Page 123 of Three Grumpy Groomsmen

“Oh, this isn’t worth a little bit of effort?” Liam asks, finally losing his grip and raising his voice. “You can’t get on your fuckingprivate planeand drink champagne for a few hours to come out and see us?”

Jesus. They’re in love with one another, they both know it, but they’re hurt and they’re going to say something stupid any second now.

Okay, somethingstupider.

I open my mouth to intervene, but Ivy speaks first.

“Hey!” She’s stepped in front of Liam and is looking at Harrison. “Stop being such a jerk. You’re upsettingmy boyfriend,too. When you two fight, it affects me too. That’s what we all need to realize here. We’re in this together and the stupid shit the two of you say to one another and the ‘decisions’ you make when you’re hurt and yelling at one another, affects two other people here.”

Harrison shakes his head. “I don’t think we need to worry about that, sweetheart. He’s just yours. Not mine.”

“Harrison,” I say, low and firm, trying to be comforting but also trying to keep my friend from fucking this all up. “Take it easy.”

Liam pulls in a long breath. “I have to get on a plane in Charleston in an hour and a half. I need to go.”

I shake my head. “No. We’ll fly you to L.A. tonight. Cancel your flight. Let’s take time to talk this out. Ivy’s right. This affects all of us.”

“I don’t know what there is to talk about,” Liam says, pulling his eyes from Harrison and focusing on me. “If Harrison doesn’t want to keep doing this, then that’s it. I’m not going to make him feel bad about it. He has a right to say no to long distance.”

“Well,I’mgoing to make him feel bad about it,” I snap, looking at Harrison. “He’s upsettingmy girlfriend.”

There are tears tracking down Ivy’s cheeks now, and I want to pull her up against my chest. But the truth is, she’s not just mine to protect and comfort. These men have to want to protect and comfort her, too. They need to understand how this works.

We’re all in this.

Or we’re not.

And, we can’tonlyprotect and comfort her. We need to talk things out and yes, say the things that will sometimes hurt. That’s the only way we can make this work long term.

“I’mnot hurting Ivy,” Harrison protests. “It’s her other boyfriend who’s leaving.”

“For fuck’s sake!” Liam shouts. “I’m not going out there to surf! It’s my fucking job!”

“I’m just saying, I’m probably her favorite right now,” Harrison says. “I’m the one giving her the building for her dream business.”

Ivy gasps. Then she says, “You’re notgivingit to me.”

“What dream business?” Liam asks.

“Jesus Christ, Harrison,” I mutter. He, of course, did that on purpose. He wanted to push Ivy into telling Liam about the wedding venue. I love my best friend but he’s an idiotsometimes, and he fights dirty. We’re going to have to work on that.

“What dream business?” Liam insists.

Ivy turns to him. “I wasn’t going to tell you like this. I wanted to show it to you. Tell you all about the ideas I have.”

“What. Dream. Business,” Liam repeats through gritted teeth.

“I want to open a wedding venue here. Right down on the beach. There’s this gorgeous building?—”

“That I own and am selling to her for basically nothing,” Harrison says.

Ivy rounds on him. “Just shut up, Harrison!” she yells. “You are going to have to learn how to fightproductivelywith the four of us becausethisis not going to work!”

Exactly. God, I love her.

Harrison doesn’t apologize, but he puts his hands up.

“You’re…staying,” Liam finally says, his voice rough.

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