Begrudgingly, I thanked my little sister. “I owe you one.”
“Oh, I know you do.” She laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m gonna collect soon, so you won’t have it hanging over your head for nothing.”
She hung up, and I found myself smiling when I pulled into Lucy’s parking lot a few seconds later. Kennedy’s car wasn’t there, which made me feel a little bit better about not knowing when I drove through town that she was there. I walked into the building, surprised to see every single person who’d been avoiding me all day sitting around one of the banquet tables in the middle of the room. There wasn’t a single other customer.
“Sorry!” Violet Ortiz called out loudly from the back. “We’re closed for a private party.” When she came around the side wall and saw me, she stopped in her tracks. “Oh. You’re late.”
Grumbling, I stepped around her and tried not to roll my eyes as her older brother, Dom, and everyone else were all laughing and carrying on like they hadn’t intentionally snubbed me.
“You know, my feelings might be hurt if there was alcohol here.” I dropped a kiss on Kennedy’s upturned forehead, right before she shoved another taco in her mouth.
“Dom was supposed to call you,” Remy said unhelpfully.
Dom shrugged from across the table. “I figured Kennedy would have let you know.”
Kennedy, who was mid-shove with another bite of taco, paused. “I lost my phone. Didn’t you get my sticky note?” She put the taco in her mouth and started to chew loudly.
“You mean the one where you told me you owed me a blow job?”
The men around the table laughed, and Kennedy almost choked on her taco. I grabbed a chair from the next table and set it between her and Emma.
“No.” She slapped my chest when she finally caught her breath, and I took her hand in mine. “The one on the kitchen table saying, ‘lost my phone.’ But thanks for telling everyone our personal stuff.” She eyed Remy across the table, who wasn’t paying attention to anything we were saying. He was whispering under his breath with Parker.
“Okay,” Parker said suddenly, pushing away from Remy to stand up. She clapped her hands together excitedly. “We think we can pull something together in a month. Do you guys think that’s enough time?”
She looked so happy, I didn’t want to be the dick to ask what the hell was going on. Instead, I leaned over and pressed my lips against Kennedy’s ear.
“What are we doing in a month?”
She squeezed my hand and smiled knowingly. “Ask Remy.”
Remy stood up next to Parker and that’s when I saw his shirt.
‘Proud Daddy’ was emblazoned on his chest, with an arrow pointing straight down.
“Wait,” I said loudly. “Are you announcing Parker’s pregnant or something?”
“She’s not just pregnant,” Remy said helpfully. “She’s gonna have this baby in less than three months, so we’re getting married next month.”
“How the fuck is that possible?” Emma piped up, surprised. “You don’t even look pregnant.”
“Oh, I know the answer to that,” Vi said while she brought another plate of tacos out for Kennedy. “It’s uncommon but not rare. Especially if the baby is small.”
“Yeah,” Parker agreed. “That’s what the doctor said.”
Everyone around the table started talking, celebrating, and making plans and pitching ideas for the wedding that would no doubt be a last-minute affair. Everyone but Kennedy.
Kennedy, who had her eyes almost glued to her plate while she kept eating. In fact, I was pretty sure that she had nowhere to put all the food she was stuffing into her face. For a minute, I didn’t say anything. I just watched her until the mic on my shoulder went off with a call.
“I love you,” I told her quietly.
I didn’t miss the look in her eyes as she tore them away from her plate and pasted a smile on her face for my benefit. “I love you too.”
Before I walked out, I grabbed one of the tacos from her plate. “Let me know when you find your phone. I’ll see you tonight?”
“Yep.” Her smile grew, and somewhere along the way it shifted from a forced grin into a full-fledged smile. “Your place or mine?”
“Mine. Just come over whenever, I’ll be there.”
“No, you won’t,” Remy chimed in, proving that he was the world’s worst eavesdropper. “You’ve got to meet us at the tailor after work. Our appointment is tonight to get fitted for the wedding.”
I paused, spearing him with an unimpressed look. “You haven’t asked me to be in a wedding.”
“Duh,” Parker spoke up before Remy could. “You guys all have to be in the wedding. Consider this us asking you to be in the wedding party. The only person not here is Cain, but he’s all the way in Galloway Bay, so he’s excused.”
“But a tailor?” This time it was Dom who piped up to complain. “Why do we have to do that?”
“It’s either that or the dress blues.” Parker shrugged nonchalantly, and every single former Marine around the table shut their goddamn mouth.
“Parker wants suits and not blues,” Remy supplied.
“Send me the name, and I’ll meet you there.” I waved over my shoulder and then walked out to my cruiser, ready to get back to work.
But the entire rest of my shift, all two hours of it, I saw Kennedy’s face while everyone talked about Parker’s pregnancy, and I knew I fucked up.
I just didn’t realize exactly how bad it was until I was standing with an old man’s hands under my balls that afternoon.
“Turn your head and cough,” the tailor said around a mouthful of pins.
“Excuse me, what?” I fought the urge to jump off the fuckin’ table he had me standing on. The man was practically touching my balls with his hands.
“You have to cough, so he can see which way your dick lays naturally,” Dom said. “Just let it happen. It’s not like you’re naked with your balls out on the track.”
“Shut the fuck up, Dom.” I raised my arm to point at him, but the tailor made a disapproving sound in the back of this throat so I had to glare at the man instead.
Something about all of us being stuck in a small room together at one time made men act like children.
“What’s this about his balls being on a track?” Ian walked in from the back, holding a couple pairs of trousers, along with a blazer hung over his shoulder.
“This dumbass.” Dom pointed at me, and I felt like I was on display for everyone to laugh at like an animal at the zoo. “Thought it would be a great idea to get on the track in a pair of skates to compete at roller derby against Cain and the women he’s training, without underwear on.”
“It was an oversight,” I explained. “I didn’t think they’d be that good.”
“Cain was training them,” Ian scoffed. “The man has a ton of videos dedicated to him on YouTube, and you thought he’d be training someone who wasn’t an absolute badass. You’re an idiot.” He set his stuff down and stood next to Dom and Remy.
“Does everyone need to be here for this?” I took a deep breath, trying not to feel like an idiot, unable to keep my calm.