Page 42 of The Wedding Engagement

For a second, Arran had to think about who that was. And as he put two and two together his heart went from its dizzying going-on-a-kind-of-date-with-Liv heights right down to the soles of his boots. He shifted his eyes from Liv, her fingers slipping away. “Dave, as in…”

“Our shitty father, Douchebag Dave,” Liv concluded, her expression clouded.

Arran shot her a look of concern before addressing Sam. “What the hell didhewant?”

Nico and Elise were leaning in, the frowns on their faces mirrored all around the table, and from the tension in his brow Arran knew he must look the same.

Maya was circling Sam’s shoulders as he continued. “Fuck knows. He called out of the blue. Said he’d heard from our uncle that I was getting married and was asking about it. I told him it wasn’t any of his business.”

Nico eyed Sam. “Stupid question, but could he have been calling out of genuine interest?”

Liv made a stifled noise that Arran could interpret as “not fucking likely.”

Sam shook his head. “I ended the call. Then Georgie phoned Mum not too long after, to let her know she’d chucked him out. He’s been playing her the way he did Mum, unsurprisingly. Had a string of affairs since they’ve been on Jersey and lied to her about them all.”

Arran let out a slow breath.Once a douchebag, always a douchebag.

Elise was wearing a concerned expression. “So, you think he called you to try to wheedle his way back into the family, now that Georgie’s given him the heave-ho?”

Sam sighed, and Maya kissed his cheek. “Maybe. I’m trying not to think about it.”

“I’m sorry, man,” Arran said, and Sam shot him a grateful smile.

Arran glanced at Liv, who appeared as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. They were slumped under an invisible ten-ton force.

Arran was about to ask her if she was okay, when Liv gave Sam a supportive smile. “Don’t worry, Sam. It’ll be okay.”

The twins exchanged a look of solidarity and, yet again, it occurred to Arran that Liv always deflected any sympathy regarding the Dave situation onto her brother. In fact, she always shone a light on everyone else’s struggles, yet he couldn’t remember her seeking or accepting any attention for herself.

His phone began to ring before he could ponder the idea further, and he saw that it was Jess. She’d been calling more frequently of late, even when he didn’t have Jayce. It was getting a little weird, but he still answered every time just in case she was calling because something was wrong with the wee one. He connected the call, mouthing,Sorry, it’s Jess, to his friends.

“Hey,” she said, her voice bright. “Are you out for Sam and Liv’s birthday?”

He hesitated, confused. “Yep, that’s right. Like I mentioned last time you called. What can I do you for? Is Jayce okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, fine. He’s good. I just needed to ask whether you could have him an extra weekend.”

He paused, unable to think that there were any weekends left for him to take from her, because he had pretty much all of themnow. Apart from the two major ones—the weekend away and the wedding. But he’d told her about those. “Which weekend?”

She told him a date that he immediately recognized as the date of the Skye trip, and a sinking feeling dragged at his gut. He hated saying no, but he had to. “Sorry. No can do. That’s the weekend I’m away, remember?”

Sam shot him a WTF look and Arran shook his head in reassurance.

Disappointment infused her tone. “But there’s this party Rory wants us to go to. He says it’ll be epic.”

He took a breath, feeling guilty and resentful all at once. “Jess, I told you about that weekend already. It’s off-limits. Ask your mum instead.”

Her tone was short. “She’s busy.”

He swallowed. “Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. That weekend is iron-clad. Liv and I have got all the activities arranged, Elise has a restaurant booked, and Nico’s got us accommodation.”

She was silent for a moment and his jaw clenched at the idea that she could possibly be mad about this.

“Fine,” Jess replied, in a tone suggesting that it was anything but. “By the way, did you get Sam a birthday present from me?”

Arran opened his mouth, then closed it again, unsure what to do with that question. Replying with “Why the holy fuck would I do that?” did seem rather impolite. “No. Why?”

“We used to always get joint presents for our best friends.”

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