Page 88 of Friendzone Hockey
Ihave a problem. This place is perfect. Everything I’d want in a wedding venue, but I can’t let on since I’ll have to turn it down. She’s shown us six different ballrooms, but it’s The Conservatory I’ve fallen in love with—the most expensive one.
Judy shows us where the head table would go, just in front of the large casement windows. The ballroom is encased in glass, it opens to a backdrop of green and tall trees.
“Do you know what kind of flowers you want?”
“Everything white and pink,” Stacey says, taking the words out of my mouth.
“Yeah,” I agree. “Surprise me. Just make it?—”
“Huge,” Stacey adds. “No expense spared. I’m not just any hockey player, but a famous one with a massive bank account.”
Now he’s just tryna get laughs from me and it works. I get to whack him again, though.
“Baby, leave something for the kids to inherit,” I tease.
Stacey pulls me backward until I’m flush with his larger body. “You want kids, sweetheart?”
“Yeah. Someday.” Definitely not immediately like Jack and Merc.
Judy smiles wide. “You two are so in love. It’s like watching magic. How did you meet?”
I flush head to toe. I try to bury myself in Stacey to hide from Judy’s star-struck eyes. We don’t have a meet cute.
“Actually, we were friends for a long time first,” Stacey says—it’s not a lie. “And then I realized if I didn’t act fast, I’d lose the person that means everything to me. My heart never would havebeat right ever again. It would have been h-hell on earth.” His voice breaks a little.
W-What…?
No. He doesn’t mean any of that. He’s fucking with me, winning whatever the fuck game of chicken we’ve roped ourselves into. It’s never gonna happen. The worst part? It’s not even because he doesn’t love me. He loves me more than life itself. No one loves me like Stacey loves me. We’re fucking gravity.
It’s just my luck Stacey would be the first man to succeed in fighting gravity.
Judy buys the whole thing. She’s tearing up as she gives us a round of applause. “Oh! This is going to be the most beautiful wedding. C’mon. Let’s try some cake.”
It doesn’t take long to pick out the cake … although it ends up being cakes, plural. Stacey insisted on what he knew would be my favorite—Vanilla custard with pink strawberry icing—and I refused unless we also got him something tall, chocolate, and caramel. Stace isn’t a sweets guy, but the exception is anything chocolate and caramel.
“You said whatever I wanted,” I reminded him when he tried to talk me out of two, worried it would get wasted. “Besides, cake won’t get wasted with your brother around.”
In two hours, “The Alderchucks” put together a spectacular fantasy wedding, a spell only broken by the price of the deposit.
“We’ll need thirty thousand to hold the date.”
Fuck. I didn’t prepare for that. I don’t have thirty thousand lying around. Dad wanted to foot at least half the bill, and Syd was going to take care of the rest. And, yeah, he can afford to do a “whatever-I-want” wedding, too, but spending thirty thousand non-refundable dollars without asking my fiancé—my real fiancé—doesn’t seem like the move.
“We’ll talk about it and get back to you, Judy,” I say.
“Of course, Future Mr. Alderchuck, but keep in mind that without the deposit, I can’t hold the date. I see you’ve requested some of our most sought-after dates.”
“Yeah, I?—”
“We don’t need to talk about it, sweetheart,” Stacey says. “Everything’s perfect. Here.” He pulls out his damn gold card again and Judy’s off with it before I can protest. That woman’s done this before.
“Stacey! You can’t pay for this, and you know why.”
“I’m not. It’s a loan. Your dad can pay me back. I’m just helping you hold the date—it’s the least I can do for being a dick today.”
“Didn’t really notice, but if that’s the way you feel, say sorry. Don’t toss thirty grand at me, dude.”
His phone rings. “It’s the bank calling to make sure I’m authorizing such a large sum.”
