Page 24 of Kicking it with the Best Man

I sipped my drink while they chatted amongst themselves about how amazing the day had been. They had loved the show we all saw together especially.

“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” Parker looked at me when he spoke, as if I was the only one who knew. In fairness, I had been the one to plan the trip, so I actually might have been.

“We’re headed out to the national park nearby for some hiking.”

“That sounds awesome,” Parker said, reaching over to high five Levi. Jared nodded in agreement.

I spotted Bennett looking around from the entryway of the restaurant and waved him over.

“What did I miss?” he asked as he took his seat.

“Now that we’re all here—”

I held up a hand. “Wait a second. We’re not all here. Theo and Nate are missing.” I was stalling, I knew, but it was like speaking their names materialized them into existence. They walked up to the table, Nate’s curls mussed and out of place in that just-fucked kind of way, his cheeks flushed.

“We know what you’ve been up to,” Park murmured with a smirk.

“What?” Bennett’s eyes were wide, his brow furrowed.

“Never mind that.” Jared’s grin grew even wider. “It’s time, Newton. Spill the beans.”

Theo cleared his throat. “What’s this about?”

“Cam was just about to tell us about his afternoon,” Bennett chirped.

Nausea rolled through me and I swallowed hard. All eyes were on me. “Fine,” I said with a sigh. “I went to visit the chef from last night. He called and said I needed to come in and take care of a few things, that’s all. Satisfied?” I sipped my drink, hoping against hope that would be all of it.

Parker held up a hand. “Not on your life. No way a quick visit to the restaurant took all afternoon and besides, what could he possibly want from you? You paid the bill, right?”

I had to come clean. These guys were my best friends and I didn’t like hiding from them. I reached into my pocket and, hiding my hands under the table, slipped my wedding band back on. “Fine. Chef Ridley—Oliver—and I got married last night. I went to see him this afternoon because we’re trying to figure out what we’re going to do about it.”

A moment of silence passed before Jared laughed and the others followed suit.

“Okay you guys,” Theo said, the voice of reason. “If Cam doesn’t want to tell us, he doesn't have to. You don’t have to lie about it, though.” The last part was directed at me.

I shook my head and held up my left hand to show off my ring. “I’m not lying.”

A surprised hush fell over my friends for a moment before they all started speaking at once. I wasn’t able to distinguish who said what for several seconds.

“What the fuck?”

“Seriously?”

“Why would youdothat?”

When they quieted again, Bennett smiled. “I think it’s kind of romantic.”

Parker shook his head. “It’s fucking stupid.”

“How long have you known each other?” Theo asked, his face a little wounded. I immediately suspected what he was thinking—that I’d upstaged his bachelor party weekend with my own surprise marriage, and maybe also that I’d married a guy I had just met when he was taking his sweet time to marry a guy he’d developed a relationship with over the past few months. Both were good points, and I felt like a huge asshole.

“Why didn’t you invite us?” Levi asked.

I held up one finger to stop the questions and commentary. “I didn’t want to overshadow the whole reason we’re here. Besides, we just met. Like, yesterday. We went out drinking after you all went on your bar crawl, and we must have had too much to drink because we woke up with wedding bands on and a marriage license on the bedside table. And—” I turned to face Parker. “Itwasstupid, at least a little. But what’s done is done.”

“Now what?” Levi asked.

“Now Oliver and I have to decide if we want to go through a divorce or stay married.”

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