Page 93 of More than Need

“That escalated quickly.”

“Will you live in the woods with us?”

“You’d starve otherwise. You were not made to be a hunter.”

“Excuse you, neither were you. We’d both be hopeless. Maybe we could live off berries and… grow a garden or something.”

“I worry about how much thought you’ve put into this.”

“Me too. But it’s important to have a plan.” She nudged his shoulder. “You know I’m here if you want to talk? About your sexy couple, or whatever’s bothering you.”

“I know. Thank you.” He felt like the worst scum in the world, watching her walk away. He should have said something.Told her. This would have been the perfect opportunity to do it with some kind of lead-in. He’d done some shitty things in his life, but this took the absolute cake. He knew every time he drove over to one of their apartments—they’d been staying at Riley’s alot—that he was doing the wrong thing. He couldn’t stop, even knowing that every time Riley put his hands on him, he betrayed a friendship that he’d spent years growing.

“There you are!” Eli said, slapping Dawson on the back hard enough he stumbled forward from the surprise.

“Been here for four hours now,” Dawson said.Therehis nails were. He snatched them up and eyed Eli critically. “What? If you add anything else to my list, we’re gonna have to get someone else because there are only so many hours in the day, and the bridal party is gonna be here for their pictures in just under three hours.”

“Lucky for you, I enlisted help.” Eli tugged at the cuffs of his hoodie in annoyance. “We’d already be fucking ready if the father of the bride didn’t keep changing things. He didtwomore changes already today.”

“Yeah, I know.” He’d heard this rant, twice already. “What does ‘enlisted help’ mean?” he asked cautiously.

“My siblings, and Gabe. Seb can’t really handle a hammer, but he could be a good mule, probably. And Charlie can yell real loud?”

“Uh…” They didn’t really need either of those things. “I guess at least Gabe can carry things too?” Eli’s best friend—who routinely made an appearance and never strayed more than a foot from Eli when they were together—had lean muscles from his daily training. If anyone were going to be the most useful in this situation, Dawson would put his money on Gabe.

“Yeah, and he looks great with his shirt off, so he can distract people while I run.”

A weirdly specific skill set, but okay.

Eli laughed at the expression on Dawson’s face. “I’m kidding, oh my God! Sebcan’thandle a hammer, I wasn’t lying about that, but he can help with some of the finer details, and he’s good at talking.”

Dawson would have gone for the distraction skill, but what did he know? “Good to know?”

“Knowledge is power. So the last of the flower arrangements are coming in about ten minutes, along with the vines and roses for”—he gestured at the arch that Dawson was finishing up—“that monstrosity. Will you be—”

“Arch is almost done.” The mix-up with the supplies had been easy enough to rectify, and once he’d finished setting up the gazebo, he’d gotten to work finalising it. He’d left that until now since the greenery that would wrap around it wasn’t being delivered till today, to avoid it wilting before the big moment.

“Nice. That means we’re on track,andI haven’t even punched anyone yet.”

“Small miracle.”

“I’m giving myself a pay raise.”

“Right, I see how it is. Let me guess: you have a pizza lunch organised for the rest of us to say thanks?”

“Get your own pizza, you cheapskate.”

“When’s your enlisted help getting here?”

“Seb should be here any minute. Rumour has it that there’s a house rule that says he’s not allowed to work on the weekends, so he shouldn’t be late.”

“Rumour has it?”

“Little birdy named Will told me.”

Dawson checked the sturdiness of the arch and declared it complete. He stood and gathered his gear, packing some of it away in his toolbox and the rest on his tool belt. “Will?”

“One of his boyfriends.”

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