What followed was no less than four photos of Owen’s best friend in different ties for his upcoming wedding, two of which appeared to be exactly the same. Fortunately, Mark had replied already, saving Owen the trouble of deciding which indistinguishable tie the groom should wear.
Mark Olsen
#3
Trust me
Owen Pohl
I’d go with Mark’s opinion since he maybe cares more about this wedding than you do
Mark Olsen
He’s not wrong
Andy Lee
In that case would you make a playlist for the wedding? It’s the one thing neither of us wants to do.
Mark Olsen
HELL YEAH I WOULD
Andy Lee
I’ll send you me and Cassie’s must plays.
I love you.
Owen Pohl
Why am I in this text chain? I feel unnecessary
Andy Lee
You’re in it because I value your contributions.
Even if I should have just texted Mark directly since he’s the one who has opinions on all things wedding.
Mark Olsen
Look I just wanna get married okay
But until I find someone I have to live vicariously through you
Owen Pohl
Vicariously is a pretty big word for you, bro
Did you get a word of the day dictionary?
Mark Olsen
Fuck you
Also yes
Owen snorted and Andy turned the conversation towards going out sometime soon, since the three of them hadn’t gotten together in a while. Owen had met Andy during a summer internship at a white-shoe firm downtown in law school—Owen had gone to Harvard but interned in Minneapolis, while Andy had gone to the U of M—and Mark had been Andy’s college roommate. But Mark was smart enough not to go to law school and instead was a high school gym teacher out in Apple Valley. They were the closest friends he had, save Nora, but Owen hadn’t mentioned Victoria to them either. For one thing, Andy almost certainly knew her from law school—and if he didn’t, his fiancée Cassie definitely did, on account of her only being one year behind Andy in law school—and for another, he didn’t really feel like dealing with the trash talking that would ensue once they found out he had a fuckbuddy, even if it was good-natured.