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“Stop it, you’re not a fuck-up,” he huffs, frowning at me.
“Yes, I am. And that’s okay, because it means that you don’t have to worry. I’m in charge of being a mess so you can have a happy, wonderful day. If you screw anything up, blame it on me. Consider that your wedding present.”
Some of the tension eases from his shoulders as he rolls his eyes at me. “You didn’t get us a wedding present, did you?”
I give him a goofy grin. “Hey, I’m living at home! This is the best I can do.”
It’s a lie. I used a decent chunk of my new salary to buy them the fancy espresso machine they both drooled over when looking at things to put on their registry, but decided it was too much to ask for.
He gives me a disbelieving look, and I laugh. “My date got you something really nice though, don’t worry.”
“Oh, that’s very sweet of Uncle Nathan.”
I smack his shoulder. “Don’t think I won’t strangle you on your wedding day.”
Max winces and clutches his shoulder like a kicked puppy. “Ouch, I’m going to have a bruise.”
“Add it to the collection that you get when your bride pretends to fight you off tonight.”
Max turns bright red at my mention of their unconventional dynamic. “Don’t be gross! That’s my wife you’re talking about.”
“She’s not your wife yet, and she won’t be if you don’t get your ass out of this room.”
He scowls at me as I fix his bowtie, and I give him a pat on the cheek. “Still nervous?”
Max sighs. “No.”
I grin, pleased I was able to pull him out of his nerves with my own brand of encouragement. “Good. Now let’s go out there and get you married.”
“Is that hot older guy over there your date? Because if he’s not, you should go say hi. He was staring at you the whole ceremony like he wanted to rip your clothes off.” One of my brother’s groomsmen, Wesley, grins at me, his nose ring glinting in the golden hour sun.
We’re off to the side, waiting for the photographer to call us back for the next configuration.
“W-what?” I squeak. “He’s my date, but he’s a friend of the family. We’re here together so we wouldn’t need to come alone. He wasn’t looking at me like that.”
“He definitely was,” Blair says drolly from under her comically large sun umbrella that’s almost as big as she is.
Despite her girlfriend Grace’s multiple worried comments about her being out in the sun too long and urging her to go back inside, she seems to be only slightly uncomfortable. Knowing Mona, she wouldn’t endanger her vampire best friend so brazenly, which means Blair has not only found a way to appear in photos but also to not fry in the sun, which is wild. I wish we were better friends so I could ask her how.
“Doubt you’ll have to come alone with him as your date,” Grace teases, waggling her brows, and the group laughs.
My sisters sidle over at the sound. “What’s so funny?” Maggie asks.
My stomach lurches, but it’s too late because Wesley grins. “Oh, we’re teasing Sam about her date eye-fucking her during the ceremony.”
Maggie frowns. “I thought you brought Uncle Nathan as your date.”
Grace’s eyes go wide and Blair quirks a singular brow, no doubt shocked that the man who they saw me with at The Vault is my uncle.
“He’s not our uncle!” I protest, glaring at her. “We’re not related. And he’s definitely not eye-fucking me, he probably saw that I had a booger in my nose or something.”
Claire’s eyes narrow, assessing me, and I fight against every instinct to panic. They can’t find out yet. I told Max I’d be the screw-up at his wedding, but that was a joke. I can’t ruin his day with family drama.
“Oh yeah, you totally did!” Grace says, and I could kiss her if Blair wouldn’t kill me. “It was pretty distracting.”
“Ugh, next time, someone please let me know?” I glare at Wesley, since he was Max’s other groomsman.
“Shit, sorry, I didn’t notice it. But I’ll be on booger watch.” He salutes me, and I try not to let my relief show when Claire and Maggie seem to buy the excuse, laughing along with everyone else.
