Page 54 of Best Man
He groggily jumped out of bed and shot a glimpse at the clock. It was already half-past twelve.Shit, I’m late.
“One second!” he yelled.
He jumped into a pair of sweatpants and answered the door. It was two other groomsmen, Reavo and Dane. Niko kept himself hidden behind the door so his friends wouldn’t have to see his morning wood.
“We got an emergency, bro,” Reavo said.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Jax,” Dane said.
“W-what’s wrong?” Niko asked, immediately panicking—did Jax find out?!
“We don’t know,” Dane said. “He’s not saying.”
“But he’s acting hella weird,” Reavo added. “You should talk with him.”
Oh, fuck.
“Okay.” Niko audibly swallowed. He peeked his head out the door and searched the hallway. “Where is he?”
“Up in his room, with everybody else,” Dane said.
“It’s time you join us, anyway,” Reavo said, glancing at his watch.
Since the girls were getting ready at the house—and the groom wasn’t supposed to see his bride until the ceremony—Jax had reserved an executive hotel suite for all the groomsmen to get ready in.
“So come on up when you’re ready,” Dane added.
Niko nodded. “I’ll get dressed and head up there in a minute.”
“See ya.”
The boys walked off and Niko closed the door.
Fuck fuck fuck.
He paced the room, turning the problem over in his mind, analyzing where things had gone wrong. Had they somehow been caught? Did Mr. Eaglestorm see him leave Paulina’s yurt this morning? He had precious few moments to ready his alibi for any given scenario. Or should he forget the alibi entirely, and confess to his crimes instead? He didn’t know. The only thing he knew for certain was that he was a human scumbag. And a hypocrite, too, considering the fit he threw when Reavo started dating Katya.
Best man?he thought, disgusted with himself.Ugh. No. I’m the worst man.
Regardless, he couldn’t stall any longer. He had to go face the music. Besides, it was almost time to get ready—in a mere couple of hours, the shuttle would take them all over to the farm for the ceremony.
Niko reluctantly put on a t-shirt, stepped into his shoes, threw his garment bag over his shoulder and marched down the hall. The elevator made his stomach drop, and he felt like he was riding up to his funeral.
He knocked on Jax’s door and Tanner Vaughn, the goalie, answered.
“Hey, man.” Vaughnsy, always a cool and quiet character, gave Niko a bro hug and welcomed him in. “What took you so long?”
“Late night,” he murmured as he stepped into the suite.
“Well, hopefully you can get Big Rig to calm down,” Vaughnsy murmured as he led him into the living room. “I’ve never seen him like this before.”
Jax sat on the couch in a tripod position, elbows on his knees, head in his hands, legs rapidly bouncing.
I’m a dead man,Niko thought as he stepped closer. “Hey, Big Rig. What’s up, man?”
Jax lifted his gaze as if he were snapped from a trance. “Oh. Hey, Niko. How are you?”
