Page 144 of Luck of the Draw

“Ahhh…ha haha,” Carson wheezed, tone thick with sarcasm. “Anyway.” He gestured with his glass. “What don’t you get, Luke?”

Luke was midway through a swallow of scotch and jumped up. “Oh yeah.” He crossed the room to stand with Brennan and Connor and reached to pinch Brennan’s lapel with no small amount of bewilderment on his face. “Why the fuck are we wearing these penguin suits, Riley? We’ve got a perfectly good dress uniform.”

“Psshh.” Connor laughed again, reaching to slap his palm against Brennan’s cheek. “You act like you don’t even know this guy.” He moved to stand next to Brennan and dropped his arm over his shoulders, pointing at Brennan’s face with his drink in hand. “Why the hell do you think Riley would ever put on that uniform again?”

Luke pointed a finger gun at Connor. “Maybe because your hot wifey got him to do it for y’all’s wedding by batting her lashes at him and saying,‘Pretty please, B. Just this once,’” he said, lifting the pitch of his voice to mimic Liza. He heaved another laugh and swung his finger around to wag it in Brennan’s face. “Someday you gotta tell me all about what’s like to be pussy-whipped by two women at the same time.”

Connor lifted his arm off Brennan’s shoulders to smack Luke upside the back of his head. “Better watch your mouth, Corporal.”

“Yeah, don’t make me throw your ass out of my wedding, Corporal.” Brennan smirked, adjusting one of his cufflinks. “Besides, you can’t be…y’know…”

He cut a glance across the room at where his dad was still chatting with Carson’s dad. The Riley family and the McDermott family had been friends since long before either of the older men were born, and the silent competition between them regarding their only sons had gone on since Brennan was in grade school. Repeating such a word in front of Orson wouldn’t fly now any more than it would’ve then.

“…whippedif the aforementioned lady bits are not involved,” Brennan continued. “Therefore, I am whipped by one woman and wrapped around the little finger of the other.” He slipped his hands in his pockets and aloofly cocked one eyebrow at Luke. “Two very different body parts, Corporal. But you get a pass because I know it’s been a while.”

“Hasn’t been that long, bruh, and the next time’ll be before the night’s over.” Luke lifted his glass at them. “Like you alwaysusedto say, there’s no better place to find a hook-up than at a wedding.” There was a knock at the door, and Luke stepped away from them to head toward it. “Especially a wedding like this one. Holyshit, this is going to be a good night.”

He swung the door open to reveal Liza holding little Savannah Grace, who was an adorable bundle of energy at sixteen months old. The sight of her caused Brennan’s already full heart to fill that much more, just like it always did since the day she was born. He smiled at them both as Liza offered Luke a rushed smile and greeting before striding into the room.

She marched straight to Connor and started passing off Savannah but paused to press a lingering kiss to his lips. “Can you take her?” She nodded sideways at Brennan. “I need to take him for a small emergency.”

Savannah squealed as she threw her arms around Connor’s neck. “Da-yah! Da-yah! Da-yah!”

“Savannah Banana!” he rumbled playfully, tossing her up high in the air and catching her several times like they always did with Caroline before she got too big.

Liza’s eyes widened, jaw flexing like she’d gritted her teeth, and she hooked her hand around the crook of Brennan’s elbow to dig her nails into his bicep. “For God’s fucking sake, I swear to fucking God,” she mumbled so quietly he could barely hear her, but he heard her anyway, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “If he fucking drops her, I swear to fucking God—”

“He’s not going to drop her, L.” Brennan slipped his arm away from her death grip to wrap it around her shoulders, and then pointed at Connor and giggling, squealing, screeching Savannah. “His arms are the safest place in the world for her until she’s all grown up and finds her—”

“Ohmygod stop it.” Liza’s breath hitched as her nose flushed pink, and her eyes glittered. “This day is already way too much.” She stretched her eyes wider and lifted them to the ceiling so she could fan her tears dry with her hands.

Brennan squeezed her shoulders and kissed the side of her head. “What’s the small emergency, darlin’?”

“Oh.” Liza gently pressed the sides of her index fingers against her lower lashes to dab her tears. “Yeah, she’s having a hard time.”

His face flushed cold, and his stomach sank like a stone. He released Liza to stand directly in front of her. “What kind of hard time?”

Liza lifted both hands as though trying to calm him right before he panicked. “Just nerves. It’s a big wedding. There are hundreds of people out there. Strangers to her. She’s still settling into all this, and she just needs you for a minute.” She paused, placing her hands on the sides of his shoulders, and a warm smile tugged the corners of her mouth up. “You’re going to be a husband in less than an hour, and this is what you signed up for.”

When she put it like that, it definitely didn’t sound like Skye was on the other side of the church having runaway bride thoughts. In fact, it was an assertive and heartwarming reminder of all the wonderful things he absolutelydidsign up for.

“Yes, it is.” Brennan placed his hand on the small of her back and held out his other to gesture for her to go ahead. “Let’s go see her.”

“Oh, you still don’t get to see her,” Liza remarked as she paused to kiss Connor again and then smooched Savannah’s cheek. “Not ‘til the ceremony. Your mother is convinced that it’s bad luck, and I can’t let her down. You’re just going to talk to her through a wall.”

“Oh.” Brennan lingered in momentary disappointment before he stepped over to Connor and gently tapped on Savannah’s back.

She whipped her head around, sending her coffee-colored curls flying, and gave Brennan the biggest smile while her pale blue eyes sparkled. “Beeeeeee!” She reached away from Connor, straining her arms toward Brennan. “Beee! Beee!Beeeeee!”

“Hi, honey.” He held both of her little hands and kissed each one. “You look beautiful, little sweetheart.”

“Dah-goo, Bee,” she babbled, pulling her hands out of his and reaching again, aiming for his face, so he stepped closer to Connor. She planted her splayed fingers on Brennan’s cheeks and pitched her face forward to mash her wet mouth on the tip of his nose in a slobbery baby kiss. She did that for the first time about six months ago, and he’d essentially been rendered one big puddle of goo in the large chair in Connor and Liza’s living room.

“Hey, now, little miss,” Connor faux scolded, his tone still playful. “Bee’s about to get married, so you’re gonna have to stop trying to make out with him.”

The two men shared a hearty laugh, and Brennan slapped Connor’s back before picking up Savannah’s chubby, little hand to kiss the back of it. “I’ll see you soon, honey. You’re going to be a perfect little flower girl.”

She waved wildly as he strode across the room to the door. “Buh-buh, Beeeee!”

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