Page 162 of Harrison's Wedding

I think about it for a moment. It would be naïve to think our jokes about Sebastian and Heather sleeping together aren’t inappropriate in any way. There are people we don’t make the joke in front of, like our grandparents, for a start. That’s a sign that, on some level, they’re inappropriate. It doesn’t make it any less funny, though.

I give trying to explain it to her a shot, though. “You’re right, Ally. It is ‘wildly inappropriate,’ I suppose, but maybe that’s just what we all are. I’m comfortable with it because I’m certain of Heather, and I’m certain of Sebastian. I also know that if they thought for a second that I wasn’t okay with it, the joke would die in an instant.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t be certain of Sebastian Fox for a second.” Ally rolls her eyes, and we all laugh.

Hayden’s the one who replies to her, though. “I’m surprised you haven’t realized by now, Ally. Seb sleeps with other women—”

“A lot of women!” Ariana interjects with a wicked grin.

“Agreed.” Hayden smiles at her, then continues, “But the idea of him sleeping with Heather is hilarious because she’s probably the one person he would never sleep with, well…one of the three women, he would never sleep with.” He puts his arm around Ally and gives her a wink as he nods his head toward Ariana as well. “Seb’s also probably the single, most loyal person I’ve ever met. He would die for any one of us.”

Every word of it is true. Sebastian’s reputation is terrible, but he’s only ever been an amazing and loyal friend to all of us. Even when he was being stubborn about Ariana’s return, I know now that it came from a place of love and care for Gabriel.

Maybe some men would be uncomfortable with Heather and Sebastian’s friendship. However, I’ve never once doubted either of them, and I never will. I think I’ll always be grateful to Sebastian for being there for Heather when I couldn’t be.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Ally concedes, kissing Hayden, and then when they break their kiss, she adds, “but I stand by my original assessment at Galena that you guys are crazy!”

Heather gets everyone drinks, and we talk for a while before going to get ready for the party. Once we’re all dressed, we have another round of drinks, and Ariana and Ally walk over to Heather with wicked grins on their faces.

“Heather, my dearest darling, you need to wear this!” Ariana puts a gaudy, pink veil coming off a plastic tiara on her head, and we all laugh at her horrified look.

Ally slips a white, polyester sash over her head which has ‘Bride-To-Be’ emblazoned on it in gaudy, pink writing. “And this as well!”

“No, way. I hate you guys, so much!” Heather laughs. “Just know this, Ariana, I shall not forget this when your bachelorette party arrives! You will rue the day that you ever put polyester anything on me!” she says ominously.

“You can’t scare me with polyester,” Ariana says before poking her tongue out at Heather. “I’m not you.”

“Oh, it’s not the polyester that you should be scared of. Just you wait…” Heather trails off, and everyone laughs.

We have a final round of drinks while we wait for the limousine that is going to take us to Sebastian’s place. When we walk in the door, the party seems to have kicked off without us.

Most of our guests have already arrived and are spread throughout the apartment, drinking, and talking. There’s music playing from the speaker system, and Sebastian greets us with his arm around Nikki’s waist.

“Hi, Seb. Bye, Seb!” Ariana says with a laugh as she walks away, and I’m guessing she’s off to look for Gabriel, who was helping Sebastian set up today.

“Hi, darlings.” Heather smiles and gives them a hug. “Point me in the direction of the alcohol, Sebastian Fox. It’s my bachelorette party, and it’s time to get my drink on!”

He kisses Nikki’s neck, and she giggles, then he drops his arm from her waist to take Heather to get a drink.

Nikki smiles at me, “Congratulations, Harrison.”

“Thanks, Nikki.” I give her a hug. “How are you doing?”

“Good.” She hesitates for the second, then says, “It’s good to get to see Sebastian again.”

I cringe internally, because I recognize the lovesick look of a woman who is probably going to have her heart broken by him. It’s too uncomfortable to tell her that, but I’ve always liked Nikki, so I have to give her some kind of warning.

“Just be careful, Nikki.” Her face falls a little, and she nods at me. “I’d better go see Heather.”

I make my excuse quickly and walk over to the bar in time to see Heather turn to look at the room while the bartender makes her a drink. Her mouth drops open into an ‘O’ of horror, and it only takes me a moment to realize why. The room is decorated with tons of balloons, and all of them have Heather’s face on them.

“Holy shit! Your face…” Sebastian’s laughing so hard that he’s doubled over and is clutching his stomach.

I reach them and high-five Sebastian while I laugh at Heather’s reaction to the balloons.

“I hate you both!” Heather announces, accepting her drink from the bartender and taking a big gulp. “I don’t think there’s enough alcohol in the world to make me forget these. Sebastian, you are no longer my lover, and Harrison, the wedding is off again!”

I slip my arms around her waist, bend my head and nip her earlobe with my teeth, then say in her ear, “Is that so?”

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