He opened the door, and we entered the room buzzing with conversation. Everyone noticed us, though, and they all started clapping.
The hall was filled full of people. Family, friends. Yeah it wasn’t the entire guest list of the wedding, but it was a lot of people. All here to celebrate our engagement.
“Well there she is,” Willa grabbed me in an embrace. As soon as I’d called Mary she’d put the word out to Willa. They were to be my joint maids of honor, and they’d come through brilliantly. Willa pulled every string she could to help, but it wasn’t necessary. Still, I was glad she’d tried.
“Hi there, it looks like you’ve been enjoying the champagne,” I giggled as I took the glass from her and drank right from it. I was going to need a good bit of alcohol to get through the night myself.
“Well, when your fiancé got the top notch stuff, I thought, why not?” she winked at Greyson. “Mind if I take her around the room? She needs to make the rounds.”
“Not a problem. I’ll find my father and Janson.”
Willa took it all in stride. She was one of the only people who knew the circumstances of the wedding and she hadn’t let the secret slip. Hell, she didn’t even treat him with the disdain I thought she would.
“You know, he’s one handsome devil,” she whispered to me, not quiet enough. He heard it and then grinned, winking at her and turning out towards the crowd.
I watched as her already rosy face turned an even deeper shade of red.
“You realize we have all night to get drunk, don’t you?”
It was early.
“It’s not my fault the parties had to all be jam-packed into a single day. You didn’t even do a rehearsal!”
“We couldn’t get use of the venue for that,” I explained. We were lucky to get St. Vincent DePaul to lend us the venue at all. Turns out Father Patrick was a cousin of Alexander’s.
“I see your point,” I said.
“We ready to do this?” Mary asked as she came up and threaded her arm through Willa’s. The three of us became close instantly and those two hit it off extremely well.
I could tell by the way they rolled their eyes in time that they would be friends even after the wedding.
“Yes. The sooner we do this the sooner we can get to the real party.”
“Real party?” I asked. It was mostly in jest because I knew they were planning something a little bit more lively than this.
“You bet your ass. We have penis shaped cake, Joanna. You aren’t getting out of that,” Willa said.
She pushed me around the room introducing me to just about everyone. Mary was there with us the whole way, letting me know who each individual was and how important they were to the family.
It didn’t keep her from rolling her eyes though. I liked Mary.
“Okay, rounds complete. Now the adults will get to sit and talk and we can get to the fun,” Willa said as she pushed me out the back doors.
“Wait, what about Greyson?” I asked. I wanted to at least get the chance to say goodbye.
“He has his own party to get to,” Mary answered.
It was going to be one long night.
Greyson
“Are you fucking serious?” I asked as I looked up at the name on the sign. Verge. It used to be one of my favorite haunts.
“What? I got us the VIP room.” Lenny said. He was one of my cousins and a guy I used to go out with.
Janson just crossed his arms and sighed. “I told him you wouldn’t like it.”
“No, it’s fine I could use a good drink.”
“Now that’s more like it,” Lenny said as he pulled me into the club. There were about ten of us all in tow every single one of them connected to the family somehow. Cousins of sorts.
“Greyson,” the bouncer said at the head of the club and I nodded at him. I’d been a couple months since I’d been by, but I was a regular before that. It was an easy place to find ass when I wanted it, and I never had to sample the same wares twice. Unless I wanted to.
And I almost never did. Except when it came to Joanna. I just wanted to be home burying myself into her with a nice buzz going on. I didn’t want to be here, pretending to live up the last night of my “freedom”. It wasn’t freedom to me.
This was the jail. This was the cage. Having to live like I didn’t give a shit about anything else.
The flash of lights in the club made me a little nauseous as we threaded our way through the bodies and towards the VIP lounge. Bodies brushed against me on the left and right, reminding me of all the women I’d danced with, ground up against. All the times I drowned my worries in alcohol and women.
It was a familiar taste, that’s for sure, but it wasn’t mine anymore.
