Page 26 of The Best Man Wins

He scoffs a laugh. “Darling. Who do you think I am? Of course I have tweezers. What do you need?”

“I have a splinter. But it’s kind of. Well. Hard to reach.”

“All right. Show me.”

I grimace. “Well…it’s kind of…” Thom lifts his eyebrows and makes a hurry up motion with his hand. “On my butt.”

“For heaven’s sakes, Susie.” Thom sighs. “I will never understand how you get yourself into these messes. Turn around.”

I do and unbutton my pants, dropping them. “It’s a funny story, really,” I tell him as I brace myself on the sink.

Thom goes into his vanity kit, pulls out a pair of tweezers, and positions himself behind me. I pull down the side of my underwear just enough to expose the offending cheek.

“Do tell,” Thom says.

“Well…” I’m leaning over the sink with my ass in the air. I don’t have a lot of secrets I can keep from Thom now. I blurt out, “I had sex with Braxton.”

I feel a pinch on my rear, and I let out a quick yelp of pain.

“Ow,” I say and glance over my shoulder. “Did you get it?”

Thom stands there with the splinter trapped between his tweezers. “Yes. Pull your trousers up, please. You’re as pasty as a ghost—have you thought about tanning?”

I pull my pants back up. “Thank you.”

“Susie, what are you doing?” Thom asks. There’s an accusatory tone to his voice.

“I just figured you wouldn’t mind…”

“This, I can do all day. We’re friends. What frightens me is the fact that you’re apparently sleeping around with groomsmen now.”

“Not all the groomsmen, just one… It happened before I knew who he is and…it’s complicated.”

Thom’s lips are pressed in a thin line. He’s unimpressed. “I have to tell Letty,” he says.

Bolts of panic shoot through my chest. “No! Thom, you can’t tell Letty. Please,” I beg him. “The wedding is too important to me.”

“The assignment, you mean,” Thom says skeptically. “You’re part of the planning crew, not part of the family. Don’t forget that.”

“I’ve got it under control,” I tell him firmly. “I promise.”

He doesn’t seem entirely convinced, but he lets out a deep sigh. “Let’s hope so.” With that, he opens the bathroom door and calls out to Marlee. “Muffin! Time to go!”

11

Braxton

I stall in the truck and keep it warm. I waste time on my phone, catching up on emails and making sure everything is in working order. It’s fifteen, maybe twenty minutes before Susie and the rest of her crew come back downstairs and hop into the car.

“Took you long enough,” I say.

“Urgent wedding business, I’m afraid.” Thom clicks his seat belt in place. “Nothing you would understand. Do we know where we’re going?”

“Marlee?” Susie asks hopefully.

The pigtailed girl looks down at her phone and scrolls through it. “There are a couple antique and thrift stores in the area. I’ll direct.”

Susie burns gas as we drive around, following Marlee’s directions. I grip the side of the truck as Susie gets a little trigger-happy on her turns and make a mental note to claim the driver’s seat on the way back. The first set of directions takes us to a quaint little antique shop, but Susie shakes her head and drives past. She also turns down the second shop, windows filled with porcelain.

---