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I craned my head to look up at him. “Clark was just wondering why Bobbi was apologizing to me.”
His gaze met mine, and my heart skipped at what I saw there. Acceptance. We’d spent the weekend discussing the pros and cons of when and where to tell our friends. It seemed the moment had decided to arrive on its own schedule. I nodded my head to let him know I agreed.
“Shoot,” Bobbi said. “I’ve screwed up again.”
“Nah, it’s okay,” Wes said, pulling out the chair beside me and dropping into it. “We wanted to tell everyone anyway. Right, Beck?”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice weak. “I guess it’s time.”
Wes leaned into me, pressing his shoulder and thigh to mine. Unlike the many times he’d surreptitiously touched and teased me in public, this was a show of support. Also a message to our friends. When Wes hooked his pinky through mine on the table, Clark’s eyes widened comically. “Holy Shi-take,” he gasped.
Laurie snickered. “Shitake? As in the mushroom?”
“I can’t cuss at school,” Clark said. “But wow. Okay. I’ll just say it. Holy shit.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Are you two…?”
“Bobbi was apologizing for making my husband jealous on our double date,” Wes said.
Boom. The truth landed in the middle of the group, a prolonged silence following in its wake. My blood rushed in my ears. This was it. If our friends didn’t accept us, we had no hope of convincing Dad or anyone else. Andi hadn’t exactly given us her blessing, either, though she’d at least seemed calmer by the time she left, saying she needed some time to process. Maybe it would be the same with them. Maybe they just needed time.
“Well, I guess congratulations are in order,” Laurie said. “If I haven’t said it before, I’m happy for you.”
“Wait,” Hunter said.
“Husband?” Bobbi whispered in shock.
Wes grinned at them. “And you all thought we couldn’t pull off a prank. Ha! We got you all. We didn’t pretend anything when we were in Vegas. We got married for real.”
Everyone started talking at the same time.
“Are you serious?”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Does your family know?”
I wondered what we must look like to the rest of the pub, all of us leaning in over the table and hissing out whispers like middle-schoolers. Maybe we should have found a more private place to confess the truth. But what were we gonna do? Invite our friends over to our miniature trailer? It was barely large enough for one houseguest.
Besides, it felt right to tell them here, where we all hung out every Sunday. This was where we saw Hunter kiss Clark for the first time. This was where Tucker and Laurie joked about their multiple weddings—and where they asked for our support when they had to prove the validity of their marriage in the eyes of the law because of Laurie’s toxic family.
Sunday trivia nights had become something of a special bonding experience for us all. And it seemed fitting that we were giving them our truth here and now.
“This isn’t really a prank though, right?” Clark said, looking at where our hands remained linked by our pinky fingers. “You’re planning to stay together?”
Wes and I exchanged a look. “Yeah,” he said. “We are.”
“We haven’t told our dad yet,” I added. My voice rasped a bit because my throat was too dry. I picked up my beer and gulped half the glass.
“What do you think will happen?” Tucker asked.
Wes shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, because I’ve got Beck’s back.” He smiled at me, his eyes warm. “I love him.”
“I love you too,” I said quietly.
Clark gave a delighted laugh. Laurie grinned. And Bobbi grabbed my right arm and shook it a little as she said, “I’m so happy for you.”
Our friends were coming through for us. There was no chastisement for hiding the truth. Only support and congratulations. I should have realized they’d be in our corner. And it was great to see. But now, with the truth out to more people, I realized it wasn’t really about them at all.
It was about us.
