Page 66 of Surprise Best Man

“That you two had been seeing each other for the last week, like I said. He told me that you guys met up to discuss a business arrangement for your spa and that things kind of went from there.”

It took all the restraint I had not to flip my shit and find James and tear his head off.

“No,” I said. “That’s not even close to what happened. We met up to talk business weeks ago before your offer was made, but then he…”

“He what?” asked Sean, clearly getting upset about the idea of James pulling some shady shit.

“He told me that he’d help me out with my business, pay for everything, find me a spot. All I’d have to do would be…to be his…”

Sean’s was shocked. I didn’t even need to finish the sentence for him to know what was up.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” he said.

I shook my head. “No,” I said. “And he said that he’d make my life a living hell if I didn’t go along with it.”

Right at that moment Sean’s eyes went wide, as the same revelation I’d had a suspicion about clicked into place for him.

“That motherfucker,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “He must’ve used his pull in the city to make sure you couldn’t find a place.”

I felt lightheaded. He was right. I hadn’t been paranoid to worry about James messing me over. There was no other way to explain why the hell no one in the city wanted to rent to me.

“We have to do something,” he said.

“Like what?” I asked. “He’s here now, I’m sure of it.”

“We have to make damn sure he knows he’s not welcome,” he said. “But first we need to tell everyone what’s going on.”

“Are you sure?”

“Damn sure,” he said. “We’ve gotten into enough trouble trying to keep things hidden from everyone else.”

“And each other,” I added.

A small smile formed on his lips. “Yeah,” he said. You’re right about that. Now come on—we’ve got a guest to throw out.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

SEAN

I was so pissed I could hardly think straight. All I wanted to do was storm into the middle of the reception hall, find that douchebag, and lay him out right in front of everyone.

Keep cool, dude. Might put a damper on things if you put James in the hospital and yourself in jail on your friends’ freaking wedding day.

Shania and I had split up, her heading to the brides’ room and me to the grooms’.

Sure, I was relieved that she and I had managed to work things out. But there was still the issue of James. We had to play it smart.

After a short time, I was back in the grooms’ room, the guys all dressed to the nines and about to break open some celebratory champagne. All eyes went on me as I entered, and they definitely knew that something was up as soon as I came in.

“Whoa,” said Will. “You cool, buddy?”

No, I most certainly wasn’t. But I checked myself, making sure not to freak out as much as I wanted to.

“We’ve got a situation with one of the guests.”

“You serious?” asked Noah. “Shit, did the bassist from Twenty One Pilots get into the open bar already? I knew we shouldn’t have invited those guys.”

That reminded me of something else—this place was lousy with celebrities and paparazzi. Sure, we’d been able to keep most of the press at bay, but there was still the off-chance that one of those jackasses might get in and snap some pics. Last thing we needed was a confrontation with one of the most powerful men in the state on all the gossip blogs.

“Nope,” I said. “Something else.”

The guys formed up and I let them know what was going on. Telling the story was enough to get me steamed about it all over again.

“You’re fucking kidding,” said Will once I was done. “He blacklisted her?”

“Not positive,” I said. “But it’s looking like the kind of shit that he’d pull.”

“OK,” said Noah. “That fucker’s gotta go. No one treats my friends like that.”

I knew my guys would have my back—they always had. But seeing it got me all warm and fuzzy inside.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I took it out to see it was Shania.

“The girls are ready to kick some ass ;)”

I grinned. “As much as I’d like to see a bridesmaid beat down, let’s try to keep this civil for right now.”

“No fun : (. Meet us in the hall outside of the brides’ room.”

I sent back an affirmative, told the guys, and we were off.

“I’ll get James,” said Will. “Tell him I need to have a chat with him in private. How about in the back area of the garden?”

“Works for me,” I said.

We met up with the girls, who were all ready to move.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “Isn’t it bad luck to see the brides?”

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