Page 6 of You Are Cordially Invited

The middle of the room cleared in seconds as everyone lined up against the wall, even the bartenders, although they looked remarkably relaxed for a police raid.

Fuckers.

Reuben pulled me to his side. “Where the hell is Ben?” he hissed in my ear. The club owner was working the downstairs bar to free a bartender to cater our party.

Oh, to be so naïve.

“Sweetheart, I really don’t think—”

The siren blared once again, grabbing everyone’s attention. Two of the ‘officers’ dragged a couple of chairs centre stage at the exact same time that a spotlight landed on Reuben and me, and the light finally dawned in Reuben’s eyes.

“Oh,” he groaned.

“Yep,” I said, glaring at a particularly smug Mathew and wondering exactly how many friends we were going to have left after I dealt with those responsible for whatever mortifying calamity was about to happen.

The single instruction I’d hammered into the committee had been clear.

No. Embarrassing. Pranks.

And by that, I meant embarrassingto us.Everyone else was fair game.

I was taking names.

I glanced at Reuben to find him surprisingly mellow regarding whatever excruciatingly humiliating torture we were about to endure.

“Stop them, now,” I hissed in his ear.

“Hell no.” He wore a huge grin. “This is awesome. You only get married once, baby. Relax and enjoy.”

Which earned him an immediate place on my shit list for the next eleventy-billion years. It wasn’t that I was opposed to a good dose of friend mortification, but only when I was the one doing the mortifying.

“Just think of the stories we can tell Cory and our other children.” The fucker even laughed.

“There won’tbeany otherchildren,” I snapped back. “Because as soon as this is done, I’m gonna cut off your balls and nail them to your All Blacks’ locker. Good luck scoring a try after that, hotshot.”

“Aw, you’re so cute when you get all threatening.” Reuben leaned down and kissed me... with tongue.

And a quick grope of my arse.

Ugh.

So maybe he’d get to keeponeball.

The siren cut and my gaze landed on Miller’s shit-eating grin as he held up the light.

I fired him my best you-are-in-so-much-fucking-trouble look, which he ignored with a casual wink.

Another set of balls was added to the list.

“Would the happy couple come centre stage?” One of the exceedingly buff not-cops waved Reuben and me toward the chairs.

Oh, hell no.

“Come on.” Reuben nudged me from behind. “How bad can it be?”

I cut him a sideways glance. “You have got to be shitting me. These are ourfriendsyou’re talking about. Or at least they were,” I said loudly enough to send a ripple of laughter through the room.

A slow clap started.

---