I might’ve been a grumpy asshole, but I liked to believe that I was a decent man. Though, with Olivia, that was always more of a liability than an attribute.
“Excuse me.” I cleared my throat. “Nice to see you, Carla. Olivia.”
I stalked toward the cooler and fished out a bottle. I didn’t even care what it was as I twisted the cap off and took a swig, welcoming the numbing tang down my throat.
“Tyler!” my cousin Donnie called out and grabbed my arm. “I was just about to ask Aunt Helen where you were. Good to see you, man.”
I shook his hand, exhaling with a little relief at finding a friendly and nonjudgmental face and noticed the beautiful redhead on his arm.
“This must be Cassandra.” The corners of my mouth lifted in a real smile, and I extended my hand. “Nice to finally meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.” She took my hand, peering up at my cousin with hearts in her eyes. Donnie was a coder by day and gamer by night—and the nicest guy I’d ever known. I was thrilled he’d found a girl to moon over him like he deserved.
“I’d meant to introduce you sooner, but Tyler is busy with his bakery. Which brings me to my next question.” He flashed her a grin and turned back to me. “You make wedding cakes, right?”
“I do. I don’t take too many orders for them, but I’ve made quite a few in my time. Why do you ask…”
I trailed off when I noticed the fat diamond on Cassandra’s finger as her hand drifted across Donnie’s chest.
“Congratulations, man. I’d be honored to make you a cake.” I pulled him into a quick hug. “If that’s what you were asking me.”
“It was. Also, I wanted to talk to you about something else.” His beaming smile faded into a hard line.
“Sure,” I said, nodding to the back door with my chin and not liking the ominous twist in my gut.
“A couple of things,” Donnie started as he slid the screen door shut behind him. “The wedding is next month. My job is moving me to Seattle for a few months to set up their new office, and Cassie is coming with me. One of my hotel clients was willing to close their restaurant for a night to accommodate a small wedding. We didn’t want anything big anyway. Friends, family, eat, drink—in and out.”
“Sounds like a good plan.” I nodded, bristling at the memories of planning my wedding to Amy. We had been atfull speed aheaduntil everything had come to a halt. She’d said she was too busy to worry about planning at the moment and we had plenty of time.Busywas her code for fucking my best friend, and I’d never been able to fully forgive my stupid ass for misreading every single sign.
“A wedding cake is a special order, but a month is plenty of time if you give me a headcount the week before. Don’t worry about that.” I slapped his arm. “Happy to do it for the one cousin I actually like.”
I flashed him a grin, but something about the way his mouth turned down made my stomach drop.
“Well, I’m not sure I can keep that title after what I’m about to tell you. Turns out Amy is a cousin of Cassandra’s. Small world, huh?”
He coughed out a humorless laugh.
“You’re kidding me.”
He shook his head. “Second, but close enough to be invited to a wedding. I’d never seen her at any family functions so I had no idea they were related until I saw the guest list.”
Fuck.I hadn’t seen Amy in a year. Donnie’s wedding would be the first time I’d have to face her since she’d pushed her engagement ring into my palm and left our apartment. I winced at the thought of seeing her again—the pity thrown in my direction as my heart and my pride were beaten to a pulp all damn night.
The timing of Donnie’s cake was the least of my problems.
“Look, I totally get it if you want to skip the wedding and just have the cake delivered. I wish I could disinvite her, but apparently Cassandra’s father and Amy’s father are friendly.”
I’d never met anyone in Amy’s family other than her parents. In the year that we were together, there were no family functions to meet her extended family—or at least any that she’d asked me to attend with her. The more I looked back on our life together, the more I realized we didn’t have one.
“No, it’s fine. I was going to run into her somewhere eventually.” This would be the worst possible place, but my shitty love life was no excuse to bail on Donnie’s wedding. I’d be a man and say a cordial hello before I camped out at the open bar.
Donnie let out a long breath, his shoulders relaxing in relief.
“I’ve had a knot in my stomach since I found out. Thanks for being so cool about it.”
“Of course,” I said, hoping I sounded genuine. My issues shouldn’t ruin the best day of his life, and I’d make sure they didn’t.
“Hey, Donnie! I think the last time I saw you was at Helen and Sam’s anniversary party. Nice to see you.”
