Page 109 of For Pleasure Or Worse

“Younger brothers get the shorter sticks.” Echo laughed. “I mean the shortendof the stick.”

I shot a finger gun at him in solidarity.

“You boys are going to scare her right back to Utah.” Ophelia shook her head. “Ignore our vulgar counterparts. I promise they’re not always this misbehaved.”

“Yes we are” rang out in a chorus of deep voices.

“I’m used to it. My two older brothers are Marines, and my dad was too. Trust me, there’s nothing you can say that would make me blink an eye.”

Echo opened his mouth, lifting his finger.

“That doesn’t mean try it,” Tally rushed out frantically, and Tyler deflated into the cushioned chair with a mischievous smirk.

Ophelia took a seat on Frankie’s thigh. Her arm draped over his shoulder, and his fingers got lost right under the seam of her flowy sundress. “Can you believe it’s finally here? You’re getting married tomorrow!” she sang giddily.

“It’s surreal.” Natalia squeezed my hip. I dragged her in front of me and hugged her tight around the waist, planting a kiss to the side of her head and her body decompressed against mine.

“Hey, who ended up winning that scavenger hunt, anyway?” Angelo asked.

“I think the game ended when you got arrested,” Pike noted.

My brother shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first party I’ve ruined.”

Ophelia sank her teeth into her lip. “It was tied before that. But I never got an answer about the Elvis impersonator. Did you end up finding him, Nat?”

Natalia stiffened. The tiebreaker was our trip to the Little White Wedding Chapel, and technically it was a draw, because we’d both found our sweaty, bloated, wig-wearing King of Rock ‘n’ Roll at the end of the makeshift altar, together. That was our big secret in a world of little secrets between us. The cam work used to be the most important one, but with that cat abruptly out of the bag, this was what he had left that was ours.

Tally was the mastermind, though. She went to the chapel, and I followed because I always would, because I needed to have her back no matter how much groveling it took. It ended up being the most chaotic, spontaneous, memorable, purely magical moment of my life. My greatest victory.

I heaved a deep sigh and cleared my throat. Later, I’d make her promise to take this to the grave for my own well-being when it came to my groomsmen. They’d never forgive me for what I was about to do to them.

“Tally found him fair and square,” I announced. “I was too late.”

Natalia twisted in my arms, big brown eyes staring glossily up at me. Her perfect lips parted and I sank mine down on top of them to hush whatever protest I knew she was seconds away from hollering.

She would let me have this whether she wanted to or not. It sat right in my soul.

If the worst thing I ever had to do to keep my bride happy was dance like an idiot in front of her, I was luckier than most. I already did that any chance I got. Down the line there would be more weddings, more parties, and a whole hell of a lot more shenanigans where this group was involved, I was absolutely sure of it. Even now, the night was still promisingly young.

“So the girls won.” Ophelia clapped her hands together. She bounced one too many times on Pike’s lap in excitement that he had to reel her back in. “You guys have a dance to rehearse!”

“I want a recount,” Echo complained. “Are you telling me I did that Blow Job shot for nothing?”

“For the memories,” Tally replied. “Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy every second of it.”

I blew a raspberry through my lips. “I can’t believe I missed that.”

Wink hunched over on his chair with his elbows on his knees and his hands over his eyes, swearing under his breath. Hailey rubbed the space between his shoulder blades in a way that was less consoling and more encouraging, a sparkle in her emerald eyes.

“I think going to jail should count for two,” Angelo mumbled, crashing down into a lounge chair. He peeled a cigarette out of his pocket. “Just saying.”

Natalia’s tiny hands fisted my shirt, and she leaned in close to my ear. “You didn’t need to do that.”

“I know.” I brushed my mouth against her temple. “I love you.”

“Does love make you crazy?”

“Youmake me crazy.” I ran my thumb down the curve of her nose, dragged it over her lips as they curled into a smile that showed off her straight white teeth. “The love was just an added perk, but man am I fucking glad you decided yours was for me.”

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