“Thank you for coming!”Penny claps her hands together, standing at the head of the table. She’s cradling her glass of wine like it’s a teddy bear, right at her chest. “And thank you to everyone who made the trip down here for a little wedding party meeting.”
Declan reaches down and places his hands on the maid of honour’s shoulders.
The crew would jump at any excuse to see each other.
Wyatt pats EJ Dalton on the back, as if that specific part of the speech were a personal dedication to him. EJ, beer in hand, gives a little bow while seated, as if he knows it’s a personal thank-you, too.
“We just wanted to go over a few things and make some plans in advance. You guys are the most important part of the day. We work around you. If you can’t, or don’t want to participate in certain parts of this, we totally understand,” she continues.
Lowesy, who is by her side, nods along.
“Starting with schedules. As you know, we’re getting married in August. I know we’ve already cleared your schedules for the wedding, but we were planning on staying at Declan’s family’slake house for a few days. We wanted to extend the invite to all of you and check if you’d prefer to do it before or after the wedding. Partners included.”
“How many partners can we bring?” EJ asks, wiggling his eyebrows.
Wyatt barks out a laugh, making Dalton smile like a kid. There’s something about those two. It’s like the universe put them on the same path, forcing them to meet, just because it knew the rest of us would need some entertainment.
Lauren rolls up her napkin and chucks it across the table at him, rolling her eyes when he winces like it maimed him.
Forker immediately dips his chin in agreement.
Arden, who became fast friends with Penny and is also in the wedding party, taps his leg as a warning. Maybe to get him to simmer down. She’s a nurse. Her time off doesn’t come as easily as ours does. He tends to forget that the rest of the world still works to the bone during the enjoyable months. For less money.
“We also wanted to go over your roles for the day,” Penny says with a smile. “Aura is on FaceTime, so just shout if you need to interrupt, Aur!”
“Will do!” a voice slides through the phone Lauren is holding. Penny’s older sister, Aura, couldn’t make it to this meeting in person. “And I will only be bringingonepartner and one daughter.”
“Boo!” EJ heckles her, grinning at the camera. “Let me be your second husband already, Aur. Put me out of my misery.”
I glance around the table. Five groomsmen, five bridesmaids. There isn’t a single person here I wouldn’t trust. I don’t think we’ll have any issues in the days leading up to the wedding. Every one of them would bend over backward to make sure that their week goes off without a hitch.
We have dinner, which was prepared by Seth, Declan’s best man.
His shit isgood.He made us steak and potatoes, which might not sound like much, but it’shissteak and potatoes, and it’s fucking delicious. He could have a career as a chef. I have no idea how that man wound up as an accountant. Seems like an awful waste of god-given talent.
There are three salads to choose from, roasted veggies, small, buttery rolls, and cinnamon buns for dessert. The last was personally chosen by the bride, obviously. Penny probably bleeds cream cheese icing.
I’m stuffed by the time Seth drops that pastry in front of me. I inhale it anyway.
We eat, we listen, we get our jobs as their wedding party, and we drink. Forker is thrilled to be told he won’t be walking the dogs down the aisle. None of us are shocked when Penny and Declan announce they’ll drive back up to Canada so the pups can be part of their day. Both of them refuse to put them on a plane.
You wouldn’t fail to include your children in your wedding, would you? These are their kids for all intents and purposes. Penny would elope before she’d do this without those dogs. She’d get married without Declan before she got married without the kids.
Saltzy shows up later in the evening, after all the fanfare and business are discussed, and the night shifts from a wedding meeting to a party. He and I shoot the shit on the balcony for a bit, being the least two social of the bunch, and eventually Forker joins us to get some fresh air.
Since the crew is in town, we are being forced to go toIcebox. We all knew this would wind up being a night of drinking, anyway. We cleared our schedule for the morning in advance.
“Cap, you hanging out for a bit? They’re handing out shots in there,” Forker says, dropping into the chair next to mine.
Saltzy breaths a laugh, shaking his head. “No. I’m on duty as the designated driver for the pretty groomsman tonight.”
Oh?
Forker and I both stare at him.
He glances between us, gauging the surprise in our reactions. When we don’t speak, he shoots us a look. “Oh, come on. Are we going to keep pretending you guys think we’re just friends? Fork, you’ve made ten comments to us both about how lucky he’d be to have my dad as his father-in-law.”
Forker’s brows pinch together. He leans back in his seat, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “That’s not the issue. The issue is, I don’t recall asking you to drive me home tonight.”
