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Chapter One
“And do you, Lee Ronald Barrow, Connie Lynn MacIntosh and Lori Annette Shelton, take each other to be husband and wives? Will you honor and keep one another, forsaking all others, for as long as the three of you shall live?”
“I do.”
“I do.”
“Me three.”
Charli snorted at Lori Ann’s response, and the small, quiet gathering began to chuckle. Including the notary public who was performing the intimate beach wedding. Lee quelled her with a look over his silver-framed glasses and she lowered her head apologetically while the ceremony continued.
This was a little surreal. It was weird enough that Lee was marrying both his long-time girlfriends. Well, technically only Connie, though they’d both signed a pre-nup that included Lori Ann. But to make matters worse, he’d asked Charli to be the best man. Her. Not Eric or Rafael, not even Simon. No. Out of all his childhood friends, Lee chose his only female buddy for the job.
She glanced at her fellow groomsmen through her lashes. Even in Hawaiian-print shorts, sleeveless tuxedo jackets and bow ties, the height of fashion for the Key West wedding elite, they were a stunning group of men.
Her men.
They’d been best friends for as long as she could remember—since the sixth grade. Protecting one another from school bullies and distant parents, celebrating successes and commiserating over heartbreaks. Always together.
Lee had been the last one to join their motley crew…and the first one to leave it. She sighed. Oh they would still hang out, and it wasn’t as if Connie and Lori Ann weren’t wonderful, but it wouldn’t be the same.
This was the beginning of the end. Pretty soon the others would catch the settling-down bug. They were all sexy, successful men in their prime. They wouldn’t be single long. And then Charli would be alone. No more camping trips, no more Thursday night couch-potato parties. Not for her.
Was she a horrible person to think that? To selfishly worry about herself instead of wishing them well? Probably. But damn it, she hated change.
“Wake up, Chuck.” Simon nudged her, and she looked up, blushing at the expectant stares aimed her way.
“Oh!” She slipped her fingers into the too small shorts she’d stupidly allowed the boys to purchase for her, pulling out the three engraved rings. “Sorry.”
Connie giggled, and Lee just rolled his eyes, smiling as he took the rings from Charli’s clammy hands. She saw the awkward, gangly youth from her childhood in that smile, and her eye’s misted as he spoke his vows. Simple, honest and with just enough humor to be perfectly Lee.
“Let the love that these three have found with one another be nurtured and supported by all who stand witness here today. Love is a rare gift. It comes in many packages and forms, each one unique…each one a blessing.”
First Connie, then Lori Ann, were given a thorough and passionate kiss by their new husband. Charli’s eyebrows touched her hairline when the two women wrapped their arms around each other and, without any hesitation, pressed their lips together softly, tenderly.
Rafael, always the one with the fewest inhibitions, let out a loud wolf whistle. “I think I speak for every man here when I say, amen to that.”
Charli leaned around Simon to whack Raf in the stomach. “Way to ruin a moment, Mr. Romance.”
“Hey, I’m romantic. Ask anyone.”
“Don’t you mean ask everyone?” Charli heard Eric’s low mutter, and her brow crinkled with worry.
He’d had such a hard time when Rafael admitted his bisexuality to the group. Eric and Raf had been inseparable before then. Now, even though it was five years since his drunken announcement, things still weren’t the same between them. And that pot had been stirred by Connie and Lori Ann’s obvious affection for one another.
Did she mention she hated change?
“Thank you all for coming. Now let’s get to the boat before they leave without us. Next stop, Cozumel!” Connie did a little dance in the sand, both the brides turning to throw their bouquets at the small crowd of family and friends.
Lori Ann’s was caught by Lee’s Aunt Kelly, the only member of his family to RSVP. She’d told them that black sheep had to stick together, but Charli was grateful that Lee had her to lean on. They all leaned on her. Including Charli, who’d lived under her roof from the time she was fifteen until she graduated from high school. Everyone needed an Aunt Kelly.
She was grinning at the fifty-three-year-old beauty, who was holding up her prize and whooping as though she’d won the lottery, when she saw a missile of orchids and lavender flying her way.
Charli’s hands came up with the instincts of a seasoned catcher, saving her face from certain flowery doom. She looked down at the dainty design. Hell.
“Nice catch.”
“That’s why she’s the best man.”
“Guess you’re next, Chuck.”
Charli glared at them all in turn, saving her meanest look for Simon, who just raised his eyebrow and smirked. He drove her crazy, for too many reasons to count. Not the least of which was his persistence in taking her already-masculine name, and butching it up.
Connie squealed and Charli glanced up to see Lee heft her an
d Lori Ann over each shoulder, carrying them easily up the sandy incline to the Conch Train, the tourist tram that would take them back to the cruise ship.
“Wait, you guys, I promised Lee I’d get a picture of the four of you in those great outfits. Scrunch in together.”
Three pairs of strong male hands pulled her close at Kelly’s command, right in the middle. She closed her eyes at their heat. God, they smelled good. All of them. She was sick from breakfast. That must be what it was. Why she had this sudden desire to rub up against them. Heck, maybe weddings screwed with her hormones. Reminded her that she was a girl.
