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Everyone else turned their attention to Taylor, and I dropped my chin to my chest. “You guys are the absolute worst.”
Hank took Grayson in his arms, dressing him in a little baby coat, hat, and mittens. The kid fought his dad every step of the way. “You wanna do her, huh?”
I stared at my friend. “No, I don’t want todoher. I’m only surprised to see her here.” I shrugged. “Always weird to see Satan’s Mistress in human form.”
“Seems like you got some big feelings about her,” Angela noted quietly, curiously.
“You’re getting as bad as him,” I told her while pointing at Hank, but she merely smiled and stood up, accepting Grayson again so Hank could say goodbye to all of us with his usual fervor.
He gave me a bear hug, saying, “You look like you want to fuck or fight. Which one is it?”
I patted his shoulder when my feet touched the floor again, ignoring him. “See ya later, man.”
“Fuck, then? All right,” he laughed and tossed a small backpack filled with Grayson’s stuff over his shoulder before leading Angela out. “Later!”
Tony and Jerry followed soon after, which left me with my sister and Ethan.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I said and stuffed a nacho chip in my mouth.
Laney flicked her fingers toward the restrooms. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Ethan leaned back in his chair, extending his long legs out in front of him, crossing his arms over a Goonies T-shirt, a self-satisfied grin on his face. “You know she’s going to talk to her.”
“I know. Never minds her own goddamn business,” I muttered into my beer, pointedly avoiding the cornerwhere Laney was definitely talking to Taylor. “Bathroom, my ass.”
My friend had no qualms about staring at his wife-to-be as she made small talk with my archnemesis. “She’s not that bad.”
“She is,” I said.
“I love her anyway.”
I thumped my pint down on the table. “Do you have to be so…” I grimaced. “Happy all the time?”
Ethan chuckled. “I didn’t realize it pained you so much.”
“Still not used to it.”
“It’s been two years.”
I aimed my thumb over my shoulder. “And she’s my sister. Mytwin.”
“And I’m going to take care of her. You know I will. She’s everything to me.”
I nodded as I remembered how I’d found my sister and my best friend in bed one morning, discovering the secret they’d been hiding from me. Secret feelings they’d had for each other since high school. I was a fool for not realizing it. But most of all, I was scared. Laney had just come out of a bad relationship, and I didn’t want anything else to bring her down. Not that I’d thought Ethan would, but he was one of my best friends, and relationships were complicated. I had worried that if they broke up, it would shred my friend group even more.
Now, I knew how perfect my best friend and sister were for each other. Sickeningly perfect.
“Less than two months and we’ll be brothers. Officially.” Ethan tapped his beer against mine, and I gave in to a growing smile.
“You already were,” I said, and we both drank from our glasses. I set mine back down on the table, admitting, “I haven’t even thought about my speech.”
Since I was the man of honor, I’d be standing up next to Laney, along with her three best friends. Ethan’s brother, Justin, would be his best man, and we had both been instructed to prepare speeches.
Ethan pushed his glasses up his nose. “You do all your best work at the last minute.”
That was exactly correct. I operated best with a close deadline, which was why Taylor crawling up my ass about how I worked always pissed me off.
At the click of heels next to me, I turned. “Speak of the devil, and she appears.”
