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“That was a compliment, you fool!” Gray laughed.
Jesse pushed forward and smiled to himself, his gaze dropping to the strings on his guitar as they eased into the song. “Either way,” he said. “It had to be this song because Abel was sure Darius could relate to it. My little brother’s a romantic that way.”
That had Darius’s interest.
“Congratulations, guys. And those of you who want to join Gray and Darius on the dance floor, now’s the time.” With that, Jesse wrapped things up and started singing.
“Take more pictures, Ma,” Case urged.
Gray locked his arms around Darius and disappeared into their little bubble again.
“Remember when you said your family’s loud and crazy?”
Darius laughed under his breath. “If you’re trying to say you have me beat, I ain’t buyin’ it.”
“It’s a tie at least,” Gray bargained. “I have Gabriel and Gideon.”
“I have Ryan.”
“I have Abel’s whole family too.”
“I have Ryan.”
Technically, Gray had Ryan now too!
Shit. Gray was really a Quinn. Just the paperwork that had to be filed, but…
“I thought he said he’d cleaned up his speech,” Darius muttered quietly.
Gray didn’t answer. He was busy listening to Avery’s best man speech, and he was so glad people were getting this on tape, so to speak. Even Jayden was enjoying himself immensely. He’d come over from the kids’ corner to sit on Darius’s knee and eat ice cream.
“…and you know, this went on for years,” Avery was saying. While the other family members, Abel included, had given their speeches from their tables, Avery and Ryan had opted for the stage once the dancing was over. “I remember when Darius predicted my future—this was shortly before my eldest was born.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Darius bitched under his breath.
“First of all, he said I was going to forget my friends,” Avery went on. “As soon as there were diapers to change, I’d stop coming to guys’ nights.” He turned to Darius. “Buddy, when was the last time you showed up for one?”
“And let the record reflect,” Ryan interjected, “Darius has an actual jar filled with excuses that get him out of meeting up with people now.”
Jayden laughed loudly at that. “You really do, Dad.”
Despite that he couldn’t keep from chuckling, Gray was beginning to feel bad for Darius. On the other hand, he’d given his friends and brothers a lot of shit for settling down and having kids over the years. This was their revenge.
Avery and Ryan went on for quite a while. In the meantime, servers came out to prepare for dessert. Each table was set with a tiered tray filled with chocolate truffles from Elise’s shop, a dish with different types of cookies, and a small version of a wedding cake, big enough to feed the guests surrounding it.
That’d been a fun day at Elise’s, who’d hosted their cake sampling.
With help from Jayden, they’d chosen a dense, not-too-sweet vanilla cake, the texture almost like brownies, with dark chocolate filling, berries, and a thin layer of buttercream frosting that covered the whole thing.
Gray’s stomach rumbled, and he didn’t know if it was because he really fucking wanted a piece, or because he was still full from dinner.
“But here’s the thing about my brother,” Ryan said. “He’s full of shit.”
“Thanks!” Darius responded.
Gray split his focus between everyone finding the best men hilarious, Jayden laughing with his mouth full of melting ice cream, and two servers leaving coffee cups, spoons, and cake dishes on their table.
“Because,” Ryan continued, drawing out the word. “He was always a family man.”
And just like that, the comedy hour morphed into a sweet family movie.
Gray smiled and rested his elbow on the back of Darius’s chair.
“You may have jumped at the first opportunity to get on our asses about settling down,” Avery said, “but I can’t remember a single time you weren’t there to share the moments with us. Once Grace was born, you found more reasons to stop by and see how we were doing. When Hazel was born, you changed the route you used to run, so you could swing by the store if we needed anything.”
Gray shifted his gaze to Darius, hoping he listened to every word. Gray had seen this coming, because at the end of the day, when the jokes and ribbing died down, they all loved one another so fiercely and would do whatever it took to keep each other safe.
It was Ryan’s turn again. “You weren’t the first to hold my twins, but you were the first to set up a savings account for them. I know you built the bunk beds in your guest cabin with them in mind. I know you have a shed filled with tools for children, because every time we visit, you want to make sure they learn something new. Something that will help them in the future.”
Darius scratched his nose. “I’m just a fan of child labor.”
