Page 22 of The Marriage Negotiation

Before he could take two steps, Zaq's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and then rolled his eyes after looking at the screen. "This should be fun."

I gave him a quizzical look as he answered the call, but put it on speaker.

"What do you want?" Zaq asked in what might have been the most unfriendly tone I'd ever heard him use.

"What did you do, Zaq?"

As soon as I heard my brother's voice, I knew exactly why Zaq had rolled his eyes. I wanted to roll mine too, but I was more interested in finding out why Peter was calling. Although, I had a pretty good idea.

"I'm not the one that did anything, Peter. You did when you stood me up at the altar to run off to Hawaii with your mistress."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Peter replied quickly, almost too quickly. "What mistress?"

That was what he was focusing on?

"She's blonde, maybe five six or five seven, and has a really impressive rack on her. I suspect silicone, but I can't be sure since I don't tend to be around breasts all that often because I'm GAY!"

My eyes rounded when Zaq shouted that last part.

"I can send you pictures if you want," Zaq continued. "Your girlfriend was nice enough to send them to me on our wedding day. You know, the day you weren't there."

Yeah, there was a little bit of anger there.

"I just needed a breather, Zaq. All that wedding talk made me nervous. That's all. I meant to call you, but time just got away from me. You know I'd never leave you hanging, baby. I love you."

Wow, could my brother spin a story or what?

"The wedding was five days ago, Peter. You're just calling me now?"

"Well, like I said," Peter replied, "Time just got away from me."

"It tends to do that when you're sunning yourself on a beach in Hawaii."

I almost laughed at the sudden silence that met Zaq's words. Had Peter not figured out that Zaq knew where he was?

"I just needed some time to think, Zaq."

"I no longer care, Peter."

I couldn't keep from grinning.

"Don't be like that, Zaq. I'm coming back. I swear."

Zaq held the cell phone directly in front of his face as he spat out angrily, "Peter, we are no longer engaged. We're not dating. We're not even friends anymore. I don't care if you come back. I want nothing to do with you."

"Zaq!"

"You left me at the altar, Peter. You took your girlfriend, and I emphasize girl, on our honeymoon, the one I paid for. What makes you think I'd want anything to do with you after that?"

"Could you at least call my parents for me?" Peter asked. "I can't seem to get through to them."

"Why?" Zaq asked.

I bet I knew why.

"Something is wrong with my credit card and I need my parents to wire me some money, or maybe you could? I just need a couple of thousand. That's all. I'll pay you back just as soon as I get home."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Peter, but your credit card doesn't work because it is my credit card and I had it canceled. As for me loaning you money, not a chance in hell."

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