Page 97 of Love and Other Trials
Dax touched his face and glared at his friend. “What the hell, man?”
“You took the dress!” Rob’s shout had the blood rushing out of Ariel’s face. “You didn’t want me to get married. You’ve tried at every turn to talk me out of it.”
“Rob!” Carson’s grip tightened as he tried to take another lunge at Dax. “Get a hold of yourself. Accusing Dax of something like that would be like accusing me or any of us guys.”
“You’re talking crazy!” Perry cried, muscling Rob in place as the other men nodded.
Ariel turned to Dax. He was pale, but his green eyes were hot with anger. He’d even fisted his hands at his sides. She didn’t know what to do. But one thing was for certain: Rob was totally out of line. This betrayal had to be cutting Dax deep.
“You know I wouldn’t do something that low,” Dax ground out, his voice clipped.
“Do I?” Rob practically spat, shoving at Carson and Perry. “Well, here’s the punch line, buddy. You’ve been trying to stop something you can’t. Tiff and I got hitched in Vegas two months ago.”
Ariel’s mouth dropped open.They were married?How could her sister not have mentioned this?
Jeffrey cried out like a dog who’d been stepped on. “OMG! That’s why her dress didn’t fit! She’s pregnant!”
She whipped her head around to frown at him as she heard Terry’s and Tricia’s outraged cries. He’d slapped both hands over his mouth, his brown eyes wide with shock. She was sure she didn’t look much better.
“Jesus, Rob!” Dax exclaimed, taking her attention back to him. “You’re married—and having a baby—and you didn’t say a word! To any of us. What the fuck?”
“Yeah, dude!” Carson echoed harshly. “We’re your buddies.”
“Your friends,” Perry added hollowly, looking as hurt as the other two men who were glaring at Rob.
He tried to wrestle free, but they continued to hold him. “Tiff didn’t want anyone to know because of something I don’t want to go into. It’s our private business, isn’t it? But maybe I should have told Dax here so he wouldn’t steal mywife’sfucking wedding dress!”
“I didn’t steal it!” Dax shouted back, taking his cap off and slapping it against his thigh.
“Who else would have?” Rob tried to wrestle free of Carson and Perry’s hold, but they held him back by the arms. “You’re the only one who’s made a big deal of wanting this wedding to be canceled since you imagined she hit on you.”
God, how many proverbial cats could get out of the bag?
“When the hell did that happen?” Perry shouted out.
“It doesn’t matter.” Rob started struggling again. “Dammit! Let go of me!”
“Not until you get a hold of yourself, man,” Carson bit off, his cap tilting to the right. “You’re totally over the edge right now. I’m tempted to tell you I took the dress to save you from yourself.”
“Give her dress back, Dax!” Rob’s voice was cold, his eyes flat and mean. “All she’s wanted is a perfect wedding. Don’t fuck this up for her. Because if you do, you’re fucking it up for me too.”
The two men faced off in a silence thick with bad feelings. Dax’s ears were bright red from repressed anger. Rob’s face was flushed with rage.
Dax held up a hand like a white flag, his jaw locked. “I give you my word that I did not take her wedding dress.”
“Bullshit!” Rob started wrestling to get free, fighting for all he was worth. Gunner and Frank joined in to hold him. Dax only stood there silently, his face rigid.
Jeffrey stepped up behind her. “Did you know?” he whispered.
She leaned closer, desperately wanting to put her head on his shoulder, close her eyes, and pretend this wasn’t happening. “Only about the baby,” she said for his ears only. “When she disappeared that day she told me. She never mentioned being married already.”
God, she still couldn’t believe it. But right now wasn’t the time for shock. Rob was continuing to fight his friends, his hard eyes locked on Dax like he wanted to take another punch at him and not stop.
If they let him go, she knew he would knock Dax on the ground and hit him until he confessed. Someone had to defuse the situation. “Rob, I know you and Dax have had your differences, but he’d never do this.”
“Shut up, Ariel!” Rob spat back, surging forward.
Dax was in Rob’s face in a hot second. “You don’t talk to her like that.”
