Page 26 of Imperfect Saint
Sure enough, just as she’d predicted, the grooms were seated at an old style wrought iron table. It was small but there were four chairs and only two of them were taken. The rest of the area was empty and he was just about to tell Millie that maybe since it was their big day the men wanted to be alone but Reed looked up and saw them first.
“Hey! Good morning. Come, sit with us.” He waved them over.
“Thanks.” Millie grinned as she dragged Hunter over, “You don’t mind if we join you, do you Col?”
Hunter watched Millie’s brother glance up from his plate. His dark eyes moved from his sister, to Hunter. His lips thinned almost imperceptibly. Hunter’s own smile fell a little at the look of disapproval in Colin’s eyes. He knew it wasn’t really about him. Colin didn’t know him enough to dislike him. Colin’s reaction to Hunter was purely based on his desire to see his best friend and his sister back together. Hunter wasn’t worried about Colin coming around to him, though. He knew it would happen eventually. Besides, Reed seemed to like him just fine and he proved it when he knocked his shoulder into his fiancé.
“Of course he doesn’t mind.”
“Of course not.” Colin forced a smile and motioned to the empty chairs with his fork, “Sit. Please.”
“Thanks.” Millie smiled at Reed and then gave her brother a knowing look as she pulled out a chair and sat, patting the one next to her for Hunter to take.
“Hey, Hunter.” Reed smirked, “Nice of you to finally join us.”
He gave a snort as he put the plate of food down and pulled out his own chair, “I can’t believe I slept so late. I never sleep past dawn.”
“Something must’ve really tired you out.” Reed wagged his eyebrows and Colin groaned.
“Jeez, that’s my sister you’re talking about.”
“What?” Reed looked mock offended, “I would never! I was only saying the long drive up from the city must’ve been exhausting.”
“Uh huh.” Colin rolled his eyes but his lips twitched back into a smile as Reed leaned against his side.
“So, you two aren’t superstitious huh?” Hunter saw an opportunity to change the subject and jumped on it as he selected a biscuit from the pile of assorted foods Millie had grabbed and buttered it briskly. “Isn’t there some rule about seeing each other before the wedding?”
“Nah, we’re not superstitious.” Reed shrugged.
“Nothing is coming between us ever again, especially not some silly jinx.” Colin kissed Reed’s temple softly.
Hunter smiled at their interactions. From what he’d managed to glean, these two were perfect for each other. Complete opposites but perfect nonetheless. Colin was the stable, serious one that kept them grounded. Reed was the overdramatic, fun one that kept them dreaming. Colin hadn’t smiled much in Hunter’s direction since they were introduced but it was clear to him that the man couldn’t look at his intended husband without giving in to the soft smile of a man in love.
“Are you going on a honeymoon after the ceremony or delaying it for a while?” He asked once he’d swallowed a few more bites of food.
“Delaying it?” Reed looked at him as if he’d asked if they intended to jump into a pit of snakes, “Hell no. We are getting out of this city, this state and this country to celebrate our marriage while we still can.”
Colin leaned back, dabbing his mouth with his napkin before tossing it on his plate and sliding an arm around Reed’s shoulders, “We’re going to the Bella Vista Resort in Mexico for two weeks. Our only plans are to lay on the beach, drink fruity cocktails and…”
“And I’m pretty sure as your little sister I don’t need you to finish that sentence.” Mille grinned and Reed snorted with laughter when Colin groaned again.
“Pervs. I’m surrounded by perverts.” Colin shook his head good-naturedly. “I was only going to say enjoy our time alone, away from work, just the two of us.”
“Uh huh.” Millie gave the same roll of her eyes that Colin had given Reed earlier which made them all erupt in laughter again.
Once they’d settled back into silence Hunter nibbled on a slice of cantaloupe, “The Bella Vista? Isn’t that the resort where Trent Thorne got married a while back?”
“Yeah.” Reed tilted his head, “That’s when Colin and I got back together. We were down there for Trent’s wedding.”
“I was at that wedding too.”
“You were?” Millie blinked at him in surprise.
“Yeah. Trent asked for security in addition to his usual bodyguards. He was already working with All Saints so Vaughn sent a bunch of us. Trent is the one who introduced Lemon to Vaughn and got her signed with us.” He paused “Wait, were you at Trent’s wedding, too?”
“No. I didn’t go. Lemon took Shane and Dad went with Colin to represent the label. I didn’t want to go by myself so…”
“Maybe if you had you would have met Hunter and you two would have gotten together even sooner.” Reed grinned at them knowingly.
