Page 30 of Love Under Snowfall

“Oh, hey. Zac, right?” he asked through a gritted smile.

“In the flesh.” The other man grinned, clasping Benjamin’s outstretched hand for a quick shake. He gestured down to Benjamin’s feet. “You’ve got your snowshoes switched. First timer?”

“What gave it away?” Benjamin sighed and set to work unbuckling the straps and making the swap.

“Pretty much everything about you,” Zac barked with laughter and slammed another playful slap on the crouched man’s back, nearly toppling him over. Fortunately, his glasses stayed on, barely.

This guy is getting old real quick.

“Want a little advice?”

“One foot in front of the other?” Benjamin drawled, attempting to hide his irritation.

“Nah. About Frankie.”

“Why would I need advice about—”

“Come on, man, we all have eyes.” A broad grin and flash of dimples popping through his russet beard amped up the condescension in his voice. “You were up her ass all night atdinner, and you can’t hide that dopey expression you get on your face when you look at her.”

Dopey?

“Thanks, but I’m good—”

“She’s a wildcat—from what I hear. I don’t know firsthand. Not for lack of trying, though. I’ve been trying to nail her for years.”

Heat strummed in Benjamin’s gut, and his pulse thundered in his ears. The way this guy was talking about Francesca rankled him. He finished securing his snowshoes—fastened on the correct feet this time—and stood, hiding his balled fists in his pockets.

“I’m not trying to start anything with Francesca,” he ground through clenched teeth.

“Francesca, huh?” Zac’s dense eyebrows danced.

“Yes.”What is this guy’s malfunction?

“If you say so, man.” One more hard hit to Benjamin’s shoulder and Zac made his way to where the group congregated.

He watched the smug little jerk go and counted down from ten to cool his temper. Great. Not only did he have to pretend to believe in the façade of marriage and manage to keep the schoolyard shenanigans with Francesca to a minimum, but there was one more bullet point to add to his to-do list.

More of a to-don’t, really.

Don’t punch Zac.

Thanks to Johnny’s obsession with hyper-preparedness and safety, Benajmin once again found himself failing to keep his distance from a certain Miss Miller. The groom instated the buddy system,but it was the bride who determined each pair.

“Wouldn’t it be great if everyone snowshoed with their aisle buddy?” Lucy beamed gleefully like she’d just decided they should ride unicorns to the top of the mountain.

“What the hell are ‘aisle buddies’?” Scorn and suspicion battled for top spot in Francesca’s tone. She ran her tongue over her teeth and flicked her narrowed eyes to Benjamin. He quirked a brow in return.

“You know,” Lucy drawled, twirling her hand around the group. “The person you’re going to walk down the aisle with during the wedding.”

“Um.” Todd raised his hand and threw a thumb back toward the cars. “I’m the officiant. Don’t have an aisle buddy, so does that mean—”

“Nice try,” Lucy scolded with syrupy sweetness. “You’ll be with Jonathan and me.”

“Touché.” Todd’s shoulders slumped, emphasized by numerous bulky layers.

“Buck up. I’ll get you a Monte Cristo when we’re done,” Jonathan consoled, taking his own scarf off and looping it snuggly over Todd’s other two. “The Rooftop makes a good one.”

“Thanks, Buster.”

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