Page 96 of Tameron

“That way, nobody will sound the alarm when I forget his name halfway through the ceremony,” Bean joked, then laughed. “Which, as you all know, is not outside the realm of possibilities.”

No shit. When Bean was stressed, his memory issues were a lot worse.

“I love small weddings,” Forest said with a wistful sigh. “They’re so much more personal. Who wants to waste time exchanging polite chit-chat with a second cousin you haven’t seen in ten years instead of dancing with the people you love?”

Creek ruffled his brother’s hair affectionately. “You always were a romantic.”

Getting married. Now there was a concept I hadn’t even considered before, but suddenly, the idea of being dressed up in a nice suit and looking into Dayton’s gorgeous eyes while promising him forever didn’t seem so far-fetched.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t ready for that anytime soon. But I was open to the idea, and that in itself was a shocker.

“Well, who knows? You may find your Prince Charming in the city of love,” Heath said to Forest.

“How are you liking it here so far?” Dayton asked. “Must be quite a change of pace from small-town Texas.”

“Gosh, yes. Very different. I only arrived two days ago, so I can’t say much yet, but it seems like it’ll be a good fit for me.”

“Where are you staying?” I asked.

He turned his head away from me as he answered, so I didn’t catch what he said. Should I say something? I didn’t want to make him feel bad, especially in front of everyone else. On the other hand, Dayton had been encouraging me to speak up more and remind others to take my disability into account.

I looked sideways, and of course, Dayton was watching me. He must’ve picked up on my emotions, as usual. He put a finger at the bottom of his lip and flicked it toward Forest.Tell him.

I took a deep breath. Fuck, I hated this. “Could you repeat that, Forest? It’s hard for me to hear you when you look away from me.”

Forest whipped his head around. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. Of course. If I forget again, please remind me, okay?”

Thank fuck, he was so nice about it. If he’d snapped at me or had acted embarrassed, I wasn’t sure if I would’ve had the nerve to do it again. “I will. Thank you.”

“I was saying that for now, I’m staying with Heath and my brother while I search for a room to rent. It’s hard finding something in my price range where I’ll also feel safe.”

“This city has grown ridiculously expensive,” Heath said. “It’s a shame because a lot of folks who grew up here can’t afford it anymore.”

Dayton nodded. “I got lucky with the house I bought. The previous owner died, and his kids wanted it sold quickly without having to do anything to fix it up. I made a cash offer without inspection, which was a risk, but it paid off.”

Nash cleared his throat. “If you want, you can stay with me. In Creek’s room, I mean. Like, rent it. It’s available, and now that Bean has moved out too and Tameron is mostly with Dayton, it’s just me, so… Not that you need to feel sorry for me because I’m sad or anything. Well, I am because I will miss them, but not angry sad. I’m happy for them. But there’s room for you. If you want.”

Oh. My. God. I’d joked about this once, but it looked like I had been on target. Nash wasn’t bumbling because he’d had a bad shift. He was all flustered and rambling because of Forest.

Forest made him nervous.

Hell yes. I was here for this. My revenge on Nash would be so, so sweet.

“That sounds like the perfect solution,” I said, my tone sugary. “Though I have to warn you that Nash runs a tight ship. You can’t leave your shoes lying around in the hallway, for example.”

“That was because Creek might stumble over them and break his neck…or lose other, slightly more important, body parts,” Nash countered.

“And he’ll set up a schedule for doing chores, like the dishes,” Bean chimed in, winking at me. Apparently, he’d seen it too.

Nash grumbled. “If I hadn’t, you guys wouldn’t have lifted a finger, and I’d have ended up doing it all myself.”

“Dinner is at six on the dot,” I added. “And you take turns cooking.”

Bean nodded. “And no dissing his grandmother’s recipes. He’s sensitive in that area.”

Nash’s cheeks grew red. “You guys make me sound like a tyrant.”

I scratched my chin, pretending to consider it. “A tyrant? Nah. More like a true Top.”

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