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I huffed with annoyance. “That guy wouldn’t know chemistry if it bit him in the ass.”
He’d said the same thing about Hunter and Clark, and those two were a perfect match. In that case, he’d probably been jealous. He and Clark had one disastrous date that didn’t end well.
“We want people to think like him,” Beckett reminded me. “Don’t argue with a good thing.”
I shut my mouth, even though I wanted to correct Percy so much it was making me twitchy. I’d never been able to stand that guy, even before he’d started a fight with Clark in the middle of their first date.
We made it to the table, where our closest friends had gathered for the weekly trivia game. Bobbi sat at the head of the table as always, our sole female member. Augustus, a smart but fussy man with dark auburn hair, was seated to her right. Then Tucker and his husband, Laurie, beyond him. Hunter and his boyfriend, Clark, were on the left. Two empty chairs were available for Beckett and me.
None of them had been among the trash talkers as we crossed the pub, and their silence made me more nervous. My palms broke out in a sweat, and I overcompensated.
“What kind of friends are you? No congratulations for the newlyweds? I’m hurt!”
Beckett muttered quietly, “For fuck’s sake.”
“Where’s the love?” I continued. “I was expecting wedding gifts!”
“All right, you’ve had your fun,” Tucker said with a lip twitch. “But your text to Laurie kind of clued us in.”
“Yeah, a prank works better if you don’t tell your friends before you do it,” Hunter added.
Thank fuck for the text exchange we’d had that night that led them to believe we were pranking them by pretending to get married, rather than doing it for real. I was a shit liar, and if they’d taken it seriously and asked directly, we’d be screwed.
“Guess you caught us,” I said. “Right, Beck?”
“Right.” He pulled out a chair across from Tucker and Laurie and scowled. “Next time don’t text us bad ideas when we’re drunk as fuck, okay?”
Hunter chuckled. “He has a point. You never know what Wes will drag the poor guy into.”
“Hey!” I took my seat next to Beckett. “It takes two to tango.”
“That’s true,” Tucker said. “Whydoyou let yourself get pulled into these messes with him, Beck?”
Beckett huffed. “You try saying no to this guy. It’s like trying to convince a giant toddler he can’t have candy.”
“Harsh, man.”
Beck grinned at me, making my heart flip. “I just call it like I see it.”
I smiled, relieved to see him relaxing as familiar banter bounced among our friends. But when I looked at him, his green eyes drew me in, and I couldn’t look away. How had I never noticed how beautiful they were before? Amber flecks ringed his pupil, then gradually transitioned to an olive green before darkening to blue at the outer edge.
Laurie’s voice broke into my momentary lapse of sanity. “Are you two sure you’re okay? If this wasn’t just a prank…”
I jolted back into the moment as Beckett laughed, a slight edge of nervousness to it. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re brothers.”
“Stepbrothers,” Laurie qualified, and despite the situation, I appreciated that someone was making the distinction.
“They’re still family,” Clark protested. “You don’t have to be related by blood.”
Hunter wrapped an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders. “No question of that, angel. Toby loves you as much as I do.”
Toby was Hunter’s son, and Clark had become like a second father to him since moving in with his boyfriend.
Laurie glanced at Beckett, who’d ducked his head to hide his expression, and winced. “Oh, I didn’t mean to say…”
“We know you didn’t,” Tucker said, wrapping his arm around his husband.
Geez, we were surrounded by couples. No wonder I’d lost my mind and married Beckett in Vegas. Everywhere I turned, one of our friends was falling in love.
