Page 57 of Perfect (mis)Match

“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood. You know we all love you, man. And Chloe.”

Paul’s shoulders sagged. “And so do I. That’s not the problem at all. Chloe is incredible, and I hope you guys find someone as special.” He glanced toward me, Aiden, and Trent.

My stomach dipped when my mind immediately conjured up a vision of Piper. Yeah, she was pretty amazing. I wasn’t exactly sure where things stood between us, but I was enjoying it too much to question it.

“Maybe you’re getting all the tough stuff out of the way in the beginning. When everything seems perfect at the start, you never really find out if you know how to work your way through problems,” Dominic said, sounding injured by whatever he was facing.

I knew that for a fact. Just look at my parents. They were deeply in love, and they still wound up divorced. And my dad had kept trying to recapture the magic, only to fail time after time.

“Hey, no matter what, you know you’ve always got us, right?” I asked.

“I do,” Paul agreed. “Thanks for always having my back.”

“Listen to you with the ‘I do,’” Aiden laughed. “Are you practicing for tomorrow?”

“Don’t need to. That part will come easy,” Paul lightened up a little at the thought. “It’s all of this,” he gestured around the space, “that’s going to kill me.”

“Stop worrying—we’ve got you,” Dominic said. He glanced past us to where everyone else was gathered. “Not so sure about your bride and her crew, though. Looks like they’re all arguing with someone at the door? Let’s go see what’s up.”

The three of them stalked out toward the hubbub, leaving Paul and me alone once again.

“I’m only going to ask one more time; you sure you’re okay?” I said pointedly, locking in on his face so I could watch his expression and make sure he was telling me the truth.

“Yeah, I want to know too,” a soft voice drifted over to us.

We both turned to find Piper standing in the doorway, her face creased with worry.

“Hey, you,” Paul said, brightening a bit. “What’s going on over there with Chloe?”

“Turf war.” Piper widened her eyes, half amused but clearly feeling the tension. “Someone’s trying to come in and see the space for a future wedding, and Chloe’s not having it. She’s worried about keeping everything under control. Of courseweget it, but the folks out on the sidewalk don’t. It’s getting tense.”

Paul straightened up. “Should I go out there?—”

“Not necessary, your Lost Boys are handling it, and they’re plenty intimidating,” she reassured him.

“True,” he agreed with a shrug. “One less battle for me to fight, I guess.”

“Aw,” she studied him. “You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

Paul finally let out a real belly laugh at her unexpected insult. “Hey, thanks Piper! Just what I want to hear before I spend a day getting photographed from every angle.”

“YouknowI’m kidding,” she said as she slid over to pull him into a hug. “You’re going to be such a handsome groom, and I’m so proud to be a part of your big day.”

“Thanks.” Paul squeezed his eyes shut as he hugged Piper. “Chlo loves you. And so do I.”

The brother-sister moment tugged at my heartstrings. Paul had told me he and Piper weren’t super close since they’d already done most of their growing up before their parents got married, meaning they never spent a lot of time living in the same house and learning to be siblings, but it looked like things were changing thanks to the wedding.

Maybe the tradition wasn’t all terrible?

“Paul! The elevator guy is on the phone,” Chloe called from a distance. “Paul! Get over here,please!”

He jerked away from Piper like he’d been electrocuted. “Hell yes, the answer to my prayers!”

He ran off, leaving me alone with Piper in the stairwell.

“You’re the only one who got him to relax a little, you know that?” I asked her.

Before she could respond, a frazzled bridesmaid whose name I couldn’t remember jogged over to us.

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