Page 42 of You Are Cordially Invited

“Whoooaaa!” Mac came to a sudden stop as we pushed through the reception doors into the lobby, and I nearly ploughed into his back causing a knock-on effect with the guys behind.

“What the hell?” Mark called from the back of the group. “I nearly had a consent issue with poor Jake in front of me.”

Jake snorted. “Shut up, arsehole.”

“My point entirely.” Mark chuckled. “And I’m not entirely sure Ed would’ve bought the explanation.”

I peered over Mac’s shoulder and Cam slid to my side. “Fucking hell.”

We all stared through the glass doors to the street.

“Jesus Christ.” Mathew whistled low. “Who the hell tipped them off?”

At least twenty people stood milling on the pavement outside the day spa, cameras or phones at the ready. It took a couple of seconds for someone to spot us, and then the whole group surged forward.

“Back into reception.” I grabbed Cam’s hand, and everyone followed me back inside. Mark stood guard to stop people pushing through.

“I’ll check if there’s another way out.” Georgie scuttled to the front desk.

Jasmine pulled her phone out and started scrolling social media. “There don’t appear to be any photos, at least. Just a Twitter post from some douchebag about the wedding party getting the full treatment. It’s gaining traction, unfortunately.”

“Let me see.” Sandy leaned over Jasmine’s shoulder to check the man’s Twitter handle where the fool had a photo of himself. “That’s the first guy who came into the pool room, just after we got there. Bastard.”

Jasmine’s gaze darted to the raised voices in the foyer. “Leave this to me. Any of them put a foot out of line and I’ll have their arses in court.” She looked to the desk. “This is private property, right? No one in without an appointment? Do I have permission to enforce that?”

The woman on the desk nodded, glancing nervously to the doors. “Please.”

“You need me to wave my badge?” Mark checked.

Jasmine shook her head. “Let’s avoid any blowback on the police if we can. This is a grey area.”

“Thanks, sis.” Cam gave Jasmine a quick hug before she blasted across the room looking every inch the pissed-off lawyer that she was.

Georgie called out from the desk. “There’s a loading bay out back that Lena here says we can use. It brings us out on the same street but a little further down.”

Mac shook his head at me. “Anything’s better than that shitshow. How the hell do you and Cam live with this.”

I blew out a sigh and glanced at the door. “It’s not usually this bad. It’s the wedding.”

“Well, fuck ’em.” Mac straightened to his full height. “Right, team. Roman tortoise formation. Let’s fuck up their chances of getting any good pics of our boys.”

Cam rolled his eyes. “Good lord, the man thinks he’s Spartacus.”

“Spartacus was Thracian, not Roman,” Michael corrected with a glint in his eye.

“Whatever.” Cam fanned his face with his hand. “The man looked hot as hades in that leather skirt, and those thighs...”

I smiled and put my lips to his ear. “Should I be jealous?”

He leaned back against me. “How do you feel about breastplates? And oh my god, is it wrong that I’m getting hard?”

I laughed and pulled him tight against me. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

We followed Lena from the front desk to the loading bay, and then quietly made our way up the alley and onto the street, flanked on all sides by our friends. It was a half-baked plan at best, and we had to have looked fucking hilarious with all the shushing and idiotic tiptoeing.

So much for a discreet getaway, we may as well have worn fruit bowls on our heads and held hands for a chorus of ‘Mamma Mia.’ Sure enough, about thirty metres from the alley, shouts and the unmistakable sound of running feet let us know we’d been spotted.

“Run for the hills,” Michael yelled, and we all burst into laughter as we sprinted toward our vehicles stashed in a parking lot about a hundred metres away.

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