Page 56 of Perfect (mis)Match

We’d clearly reached a new level of insanity.

Her bridesmaids rushed over to comfort her, and all the guys turned to watch what Paul would do next.

Which was freeze in place.

Yeah, it looked like the pressure of the whole ridiculous spectacle of a wedding was about to break him. When I finally caught his eye, I beckoned him to follow me to the stairwell.

“Yo,” he said glumly once we were alone. “Wake me when it’s over.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that if his marriage turned out anything like the ones I’d seen up close and personal, thanks to my father as well as Dominic and his ongoing marital woes, the nightmare was just beginning. Paul rubbed his temples, then refocused on me.

“It shouldn’t be this hard, you know?”

I shrugged noncommittally. Telling him what a crock marriage was wouldn’t help at this moment. All I could do was be supportive.

“We’ll make it work,” I said as I gestured around me. “The next twenty-four hours won’t be easy, but we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure tomorrow will be perfect.We’ll get the elevator guy out here, he’ll fix it up, and the setup can begin. There’s plenty of time, and if things get tight later in the day, I’ll make it worth the staff’s while to stay as late as it takes to finish up.”

Paul’s half smile wasn’t at all convincing.

“I appreciate that, and I know tomorrow will be great, but there’s collateral damage, you know? Chloe has pouredeverythingon this one single day. She’s been obsessed. And for a while we were fighting about it constantly, because she couldn’t see reason. When I mentioned that the wedding fights were taking over our life, she stopped talking about it to me atall.” He waved his hand in front of his face like he was trying to wake someone from a trance. “We went from full-on brawls to nothing. It’s like she bottles everything up and then she explodes, like what we just witnessed. When she manages not to explode in front of me, that’s even worse. She’ll act like everything is fine but then I’ll hear her crying in the shower.”

“She is coming across a little…manic,” I agreed. I didn’t want to insult Chloe—the woman was an absolute sweetheart, and I knew she wouldn’t be acting like this if she wasn’t stressed beyond belief. “And I’m not calling her a bridezilla. It’s not like she’s being unreasonable. I mean that she seems like a stick of dynamite with the wick burned all the way down.”

“Exactly,” Paul agreed quickly. “It’s not healthy for her or our relationship. We should be able to talk through everything, but she’s totally cut herself off from me. I shouldn’t feel distant from the woman I’m marrying the day before our goddamn wedding, you know?”

I searched for a way to comfort my friend but came up empty, because long-term commitment was a mystery to me.

We both stared at the ground with our arms crossed. There was plenty more to say but no way to put it into words.

“Hey, did someone call a meeting without alerting the rest of us?”

Paul and I turned to find Trent, Aiden, and Dominic storming toward us.

“Yeah, what’s going on over here?” Dominic asked. “You guys lookintense.”

Once again, Dee’s Lost Boys showed up for each other. It didn’t matter how much we’d grown and changed in the years since college; we had an unbreakable bond. When things got tough, we were there.

I felt so lucky to have this crew in my corner.

Paul gave them a halfhearted wave. “Hey guys. Just trying to keep calm and carry on, you know?” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder toward the steep stairs behind him. “Guess we need to get used to these.”

“Nope, absolutely not,” Aiden said with authority. “We’re getting that elevator fixed if we have to do it ourselves.”

“Yeah, it’s not like Nana Dee and the old aunts and uncles can make it up those steps,” Trent added.

Paul sighed as he nodded.

“Hold up. Whatever has you upset is bigger than the elevator, isn’t it?” Aiden asked. “What’s going on?”

Paul looked around at us. “Too much to get into now. Let’s just say I’ll be happy when tomorrow is over, and I can get back toreal life. I want to be married to Chloe, but the wedding can go fuck itself.”

Dominic snorted. “Good luck with that,” he said, almost to himself.

It was no secret that our sole married friend wasn’t having the easiest time in his marriage. The one bright spot in his life was his three-year-old daughter, Hailey.

“Hey,” Trent said. “Are you sure? Because we could kidnap your ass and get you out of here?—”

I scowled at him. “Trent,stop. He doesn’t need that right now.”

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