Page 6 of The First Best Man

“Tell me everything,” she says, pulling the bowl of M&M’s toward her like she’s grabbing popcorn for a show.

“So, I was sitting at the bar––”

“WatchingJeopardy!and eating chili-cheese fries,” she interjects, and I roll my eyes.

“No.”

“No?”

“My fries hadn’t arrived yet,” I say in a rush, and we both chuckle. “Anyway, I was sitting there, and this guy––a stranger––slides onto the stool next to me whilecalling out the answer to the clue Ken Jennings read. Of course, I called him out for being wrong. He didn’t phrase his answer as a question.”

“Of course,” she says, her smile widening. “Was he hot?”

“Sohot,” I say, my voice dropping an octave. “He looked like a Greek god in a fancy suit. Dark hair, bright blue eyes, wide shoulders. Just…yum.”

“Did he hit on you?” she asks, bouncing a little where she sits.

“Not exactly. But we did hit it off. The banter was chef’s kiss, if you know what I mean. He was starving, and since the kitchen was technically closed, I shared my fries with him.”

Penny freezes, her eyes widening and her mouth falling open. “You…shared…your…fries?”

“Shut up,” I bark with a laugh at her sarcasm, though she’s not far off the mark.

My fries are sacred.

“Okay,” she says, relaxing, “so, you shared your fries. Then what?”

I stiffen. “Then Kaylee Harper’s cousin from San Diego walked in looking for me.”

“What? Why?”

“Apparently, she told him I’d be thirsty for some casual sex.”

“What?” she shouts, her voice deepening with anger. “Thatbitch!”

“My thoughts, exactly,” I grit out, then deflate. “I told him his dick probably wasn’t big enough for me.”

Penny stares at me in wide-eyed silence for two beats, then falls over as laughter peals out of her. I waitfor her to gather herself, and by the time she sits up, she’s wiping tears from her eyes.

“Classic Kate.”

“Yeah, well,” I say, not feeling her mirth, “he shot back by calling me awhale.”

That sobers her, and her cheeks turn bright pink as her body bristles with anger. I’m not usually self-conscious about my size. And I don’t let juvenile comments about it from assholes get to me. It is what it is. But Penny?

Penny goes from zero to violent, vicious mama-bear in one-point-two seconds when it comes to protecting me.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say before she can launch a search party to hunt Alex down and castrate him. When she looks at me doubtfully, I shake my head. “Really, Penny. This is actually the best part.”

“Go on,” she says after a few seconds of searching my expression to make sure I’m really okay.

“So, this guy, Tucker, jumps off his stool and tells Kaylee’s cousin he owes me two apologies. One for approaching me to ask for sex, and another for the insult. When Alex––that’s the creep’s name, Alex––smarted off again, Tucker grabbed him by the back of the neck, dragged him to the front door, and physically tossed him through it.”

“No shit?” she asks, her expression brightening.

“No shit,” I confirm. “It was so hot.”

“Then what happened?” she asks, her anger all but forgotten.

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