The Boy Who Has No Belief - Victoria Quinn Page 0,73
I’ll hear all about it.” My parents liked to play Cupid in my life, and I hoped Dex settled down on his own. Otherwise, Mom would play with him like a puppet on a string.
She smiled then took another bite. “Still have time to tutor Lizzie today?”
“I always have time for her.”
She stopped chewing for a moment, but she continued.
“But I am meeting Ryan for a drink after work. I’ll meet you afterward.”
“When are they getting married?”
“Not sure. They’re kinda just making it up as they go along. Ryan didn’t want a bachelor party, but then it turned into one anyway.”
“Do you know who the maid of honor is?”
“Actually, no. Why?”
“Well, maybe you should host something for them. Like an engagement party or the rehearsal dinner, something like that.”
“I don’t want to overstep. I feel like if I offer something like that, it might drown out everything else they do…and make me look like an asshole.”
“How so?”
I should be working, but it was so much easier to talk to her. It was a break for my brain. “If I did something nice for them, it would just highlight the fact that I have more money than they do, and people will talk about that instead of everything else they do. Marriage isn’t about how nice the wedding is or the rehearsal or whatever. It’s about the two people, so I feel like doing that would overshadow everything and appear disingenuous.”
“I didn’t think about it like that.”
“They don’t know this yet, but I was going to send them on a nice honeymoon. Tell them privately. Camille has always wanted to go to Italy, so I thought I could send them there in the spring or summer.”
Her eyes softened. “That’s so sweet, Derek.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I just grabbed my sandwich and took a bite.
“And it’s also sweet that you don’t want anything to be about you, just them.”
I wished I’d done a better job of that with Kevin, but he’d cornered me and I didn’t know how to restrain my anger. But no one knew about it, so no harm done. Unless Kevin was a little bitch and told people.
“So, are you taking me as your date to this thing?”
I grinned. “Definitely. You’re my baby.”
She smiled back, like she loved the possessive nickname. “That’ll be fun. I love weddings.”
I fucking hated weddings. But I didn’t say that and just kept it to myself. I had no idea how I was going to get through the rehearsal dinner with a lot of the same people who were at my rehearsal dinner—and not think about that godawful night. Everyone would be thinking about it since Kevin and Tabitha would be there. It would be like a fucking reunion.
But this was about Ryan, and not me.
I’d walk in there with my head held high and swallow my humiliation. For him.
I grinned as I sat across from him. “Did you wear that to work?”
He grabbed his hat by the bill and straightened it. “Hell yeah. I love this thing.”
“You’re never going to get employee of the month now.”
“Fuck it, I don’t want it anyway. If they fire me, Camille will just strip, and I’ll retire.”
I chuckled. “Sounds like a good plan.”
The waitress came over, and we ordered a couple beers. Ryan asked for some jalapeno poppers because he was starving. They came out a couple minutes later, and we drank our beers and dunked the fried peppers into the sauces.
“Did you throw up the next day?” I asked.
“Just once. No big deal. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Did you throw up? You went straight for the scotch.”
“I never throw up, man.”
He rolled his eyes. “Asshole.”
“Hey, this asshole carried you out of that bar and got you home.”
“True. That was pretty badass. Camille said you even carried me into the apartment, Band of Brothers style.”
“The rumors are true.”
“She loves the hat.” He grabbed the bill and adjusted it again. “Put it on and rode me the other night.”
“Nice.”
“Hell yeah, it was niiiiice.” He winked before he placed another popper in his mouth. “Did you have a good time?”
“Yeah, it was a blast.” I’d never make a single complaint. “The guys were great, the drinks were strong, and you made an idiot out of yourself, so that was fun to watch.”
“I always make an idiot out of myself, so it wasn’t that surprising.” He kept eating, getting a few more into his mouth before he took a drink of his beer. Then he grew quiet,