After All(11)

Also, he wasn't at rehearsal dinner last night and he has the task of walking both Tiffany and I down the aisle since Jackie's dad is also the best man.

"He'll be fine," I tell her. "That's not for you to worry about anyway. He's Will's friend, that's Will's problem."

"Will's problems are my problems," Jackie points out, not looking convinced. "That's how relationships work. Hey, give me the champagne. I want some for real this time."

"No way," I tell her. "You're pregnant."

"But my doctor said a glass–"

"You're pregnant and you need your head on straight so you can remember every detail of the wedding. You're as cool as a cucumber, remember?"

She nods at that.

I drink the rest of the champagne.

By the time we arrive in front of the grand building of the yacht club, Jackie is back to pretending everything is okay again. I have to admit, as much as I like seeing her be real and human before the wedding, it's easier when she pretends she doesn't have a care in the world.

We are ushered inside the building to a chartroom upstairs where we're briefed by Janice, the over-zealous wedding planner with big teeth, while Jackie talks to the minister. Then Ty comes in and provides child-like relief from the vibe that's growing more serious by the second.

Finally, Tiffany and I are sent downstairs to wait for further instructions. We decide to stand around in the front with some of the more important wedding guests like Jackie's grandparents and catch some sun while we're at it.

"So have you seen that show, Boomerang?" Tiffany asks me.

"No," I tell her. "You know I don't have cable."

"It's on Netflix."

"I'm sort of over the superhero shows. Plus, that one sounds dumb. What's the guy's power again? Being Australian?"

"Being a hot Australian. And he can turn back time for one minute. Hence the title. And the catch phrase. The world can change in one minute." She says the tagline in a throaty and terrible Australian accent.

"Right. And Emmett is the villain."

"Yes. You would love him."

"I doubt it."

"You would. I think I know your reading tastes by now to know you're a sucker for the alpha anti-hero. That's what Emmett plays. Doctor Cole Black. Or Doctor Death."

"He looks cheesy," I tell her, neglecting to mention that he also looks hot.

"You think he's hot though," she says, studying me with pursed lips.

I shrug my shoulders. "I'm not a fan of blondes." I know his hair is really light brown but I tend to swoon over the darkly handsome types. You know, the ones with thick, dark hair and dark eyes that make them look all hot and brooding.

"He's got brown hair, Alyssa. He's not blonde. And he's hot. I can show you a million pictures of him with his shirt off."

"I've seen them."

"Have you seen the pictures that people have Photoshopped of him and Julian Crane together?"

Now this has my attention. Aside from being a sucker for romances with a brooding alpha asshole, I also like my m/m novels. "What?"


      ///
       
         
       
        

She reaches into her pearl-trimmed clutch and pulls out her phone. I watch as she scrolls through her photos. She legit has folders for every TV show, comic and movie. Also one for WWE wrestling which is weird.

"Jeez Tiff." I whistle. "I had no idea your fandom was this bad."

"Oh yeah," she says proudly and she stops on some very well edited images of Emmett Hill in compromising positions with Julian Crane, the rugged, Australian actor who plays Boomerang.

Damn. That is hot.

"If the show was about them two hooking up, then I would watch it," I tell her.

"Speak of the devil," Tiffany says in a hushed voice and I look up from the pervy images to see Will, Ted and Emmett walking toward us from the end of the driveway.

They look like a trio of James Bonds out to fight crime and find pussy. I know, it's a weird (okay, inappropriate) thing to say when two of them are your boss but hear me out. For one, Will is absolutely gorgeous. Tall, striking, with thick dark hair (what did I just say about darkly handsome types), a beautiful smile and a real python in his pants. I'm not being a perv, it's just the way he is and I dare anyone not to notice when he's wearing certain materials. Even from all the way over here I think I can see the shadow of the thing. Then again my eyes are trained to search for it.

Don't tell Jackie.

For two, Ted, also my boss, and Jackie's father, and Will's best man, defines the term silver fox. He's like Anderson Cooper's older, straighter cousin. He's handsome in the way Cary Grant got handsome even when he wore thick, black-rimmed glasses and had hair the color of snow.