Page 1 of Cocky Brutal Sinner

1

BEAU

The whole world has turned pink and gold, the bride’s two favorite colors. The sunset outside the windows casts the wedding guests in warm light, augmented by strings of twinkling lights. Gigantic bouquets of blushing flowers spill over every table, and champagne glasses glint in every hand, including mine.

As I glance down at my drink, the tip of a bottle appears—a server smoothly tops me off, not spilling a drop. Before I can thank him, he’s already whisking off to refill glasses at the next table. The service, like everything else, is perfect. That impresses me more than anything else at this multi-million-dollar affair. Good servers are harder to find than a truffle at a tree farm. I should know—I’ve been staffing my restaurants for years.

Next to me, Luke Windsor, one of my best friends, flips through a small stack of index cards as he mutters to himself.

“…known Nate since high school…never thought he’d find someone like Cat…”

I nudge him with my elbow. “Enough freaking out. You got this, dude. You’ve been practicing this speech for weeks.”

“I just don’t want to mess up.” Luke sighs. “I might only ever make one of these speeches, thanks to this whole rotating system.”

After a considerable amount of infighting among our group of five friends, Nate, the groom, officially developed his wedding roster based on a complicated point system I can’t begin to understand. All I know is that he’s labelled us all his ‘best men’ but we’ve each been honored with specific duties, and Luke is the lucky bastard stuck giving the speech.

“Come on, let him practice.” Our friend Ryan claps me on the shoulder. “Let’s grab some bacon-wrapped scallops before they run out.”

I groan. “What a cliché. Every wedding has bacon-wrapped scallops.”

“Because they’re delicious.”

“Cat and Nate should have consulted me about the menu,” I grumble. Yes, bacon-wrapped scallops are delicious, but at least add a little fig or some maple syrup. Something to dress it up.

As we cross the room, I catch sight of her out of the corner of my eye. I don’t turn to look, not with Ryan right beside me to notice it. But I don’t need to; my peripheral vision is exceptional. It should be…after developing it for the last several years to do just this—see her without looking.

Outside the kitchen, we find the last groomsman, James, waiting for a server to emerge.

“Trying to score some scallops too?” Ryan asks.

“I want to see if they have any Saltine crackers for Maura,” he says. “She needs something to settle her stomach.”

Ryan and I nod seriously. Neither of us exactly knows what a pregnant woman needs, but I’m not about to question it.

“I can’t believe that two of us are married now,” Ryan says.

James raises his brows. “When are you joining in?”

“Pippa and I are very happy without rings and a fancy piece of legal paper, thanks. She’s the one, but it’s just a formality, and we agree there’s no rush.” Ryan raises his glass to his girlfriend across the room, and Pippa sticks her tongue out at him.

“So it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that your Dad can still hardly stomach the idea of you two being together?”

James elbows me and I realize now was not the time to bring that up, but I genuinely want to know because if Jack Archer can get used to the idea of his son dating his stepdaughter, then maybe…maybe I could have a real shot someday, too.

Fuck, this wedding has me all emotional and shit. I take a bigger swallow of my champagne as Ryan clears his throat.

“That might be part of it,” he admits. “When I marry her, I want it to be perfect. Not tense and awkward as fuck.”

“Fair enough,” Luke says.

It’s hard not to look at the fucking stunning bridesmaid standing with Pippa, but I manage it, looking around until I find the bride and groom instead.

Cat and Nate move through the room hand in hand, stopping by each table to greet the guests. Cat glows with joy, her wild blonde curls picking up the golden light. Even the perpetually grumpy Nate has a smile on his face.

It’s hard to believe these two managed to find each other. Nate was born with the silverest of silver spoons in his mouth, while Cat had a less lucky childhood. It’s pure chance that they even met, let alone fell in love. That’s enough to make anyone hopeful.

What makes it even better is the feeling that my family is growing. Not my blood family, which is…complicated. No, it’s the found family of my best guy friends and their partners. I feel the safest and most myself with this family, and nights like these remind me why I fought so hard to keep my place in it.