just can’t go to the wedding by myself. If I see Alex again, I’m going to have to work overtime to resist him.
“You always take me as your plus one,” I protest.
They do it, more often than I would like for them to. These guys like to play the field, but when it comes to important events, they call me. Well, except Ethan, who has Lori. I’m tempted to ask why he didn’t bring her, but I don’t since it’s pretty clear that no one likes her.
“Ethan, come with me, please,” I ask him directly, since he owes me several favors. I’m always picking the right bouquet of flowers for his fiancée and making sure they arrive on time.
Zeke laughs. Tucker gives me a don’t ask. Rocco says, “She wouldn’t let him go. She hates you.”
Ethan doesn’t deny Zeke’s accusations. I wrap my arms around myself. Is he going to choose her over us? He shouldn’t. We’re a family.
“Are things going to change between us?” I ask Ethan.
He shakes his head. “Never.”
I try to believe him, but what if we lose him?
Usually, I brush off any absurd comment about Lori, but not today. I’m no longer confident about our future. Tuck and I have families, but Zeke, Rocco, and Ethan only have us. We’re our own special kind of family. Not sure if Lori understands what we are or who Ethan is.
“Well, if none of you are coming with me, at least take Draco with you,” I request, putting a pin on Ethan’s situation.
“I’ll pick him up,” Tucker offers. “Just be careful, okay?”
“Always.”
He rolls his eyes and presses his lips together.
I’m sure he means more than don’t sleep with the guy.
I’m happy he doesn’t say what he's thinking. Tonight isn’t a good night to have deep conversations about adult subjects, so we do what’s easier, we sing.
We make up songs; we forget for one minute there’s a world outside of our group.