“I’m just saying, you know they approve of Deanna.” His folks had known her since her family moved in next door to his during their freshman year of high school. Their families went way back. “Why not—”
“Save it,” he said, raising his hand. “I get enough of that shit from my mother. I’m not hearing it from you too.”
Jake was an idiot… who was in total denial. As soon as he found out Deanna was pregnant he started acting likehewas the father, instead of the deadbeat who’d knocked her up. He moved her into one of his rentals, helped arrange childcare when she returned to work, even set her up with a meal service so he could be sure she was eating right. He dropped by to check on them all the time and spoiled Rylan with stuffed animals, clothes and storybooks. My buddy had it bad for his old friend. I just wanted to know how long it would be before he was willing to admit it.
“Whatever.”
“Enough about me. What about you? You thinking about coming back to work soon or what?”
He loved busting my chops. I hadn’t exactly taken a hiatus since our daughter was born. But instead of working eighty hours a week I’d cut back to forty so I could spend more time with my girls. Briar had decided to take a year off for maternity leave, though she loved being with Amelia so much she claimed she didn’t know if she’d ever want to go back. I’d never admit it to her because I knew it had to be her choice, but I hoped she’d want to expand our family sooner rather than later and I loved that she had the option to stay home with our kids, if she chose to. One of the many benefits of working as hard as I had? Our great-grandkids would never be able to spend all the money I’d made.
“You should think about getting a life yourself.” I smirked at him behind my glass. “You wouldn’t be hiding out in your office ‘til all hours if you had a beautiful girl to come home to. Nothing like it, man. Trust me on that.”
“Quit bein’ a ball-breaker, Lennox.”
I wouldn’t give him so much grief if I believed his shit about being better off alone, but I saw too much of myself in him. I’d been drifting in and out of meaningless relationships before I finally acknowledged my feelings for Briar and I knew Jake was doing the same damn thing.
“Hey, you two,” Briar said, slipping her arm around my waist. “Your mom wants to kidnap our baby.”
Being a dad was the ultimate, but I wouldn’t turn down an overnight with my gorgeous wife. The doctor had just given us the green light to resume ‘normal activities’ a few weeks ago and as far as I was concerned, we had some lost time to make up for.
I nuzzled her neck, whispering in her ear, “That could be fun.”
She laughed, slapping my chest. “I’ll tell her that’s a yes then.”
“I was just telling this idiot,” I said, hooking a thumb in Jake’s direction, “That he’s missing out.”
“How so?” Briar asked, curling into my side when I slipped my arm around her shoulders.
“Don’t you start too,” Jake warned, wagging a finger at Briar. “I know you, Little Miss Matchmaker. You think just because you’ve got this guy whipped—”
Briar laughed as she looked up at me. “Are you whipped, babe?”
“Behave,” I murmured in her ear. “Or I’m going to put you over my knee when we get home.”
She fanned her face. “Promises, promises.”
“You guys make me sick,” Jake said, making a gagging sound.
“You’re just jealous.” We shared a look that made me feel like shit when I realized it was true. Jake was jealous of what I’d found with Briar, but didn’t he realize he could have it too if he just got his head out of his ass long enough to see the love of his life could very well be masquerading as his best friend.
“Hey.” Briar stepped forward, snagging the lapels of Jake’s suit jacket as she looked into his eyes. “We love you. We only want what’s best for you. If you can’t see what an incredible catch you are, I’m here to tell you, any woman would feel lucky to call you hers, Jake.”
That was one of the many reasons I loved my wife. She saw the best in everyone and the people who mattered most to me mattered to her too.
Jake wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead. “Can we just clone you?”
Briar laughed as I hauled her out of his arms. “Get your own woman.”
The band I’d hired just announced they were taking a quick break and I knew it was my big moment when the singer approached and passed the microphone off to me.
Briar gave me a questioning look when I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the middle of the makeshift dance floor. “Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention for a minute?”
“What are you doing?” Briar asked, wide-eyed.
I shook my head, trying to keep a straight face. “I want to thank you all for coming to help celebrate Briar’s birthday. It’s only been a year since we were last here, but it feels like a lifetime. The past year has been the best of my life, for two simple reasons. Briar became my wife, and blessed me with the most beautiful baby girl.”
A few murmurs of assent moved through the dozens of people we’d gathered, but when I looked at their faces I saw their smiles. These were our friends. Our family. The people we could count on to be there for us, and they were as happy as we were that we’d finally found each other after years of being lost in denial.
