Page 12 of Infinite Love Novella

Right, thanks to somebody who steered them in that direction.

Barrett cleared his throat and ran a hand over the back of his neck. I’d seen him look shamefaced before, but this had to be a new record. Rather than let him off the hook right away, I let him dangle for a bit, waiting for him to make the first move. I didn’t want to make it too easy. Sure, he’d offered to pay to kill the story, but he could have come straight to me with it rather than bring it up in front of the whole group.

“Listen,” he began in a gruff tone. “I was wrong. I should’ve gone to you with this right away. I didn’t know how to properly navigate it. I was trying to avoid a scandal during the wedding, but I was also pissed at you because it looked like you fucked up a good thing.”

When I considered it from his point of view, I had to appreciate how much he cared. “I get it.”

“So we good then?” he asked. The concern in his voice almost made up for the disdain I’d heard earlier when he sat in judgment of me with only half the facts in his pocket.

I could only scoff at us being anything less than okay. “This is a drop in the bucket compared to some of the shit you’ve pulled. And it’s not like I’ve never pulled off shit of my own,” I added with a smirk. That was putting it mildly. If anything, his knowledge of my checkered past made it easier for him to believe I would do something like what he had assumed.

“You idiot.” Lourde gave me a gentle punch on my arm before wrapping her arms around me and resting her head on my shoulder. “I can’t believe I missed watching you get married. I was really hoping I could get to see that. It’s such a big, monumental event.” Her voice got thicker with every word until it sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

“Hell, I didn’t know it would affect you that much,” I offered in lieu of an apology. When it seemed like that didn’t do anything to ease her feelings, I hugged her. “You know how I feel about the big, flashy shit,” I murmured low enough for only her to hear. “I didn’t want some overblown event like Mom and Dad had. I figured maybe if we started things off differently, we could end them differently.”

Her eyes shone with understanding when she looked up at me, and we shared the kind of smile only siblings can share. People who came from the same parents and household understood things on a deeper level without having to say a word. “I get it. But I could tell you there’s no chance of you and Pepper ending up like they have. They didn’t marry for love. You did. Right off the bat, it’s a much better start.”

“I know you’re right.” All at once, her eyes filled with tears, and I rubbed her back. “Are you okay? You seem a little off.” Maybe more like an emotional basket case, but experience told me women didn’t like hearing that kind of thing, even from their brothers. Maybe especially from their brothers.

She waved a hand before running that hand under her leaking eyes. “I’m always overly emotional about weddings, and now there’s two for me to cry over.” At least she was laughing, even if it was shaky.

“See? That’s why it’s a good thing we eloped,” I joked. “We spared you the dehydration from your crying eyes out during the ceremony.” Her withering glare told me she wouldn’t start sobbing, which was the point. “Now, I need you to do something for me,” I added.

“What?” she asked.

“I need you to help me take everybody’s mind off this and put the attention back on the people we’re here for. Can you do that?”

Her jaw tightened with resolve before her head bobbed up and down. “Can I do that?” She blew out a breath before spinning on her heel and flapping her arms around, gaining attention.

“Okay, everybody! Back to brunch, and then I plan to lay out for a little while. I need some color if I don’t want to look like a ghost in all those wedding photos.”

“Don’t get burned!” Olivia warned. “Sunburned skin doesn’t go with a peach dress, and Pepper told me about the time you fell asleep and burned lobster red under the Hamptons sun a few years ago!”

Pepper flashed me a grin from across the deck, and I returned it. It felt better, really, now that everybody knew. There were no secrets to be kept and no reason for Barrett to stare daggers at me anymore.

“You know,” I murmured, turning to Ari. “I could still have the story killed. Really, I would rather make the announcement about our marriage than have it come out in TMZ. If you think it will pull focus from you guys on your big day, consider it done.” And it would mean avoiding a blow-up with my parents once word reached them.

“Fuck that,” he immediately replied. “I can accept that you eloped and escaped all this planning and bullshit. You don’t get to avoid a media blow-up too. That’s not fair.”

“Misery loves company?” Magnus suggested, grinning as he lifted a Bloody Mary to his lips.

“I heard that,” Olivia called out. When he looked her way, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Let’s not even use the word misery today.” He responded with a salute before we settled back in to enjoy the day as planned.

7

ARI

Would they show up in pictures if I slipped a bottle of Pepto-Bismol into each of my front pockets? What if I tucked them in my suit jacket later?

Maybe Connor and Pepper did things the right way. Perhaps I should have suggested to Olivia that we elope. It would have meant avoiding a shit ton of last-minute plan changes, conflicts with the vendors, and miscommunications.

“You okay there, buddy?” It was Barrett’s idea that we spend a couple of hours fishing the morning of the wedding. It was an excuse to get away from the estate for a little while and clear my head when there had been nothing but to-do lists running through it for weeks. I thought the bride was supposed to be the one handling all that shit, but it turned out that even with the help of the bride and a pair of highly respected planners, there were still endless questions to be answered and plans to be approved.

“You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” Connor was enjoying himself way more than he should, leaning back in his chair with his fishing pole in one hand.

None of us had gotten so much as a nibble in the hour since we’d come out, but catching a big one wasn’t the point. And I got the feeling that if I came home covered in fish stench, Olivia’s head would explode. If not hers, then one of the planners.

“About Olivia? Fuck no.” I didn’t have to think about it, not about her. Sure, it wasn’t love at first sight, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t just as real. If anything, what we had was stronger. We had started out at each other’s throats and ended up ready to build a life together. That meant overcoming all the shit that had tried to keep us apart and building a strong foundation from which everything else would grow.

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