Page 186 of Mad As Hell

“No sex talk!” Bex shouted, cutting him off. “We get it. You two are horny little rabbits, but we don’t all want to hear it.”

Linc held up a finger. “I don’t really mind so much.”

Ryan slapped the back of his head and Linc yelped, rubbing the sore spot. “You brought it up, asshole.”

“Stop thinking about my girl naked,” Ryan snapped.

“Then stop bringing it up! Or find a girl less hot,” Linc retorted, sidestepping before Ryan could land another blow.

I folded my arms, wondering if this was how I would spend the rest of my life: watching Ryan and the guys he loved like brothers fighting like children while I stood on the sidelines, ready to jump in if they took it too far.

Truth be told, that version of the future didn’t suck.

Bex huffed beside me, but she was fighting a smile. She held out her phone to show me a dress, and everything fell away.

That was it. That was the dress I could see myself wearing as I walked down the aisle.

“Maddie?” Bex prompted.

“This one,” I whispered, my gaze flying to hers. “It’s perfect.”

She grinned, triumphant. “I’m ordering it now. We can pick it up in the morning.”

“Add it to the list,” Linc told her. “Court can pick it up in the morning.”

She scoffed. “And let him wrinkle it? Please. Tell him I’ll go with him. Dress handling is in the maid of honor manual.” She gave me a suspicious look. “I am the maid of honor, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, it was you or Ash, and you look better in a dress.”

Linc made a disapproving noise. “I don’t know. There was a toga party last year, and his legs are pretty spectacular.”

A laugh bubbled out of me, and I caught Ryan shaking his head and smiling. I started to walk by him, but he snagged my wrist gently in his rough hand and pulled me in for a quick kiss.

I pulled away with a gasp. “It’s the night before my wedding.”

His brow furrowed. “Yeah, and?”

I looked back at Bex. “Guess I’m sleeping with Bex tonight.” I winked at Ryan’s shocked face while our friends laughed. “Bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, you know.”

“I didn’t fucking agree to that,” he spluttered.

“Too bad,” I called over my shoulder as I headed for the stairs.

My sense of direction must have been improving, because I found Mr. Harris’s bedroom door fairly quickly. I knocked softly on the wood in case he’d fallen asleep.

“Come in, Maddie.” His voice sounded muffled and a little weak.

Frowning, I slipped inside and looked around the space. It was done in golden wood tones with cream walls. A few paintings hung on the walls, but mostly it was family pictures. Black and white photos of people I would never meet and colorful ones of Corinne and Ryan.

Mr. Harris was in the large bed, a machine taking the place of what should have been a nightstand. A cannula wrapped around his head, feeding oxygen into his nose, as he sat propped around a mountain of pillows.

I couldn’t stop looking around at the room. It was beautifully done, and I could see a balcony with a seating area beyond a set of glass doors loosely covered with a gauzy curtain.

“Feel free to make any changes you like,” Mr. Harris offered.

My gaze snapped back to him, confused. “Sorry?”

He smiled, the edges of the action tinged with sadness. “When it’s your room, my dear.” He looked around, as if seeing the room with new eyes. “I see Clara everywhere in this house. It’s why I’ve never changed a thing, but I don’t want you and Ryan to feel like you have to keep the house as a memorial to us. Clara put her own touches on this house to make it a home. I’d always expected my daughter to as well, but…”

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