Page 26 of HEA: Happily Ever After

And Rafa.

Hugh

Rafa is family. We’ve been friends forever.

I put my phone away when Rafa and Dex came back into the family room and joined us. Rafa was in the middle of telling Dex about his latest event-planning job. He’d scored a huge contract managing a charity gala and couldn’t stop talking about the enormous budget he’d get to spend.

The conversation naturally progressed until Abby was interrogating me on what cool wedding trends I’d noticed this season.

“Abs, the season’s only a few weeks old. Other than seeing a lot of burnished gold instead of silver, I’ve got nothing to report.”

“Huh.” She waved a hand at her fiancé. “Dex, remember that.”

He gave her a mock salute from his spot on the floor. “I remember every word you say, baby. Burnished gold. My favorite kind of… gold.”

Rafa snorted and took another sip of wine. “If it isn’t, it should be. Everything’s going that way this year. But if the two of you aren’t getting married until December, I suggest navy and burgundy. The burgundy will be a nod to the holidays without being on the nose.”

This was probably the only group of people I would sit around and talk weddings with without having to worry about boring someone. Dex was so in love with my sister he’d put up with the topic of conversation for any length of time, though it was far from being in his wheelhouse.

After another forty-five minutes or so, our door buzzed. Rafa jumped up. “Got it. My sister said she might send something over. That’s probably from her.”

It wasn’t. When he got back from meeting the delivery driver, he was holding a high-end crate of some kind, filled with various packages wrapped in brown paper and tied with black-and-white-striped twine.

“Elena went overboard,” I said, eyes widening. “What the hell is that?”

“It’s not from my sister,” Rafa said, placing the crate in my lap. “She would have never sent you a box of bacon, bro.”

I stared down at the collection of packages and saw a chic logo stamped on all of them. Divine Swine.

A semi-hysterical laugh bubbled up through my chest and out of my mouth. “Oh my god.”

Abby pointed. “There’s a card. Who’s it from?”

I didn’t need to see the card to know. “Oscar. I once told him I had an unhealthy interest in gourmet bacon.” And he’d remembered.

“You’re smiling like an idiot,” Abby said with her own idiot smile.

“It was thoughtful,” I said defensively.

“No shit,” Rafa said, reaching over to swipe one of the paper packages. He studied the handwriting below the logo label. “Rosemary peppercorn.”

Dex peered over my shoulder. “Bourbon smoke. Jesus, that sounds good.”

Abby put her hands together over her chest. “I’m going to cry. That’s the sweetest thing ever. How did he know it was your birthday? You never tell anyone.”

“I…” There was no way I could admit that Oscar hadn’t known until an hour ago. Knowing he must have dropped everything to find someone to make this happen in record time… It made me feel like a million dollars. “I don’t know,” I said.

I wanted to hug the crate to my chest and inhale the incredible scents coming off it. Instead, I forced myself to set it down so I could text him.

Hugh

You had me at bacon.

Oscar

Don’t say I never gave you a good pork, Hugh Linzee.

I barked out a laugh and shoved the phone in my pocket to hide the message. Despite the heat on my face, I enjoyed his teasing. Oscar never failed to put me in a better mood. Even on nights like tonight, when I was already enjoying myself, he somehow made things even more fun.

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