No. I wasn’t the man I used to be. For better or for worse Joanna had changed that part of me. I didn’t want to take any of these women home tonight.
“Bunch of hotties, huh?” Lenny asked as he raised his eyebrows. I fought the urge to slap him on the back of the head and brushed past him.
“Yes. Hotties.” Janson said it in a singular disjointed way that made me chuckle. He’d never been one for places like this, and when he went it was only to act as my personal bodyguard. But any time he could get out of it, he did.
It was where I met his sister that one night. Why I ended up in on the rack for that well deserved beating. Without it I may never have met Joanna, or at least noticed her.
So many things had to happen for me to get to know her and I was thankful for every single one.
“Come on man, let’s get some bourbon and sit a spell, huh?” I asked as I found my way to our usual spot.
Sean was already there leaning against the bench seat with a drink in his hand. He was a good guy, a hard-ass, but a good guy.
This was my crew, the only one I had, and when it was my turn, when I came to power they knew that they were going to be promoted. That things would be different when I took over the family.
We didn’t talk much, didn’t need to.
“Greyson, hey hon. Haven’t seen you around in a while, what can I get you?” Millie, our server smiled at me with those knowing eyes of hers as she laid down the coasters.
“Bourbon tonight, doll.” I said with my usual charm.
“We’re celebrating tonight, bring your best,” Lenny betrayed us.
“Oh, whatcha celebratin’?” she asked, her eyes never leaving me.
She fucked me with those eyes every damn night but I never took the bait.
I didn’t want some bitch spitting in my drinks.
“Grey’s getting married, the son of a bitch.”
Her eyes widened. “I never thought I’d hear that happen.”
“People change,” I said slowly.
“Not that much,” Lenny countered. “You mark my words, man, you’ll have a sidepiece in six months tops.”
This time I did smack him upside the head.
“What the hell?” he asked rubbing his head.
“Shut your fucking mouth you fucking putz.” I glared at him.
“A round of bourbon for everyone,” Janson spoke up and handed her a couple of bills, “and buy yourself something too.”
“You got it, hon. Congratulations Grey, though I gotta say, that’s too damn bad.”
I clenched my jaw. “Maybe.”
“Lighten the fuck up, man, it’s your fucking stag party.”
“No, it’s drinks and then we go home,” I said slowly. I wasn’t fucking around.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Janson said.
“Jesus, who the fuck pissed in your cheerios.”
“You knew when you fucking took me away from the only piece of ass I wanted to get with tonight,” I answered then I stood up and walked away. I wanted some air. I had a cigar in my pocket and that was the perfect excuse. I wasn’t much of a smoker, but I liked a stogie now and then. “I’m going out for a smoke.”
I walked away from them and headed towards the exit.
“Grey,” a familiar set of emerald eyes flashed at me as I tried to avoid the rest of the room.
Mia.
I’d taken her home once, no, twice. Twice. Fuck. She probably thought that meant more than it did. I could tell just by the look in her eyes that she was hoping for a third time.
“Mia.” I said then I winced. She lit up at the mention of her name.
“You wanna come dance with me?” she asked as he wrapped her arms around my torso and pulled herself into me.
“Maybe some other time,” I said as I pulled her off me.
“You sure?” she pouted, hanging on tight. “We don’t have to dance, we can just go straight back to my place.”
“You’re drunk.”
“That ever stop you before?” she asked, then chuckled. Maybe not. But it didn’t matter.
“It’s not going to happen, Mia. Keep walking.” I turned her away from me and shifted through the crowd until I found the exit. Fucking hell.
I wasn’t going back in there. No fucking way.
I had one location in mind.
Joanna.
***
I knocked on her hotel room. My mother insisted that she stay elsewhere the night before the wedding so that I wouldn’t see her on the wedding day, but I didn’t give a shit. I wanted to see her now.
A bunch of women giggled when I knocked a second time.
Christ. She was having her bachelorette party. Now I remembered. I wasn’t drunk, but I was buzzed enough to forget about shit like that.