just a big flirt and will hit on anything with two legs.”
“Hey,” Hunter snapped, “Lucy is more than just two legs.”
“Anyway,” Derek continued, “after Lucy makes her move, then Hunter will storm into the shop and start a fight with Corduroy, hitting him for flirting with his woman. You’ll be casually walking down the street when you see the fight break out. Upon seeing Anna in danger of this fight, you rush into the shop to keep her out of harm’s way. Meanwhile, Joe, who will follow Corduroy down to the bakery, will film all of this on camera, showing how you rushed in to save the woman you love. Make sure the kiss is spectacular. Joe will then upload all of this to Facebook, on the town’s page. Your relationship will be outed in the most public way, and Corduroy will never stand a chance with Anna again, because Joe’s going to add the hashtag #HighSchoolSweetheartsForever. That will successfully remove him from her life without us making him disappear.”
Derek stood straight, shoving his hands in his pockets with a huge grin on his face. I stared at him for a moment, trying to see the family resemblance, but it wasn’t there. This man standing in front of me was absolutely insane. I couldn’t follow his plan, let alone figure out how it would all magically fall into place. And frankly, I couldn’t see how any of this would benefit me in any way.
“So, let me get this straight,” I said, going into lawyer mode. “You want to start a fake fight with Corduroy, to draw the attention of Anna, who wouldn’t be paying attention to Corduroy to begin with. And this is all so that I can circumvent any future interest he has in Anna. Then I kiss her and Joe uploads it to Facebook, all so the town knows that I’m with Anna.”
“Brilliant, right?” Derek grinned.
“I mean, we were up all night working it out, but…you’re welcome,” Hunter grinned.
I cleared my throat and glanced at my other brothers, who looked just as skeptical as I did. “This took you all night?”
“Yep, but you know, it’s all in the details.”
I nodded. “Right, but you forgot just one thing.”
Derek frowned, glancing at Hunter. “What’s that?”
“The apology. See, the actual issue that I have is that I fucked up with Anna and need to apologize in a big way to her. But the only thing you have me doing here is rescuing her from a fake fight-“
“Oh, it’ll be real,” Hunter grinned.
I shook my head. “A fake fight that Corduroy doesn’t know is fake. You’ll also face jail time for hitting a police officer and disturbing the peace. And if I kiss Anna in a public place without actually apologizing to her first, she’s more likely to hit me, thus making this whole thing completely irrelevant. Oh, and then everyone in the town will witness my humiliation because Joe’s going to film the whole damn thing!”
Will raised his hand from his seat. “And, can I point out that you left Eric and I out of all of this. I’m hurt. I thought we would get to be part of the fun.”
“You mean the insanity,” Eric muttered.
“So, you took all this time to think up this convoluted plan. What is your plan for my apology?”
Hunter cleared his throat and shrugged. “You know, we’re not actually that good with the whole apology thing.”
I nodded slightly, grabbing my jacket off the back of the chair. “Well, as interesting as this has all been, I’m going to find Anna and apologize to her…without all of this,” I motioned to the table.
As I opened the door, I heard Derek mutter, “I can’t believe we forgot about the apology.”
Eric followed me outside, shutting the door behind him. “Please tell me that they aren’t staying long.”
“I think Hunter and Lucy are headed home soon, but Derek’s either staying for the wedding or coming back for it.”
“If he stays, you’re going to end up helping him bury a body.”
He rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. “I know. And I thought it was bad having Joe and Andrew in the house. Did you know that they actually have a suitcase just dedicated to guns?”
“Work hazard, I guess.”
He sighed heavily. “Why do I have the feeling that my wedding is going to turn into a war zone?”
I slapped him on the shoulder and laughed. “Well, it’s either that or everyone has gas from the chili that’ll be served.”