Finn's Fantasy (Maine Men #1) - K.C. Wells Page 0,2

on Teresa’s shoulder, gazing at her in obvious amusement. “I see you found a comfortable lap. Now, unless you’d rather spend all your time with these guys when there are other guests to talk to, or God forbid, your husband…”

Seb chuckled. “You can have her back now.”

Ry snorted. “As if I didn’t know exactly where she’d be.” He held out his hand to her, and Teresa stood, smoothing her dress. Ry glanced around the table. “You guys having fun?”

“We’re having a great time,” Finn assured him. “This is a nice place.” The Maine Ballroom ceiling was festooned with white lights and draped with long spans of chiffon that spread from the center to all corners, where they fell in elegant lengths. Beyond the French doors was the patio with its white-columned pergola draped with more chiffon, where the service had taken place.

“That was a nice ceremony too,” Levi added.

Noah frowned. “It was so short.”

“That’s what I meant.” Levi’s mischievous grin took Finn back to the seventh grade, when Finn had first met him. Levi had always appeared to be up to something, even when he was behaving himself. And when did Levi ever misbehave? He was their own Little Goody Two-Shoes.

Ry gestured to the wooden floor in the middle of the room. “I expect to see you all dancing later. Only… don’t dance with each other, okay? You’ll scare my relatives. Some of them aren’t as open-minded as me.” That look of amusement was still present.

Aaron’s eyes flashed. “Hey. One size does not fit all, okay?”

Noah cleared his throat. “That’s Aaron-speak for ‘We’re not all gay or bi.’” He patted Aaron’s arm. “Welcome to my world. Whenever I go bowling with Levi, some smartass from high school always thinks it’s funny to ask when we’re getting engaged.”

“Whereas we all know neither of you is the marrying kind,” Finn observed. He couldn’t ever remember Noah or Levi going on dates, although things might have changed since Finn had moved to Kennebunkport. It wasn’t as though he kept close tabs on his friends. They called one another, sure, but they hadn’t met up like this since New Year’s, which meant it was high time they had a chat and caught up.

Levi blinked. “I see.” Noah wore what Finn thought of as his deer-in-headlights expression.

Ry put his arm around Teresa’s waist. “I’ll see you later, guys. Right now we have to mingle.” He led her across to another table, and Teresa glanced over her shoulder at them, wearing an apologetic smile.

“I think Teresa would rather talk to us than mingle,” Shaun said with a chuckle.

“And speaking of talking…” Finn inclined his head toward the French doors. “How about we get a refill, then take our champagne outside where we can talk? We gotta catch up.”

Dylan glanced toward the glass, and shivered. “Fuck that. It’s freezing out there. I vote we find the bar. The fabulous Village by the Sea has to have at least one bar, right? Let’s claim a corner of it where we can talk, uninterrupted.”

Ten minutes later, they’d located the bar and dragged enough chairs into a quiet corner, one table in the midst of them, its surface crowded with their glasses.

Ben gave a longing glance toward the ballroom. “I was gonna dance.”

Shaun laughed. “Well, that would be one way of clearing the floor for the rest of us.”

“What does that mean?” Ben’s voice held indignation.

“It means you dance like a flailing Kermit, and don’t bother denying it.” Dylan grinned. “We have proof.”

“What?” Ben glared at them. “What proof?”

Seb pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolled through, then held it up for Ben to see. “New Year’s. Party. That is you, isn’t it?”

Ben’s eyes widened. “You dickhead. Delete it.” Around him, the others laughed, and Ben was clearly striving to keep up the pretense of being annoyed.

Seb hugged his phone to his chest. “Uh-uh. I’m keeping this for when I need leverage.” He glanced at Levi. “You still living at your grandmother’s place?” When Levi nodded, Seb pursed his lips. “That must cramp your style.”

“I suppose it would,” Levi acknowledged. “If I was on the lookout for someone—which I’m not.” He raised his eyebrows. “It’s not like I’m the marrying kind, remember?”

“Not everyone is like you, Seb,” Ben teased. Silence fell as they drank champagne.

Finn shook his head. “Do you mean, this is the first time we’ve met up since New Year’s, and there’s no juicy gossip? Nothing to report?” Seven faces stared blankly at him, and Finn sighed. “Well