The World According to Vince - Jane Harvey-Berrick Page 0,59
needed for a couple of hours because Rick was having breakfast with his parents while Ben and Leon were out for their helicopter ride across the city.
I’d texted Gracie an hour ago and she was already with Cady and Rachel, the ladies getting their hair, nails and makeup done. I was looking forward to seeing her all tarted up even though she looked hottest with her hair mussed, wearing my briefs and t-shirt.
Tap sighed in contentment, and I smiled to myself. These moments were precious: Tap on my knee, Tyson snuffling around the garden, and Zeus snoring in his bed. But I wanted to share them with Gracie. For the first time in my life, I wanted intimacy with a woman that came from trust, from love, from being myself and not disappointing anyone.
And maybe I’d get lucky tonight. Weddings made women horny, and wasn’t there some sort of rule that the maid of honor had to sleep with the best man? I grinned at the thought. Lucky, lucky Gracie.
Glancing at my watch, I realized that I’d zoned out for nearly an hour and only had a couple of minutes before Erik arrived. I checked my list for my best man’s emergency kit: two pints of Jack Daniels, mouthwash and mint-flavored chewing gum, Imodium and spare underwear, Aspirin, dental floss, deodorant, glue (in case my tooth dropped out again), tweezers for nasal hair (I’m not saying Rick had a badger’s arse growing out of his nose, but it was wise to think of these things). Oh yeah, and eye drops that hid any redness and signs of overdoing it the night before—a tip I’d picked up during my modeling days.
My doorbell buzzed, and the dogs started barking as I welcomed Erik inside. He’d arrived with a pocket full of Milk-Bones. I knew that my pack of hairy hounds would have conned him out of the whole lot by the end of the first hour, but it was a nice gesture.
“You give my regards to Miss Cooper and the happy couple,” he said. He sniffed a couple of times. “I love weddings. My wedding, best day of my life. And fashion show—also best day of my life.”
I slapped him on the shoulder, gave him instructions for the kids’ lunch and supper, and left a hundred bucks so he could order himself take-out during the day.
“What have I forgotten?” I asked out loud, the three dogs staring at me with forlorn eyes when they realized I was leaving them.
“You have wallet?” asked Erik.
“Yep.”
“You have condom?”
“Yep,” a new packet.
“Phone?”
“Yep,” I said, patting my pocket.
“You have rings? You have suit?”
“Rick has them.” For some reason he didn’t trust me to remember them. No fookin’ idea why.
“Then I think you’re good to go, my friend,” said Erik.
I kissed the kids goodbye, picked up my sports bag packed with the emergency kit and strode out to the waiting taxi.
Aw, Erik was standing at the door waving his handkerchief goodbye.
The taxi pulled away when I suddenly realized what Erik was really waving. “Stop!” I yelled.
The driver slammed on the brakes, then swore as I jumped out of the car and ran back to my house.
“You forget best man’s speech!” Erik screeched, waving the sheets of paper that I’d so carefully typed with two fingers.
“Mate! You’ve saved my arse again! I owe you, buddy.”
“Two cravats!” Erik bellowed as I ran back to the taxi.
I stuffed the pages in my jeans’ pocket as the driver scowled at me in the mirror. I’d broken into a cold sweat at the thought of forgetting the best man’s speech.
I’d never been a best man before; I’d never been best anything, unless you counted the time I was voted Rear of the Year in the Gay Times—Mum had been so proud.
But the point was, even I knew that the best man’s speech was a big deal. I wanted to do right by Rick for trusting me with this job, and I wanted to impress Gracie as well. Losing the speech before I arrived at the hotel would not be a good start.
The wedding party had rooms reserved at a dope place named ‘The Jewel’ opposite Rockerfeller Plaza where Rick and Cady were having their wedding in the famous Rainbow Room. Probably famous if you were a New Yorker, but I’d only lived here a couple of months so I’d never heard of it before.
I found Rick in his hotel room, drinking coffee from an espresso cup.