Page 217 of Pucking Sweet

“Yeah, cause I thought it wasyou,” she repeats.

“It was me.”

We both turn as Violet walks up. She doesn’t look like her normal self. She hasn’t all weekend. She looks like “Wedding Weekend Violet,” all done up in my mother’s makeup choices and clothing styles. Her white sheath dress hugs her curves, and her blonde hair is styled in a big Annmarie-approved blowout.

“You invited her?” I say.

She just shrugs, as if it means nothing that she let my friend come to her wedding. “She came to the bachelorette, and she brought cool gifts. I figured I could squeeze another couple hundred bucks out of her.”

“Fuck you too,” Tina teases.

A smile flickers across Violet’s face. Then she’s turning, offering out a hand to my men. “You both came.”

“We were invited,” says Lukas, shaking it.

“I know, I invited you too,” she replies, shaking Colton’s hand. “I’m glad you’re here,” she adds, shocking the heck out of me. She’s quickly called away by her friends, leaving me with the only friendly faces at the party.

“It’s good to see you again, Devil One, Devil Two,” says Tina, stepping in for a hug.

“Hey, come on, I’m an angel,” Colton teases.

“Well, I’m not. Devil in the streetsandthe sheets,” says Lukas, hugging her next.

She just rolls her eyes. She knows everything about us, and she’s been so supportive. She already sent Lentil a box of goodies, including the breast pump and bottle-cleaning kit I put on my registry. She called it “Baby’s First Mixology Set.”

“Now it makes sense,” Rowan says, wandering up with a pregnant Deidre on his arm. “The freakazoid got you roped into the alternative lifestyle, right, Pops?” He nods at Tina. “Hey, Tuna, how’s it going?”

Tina stiffens. We both hate that nickname. “Rowan. Don’t you have a pile of ants you can go burn with a magnifying glass?”

He chuckles. “Nope, but I do have a couple deals I can close. Those should bring in a cool million each by close of business LA time.”

“Spare us,” I say with a sigh.

“What would you know about it, Pops?”

Before I can speak, Lukas steps in. “Actually, Poppy just helped me close an endorsement deal with Under Armour. It’s worth a cooltwomillion.”

Next to him, Colton smirks.

Rowan takes a sip of his beer. “Hmm. That surprises me. With that ugly scar, I bet it’s hard to put your face on the posters.”

“Actually, women love a guy with scars,” Lukas replies. “Turns out they’re attracted to strength and resiliency. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

Colton groans, and I put a hand on Lukas’s arm. “Deidre, I love your hair,” I say loudly, inching in front of him.

Deidre smiles. “Thank you. It’s—”

“Actually, Iwouldknow a thing or two about strength,” Rowan counters.

“God, are you still here,” Lukas deadpans.

Tina chuckles, but Rowan bristles, trying to make himself taller than his five-foot-nine next to Lukas’s six-foot-two. “You listen to me, asshole. My family built this country—”

“Lemme stop you right there,” Lukas says, putting up a hand. “See, I’m Canadian. So, all your posturing ‘America rules’ political bullshit is gonna go right over my head.”

“Hey, don’t blame Canada for why you’re so unintelligent,” Rowan snaps. “Blame the NHL for not giving you dumb jocks better protective headgear.”

“Rowan, that is enough,” I finally say. “You’re just embarrassing yourself.”

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