Page 123 of Crave

JD laughs and Troy steps in.

“Oh, yeah? How? Are you going to jump up and bite me in the ankle?” Luke taunts.

“That’s enough,” Troy says. “Luke, shut up.”

Vivian spins on her heel and walks towards her aunt, who is still talking to my father. She taps my father on the shoulder. When he leans down, she starts to talk and then points toward Luke.

“Oh, shit,” Luke says, but he’s not worried about the glare he’s getting from our father. He’s scared shitless at the look Sandy’s mom is giving him.

“Lucas, stop acting like an idiot before I come over there and kick your ass!” Dad bellows. I let out a chuckle when Vivian gives Luke a smug look. Luke, being the mature individual that he is, makes a face at her.

Gabrielle seems satisfied by my father words and resumes her conversation with him.

“Hey, baby,” Sand says as she, Tracy, Mom, and Emma come back out. Sandy hands me a drink, which I take, but not before I get a kiss.

“Pretty,” I say as she shows me her hot pink nails. I look over and nod at Tracy, who smiles back.

“Jake, honey, Luke brought your dogs, but they can’t stay in the house. The caterers are setting up.”

I look over at Luke and he shrugs. “I went by the house to see what was taking you two so long. The dogs were giving me that look, so I brought them with me.”

“Stalker,” I say under my breath ass Emma pulls Gabrielle and Tash inside, probably for manicures,

“So, Chris, Miami in two months? You in?” JD asks.

Chris fist bumps all of us in agreement. “Hell, yes! I haven’t had a boys’ trip in years.”

“This is why I’m never getting married,” JD announces. Luke agrees, and they fist bump, then Luke jumps up and bumps JD in the shoulder hard. JD’s ready for him and doesn’t flinch.

“Dammit, Lucas! I warned you.” Dad reaches over and smacks Luke upside the head.

“Come on, creator. I’m just having fun. Speaking of fun, why is Dad going to Miami? He’s kind of a fun killer.” Luke says to me.

“Because I can. Now, shut up before I make you stay home.” For good measure, Dad attempts to smack him upside the head again, but Luke dodges.

Vivian finds this funny because she bursts out laughing, looks at Luke and gives him another smug look. She then tosses her hair and goes to stand next to JD.

“So, what kind of doctor did you say you are?” She tries to hook her arm through his, but JD pulls his arm away.

“I didn’t.”

Now, it’s Luke’s turn to laugh at Vivian.

“What’s happening?” Sandy asks, looking between my brother and cousin.

“Apparently, these two hate each other. There was an incident at a parking lot.” I shrug and sip my drink.

Vivian is not undeterred by JD’s brush off, however, she continues to stand next to him.

“JD,” my mom says as she approaches us, our wedding planner, Nicole, at her side. Mom is practically dragging her through the yard. “This is Nicole. She’s Sandy’s wedding planner. The one I told you about.” I watch horrified as my mother physically pushes Nicole towards JD.

Zeus and Lady come running behind Mom, barking. When they see the ponies, the barking escalates as they both run towards the horses, causing the ponies to freak out. Thankfully, no kids are on them as they both stand on their hind legs.

The dogs continue to bark, and the ponies break away from their handlers, the dogs running after them. The kids all start to scream at once as they too start to run around the yard. As the ponies run, they start to shit all over my mom’s yard.

“No, Zeus!” I yell as he runs closer to us. He slows down but only because he sees someone new, Vivian. He runs up to her and sniffs her. He goes on his hind legs and tries to put his front paws on her shoulders.

Vivian lets out a loud scream, and runs away from JD, but instead of running inside, she runs towards Luke. Without any warning, while she’s screaming at the top of her lungs, she jumps and lands on Luke’s back, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

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