Page 99 of Kneeling to Candy

Sensing I’ve let down my guard, Ziggy smirks. My mind barely registers he’s screwing with me before he shoves me away with his forearm. Ziggy takes off, running across the front yard, the marriage certificate in his hand. He cackles like a hyena as I chase after him.

Fucking juvenile shit.

We’re supposed to be grown-ass men, finishing work on a security job for some high-paying client. Instead, we look like overgrown children, playing a game of tag in a park. Atlas would chew our ass a new one if he saw how unprofessional we looked. Thank God he’s not here to witness us horsing around.

“ZIGGY!” I shout, my voice straining. “Give it back.”

He hollers over his shoulders, sprinting for his life. “You gonna tell me what it is?”

“No!”

“Then make me, bitch boy.” Ziggy kicks it into overdrive, heading toward a large oak tree.

Grunting, I increase my speed. When I get my hands on Ziggy, I’ll strangle him until he’s blue.

Ziggy makes it to the big oak before I can reach him. The two of us run around the tree like squirrels fighting over territory. Occasionally, I switch directions, trying to catch him off guard. My bro knows me too well, always able to anticipate my actions.

Panting like dogs, we’re both losing steam. I give up, resting my head on my forearm against the trunk of the oak. Ziggy gasps for breath on the other side of the tree, probably resting like me.

I’m grateful for the brief reprieve until I hear the distinct sound of thick paper being unfolded.

“Ziggy!” I warn with a growl, rushing around the tree.

But it’s too late.

Ziggy laughs with the paper unfolded in his hands. He jumps out of my reach when I make a grab for him. I brace myself for his reaction as he looks down at the certificate reading aloud, “This is to certify that the undersigned joined in lawful wedlock…”

Ziggy’s laughter slowly dies as he continues to read aloud, “Penn Lawson and…Leslie Williams…”

My best friend’s smile falls from his face, replaced with a frown as he squints at the marriage license, almost like he’s trying to make sense of the words on the page. He reads it over again, mumbling the words this time. When he’s done, his eyebrows nearly shoot to his hairline.

Unable to tolerate his judgy expression, I snatch the marriage certificate from his hands, stuffing it back into my cut.

“What the? You and Candy are hitched?”

Flustered, I grab at my head with both hands. My secret is out before I’m ready to confront it. My back hits the trunk of the oak, sliding down its rough surface until my butt hits the leaf-covered ground.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Ziggy should’ve never found out before Candy.

With the cat out of the bag, the news is bound to get back to my woman. And when Candy finds out from someone else that she and I are married, she’ll be mega-pissed I kept this from her.

Waving his hand in front of my face, Ziggy tries to grab my attention. “Earth to Penn Williams,” Ziggy taunts, switching out my last name for Candy’s.

It’s meant to be a dig. Though honestly, I don’t give a fuck if I take her last name or her mine. All I care about is her being okay with being my wife.

“Is this for real?”

Conceding to my fate, I release a lungful of air. “Yeah, it’s real, Zig.”

Acting like he stuck his finger in an electrical socket, Ziggy’s head shakes real fast.

“How? When? And why the hell wasn’t I invited?”

“It happened when we were in Vegas. We got wasted, went dancing?—”

Ziggy does a double-take, cutting me off. “You went dancing? You hate dancing.”

“Drunk, Zig,” I explain. “Neither of us was sober enough to know what we were doing.”

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