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“What changed?”
“Briggs.”
I laughed as Bliss announced the pairings. Cade and she represented the family side while Ryan and I led the wedding-party team. Easton and Aura received a blue basket. Briggs and Lyric were assigned yellow. Rider was paired with Elenore after Harrison announced that his knee prevented him from doing anything requiring speed.
Elenore immediately stretched one leg against the garden wall.
Harrison watched her. “You said you wanted to walk.”
“I lied.”
“You’re going to injure yourself.”
“Cade Mercer is my son, same genetic pool so I find this unlikely to be the activity that takes me out.”
Rider looked toward Harrison. “We can trade.”
“No. She’s competitive.”
“So am I.”
“That’s why I trust you with her.”
Daniel and Ryker began arguing over who would carry the family basket while the remaining Bennetts accused Bliss of assigning them too many people and too little equipment.
Ryan watched them for several seconds. “Your bride created a riot.”
“She looks happy.”
Bliss stood in the middle of the chaos, holding her megaphone while Cade attempted to make everyone listen. Her smile justified every ridiculous shirt, color-coded page, and humiliating bonding activity she’d planned.
“She does,” Ryan admitted.
“You’ll behave for her, right?”
“I’ve been polite all morning.”
“You asked one of Cade’s relatives whether his assistant handled his hearing.”
“He heard the question.”
“Eventually.”
Ryan’s mouth curved as he reached beneath the green shirt exposing his abs and pulled a smaller silver flask from the waistband of his shorts.
I stared at it. “You had two?”
“Bliss confiscated the decoy.”
“You brought a decoy flask to breakfast?”
“I read the itinerary.”
“I knew you read every page.”
He unscrewed the cap. “That proves nothing.”
“It proves you prepared for strategic bonding like an international incident.”
