Then he found Gwen, and she quite literally changed everything. I’d never seen Ryker so crazy for a girl, and he was crazy about Gwen. He still is.
I raise my half empty glass of scotch in the air as a toast and watch as the guys follow.
“To my brother, I am truly happy you’ve found someone that wants to deal with your crazy ass forever. Just remember, I was here first,” I say, earning a few chuckles from the boys.
Ryker nods once before we all clink our glasses together. “Cheers, buddy,” I say.
“Cheers,” we all say in unison.
“Can I get you boys another round? Maybe something to eat?” a cute blonde woman with a skintight tank that says ‘Flux’ on it asks. Her tits practically spilling over the top of her tiny shirt.
The short as hell shorts she’s wearing leave little to the imagination, and her makeup is a bit over the top, but she seems like a sweet girl.
“Another round would be great, sweetie. Maybe you can join us? We’re celebrating my brother here’s wedding,” Mason drawls while he obviously checks the poor girl out. The blonde blushes before looking down at the notebook in her hands.
“Christ, Mason. Stop being a creep,” Patrick scolds. Mason holds his hands up in surrender.
“Hey, I was just inviting her to hang with us,” Mason states. I wish I could say he’s being an ass because he’s drunk, but that’s just his personality.
“Sorry about our friend, here. He has this thing where he just can’t shut up. We’ll take another round, please,” I politely tell the girl who quickly walks away from our table.
Ryker smacks the back of Mason’s head, and Mason’s hand flies up to sooth the ache. I chuckle to myself because I’ve missed this. These guys are my brothers, and we haven’t been all together in months.
We probably wouldn’t be if it weren’t for the fact that Ryker’s getting fucking married. It still blows my mind that he found someone he wants to settle down with.
The thought of settling down with someone for the rest of my life unnerves me. I mean, sure, I could see myself getting married one day, I guess. It would take one hell of a girl to make that happen.
A quick flash of Lainey pops into my mind, and I quickly shake it out as the waitress brings over our drinks and places them on the table.
Reaching for my glass, I down it all in one gulp. The burn feels good and it’s a welcome distraction to the fact that I just thought of Lainey Barkley as the girl I would want to marry.
There is no way in hell Lainey and I would get married. Lainey isn’t the type of girl who dreams of a white picket fence and a big house on a hill with six kids and a perfect husband. She’s not the settling down type.
So why do I find myself wanting to make her that type of girl? Making her want to have that big house with all the kids and a big porch swing where we sit and sip our morning coffee together?
Why is it that the one girl I shouldn’t want is the one girl I can’t fucking get out of my head? Is it some kind of cruel joke? Is this karma for something I did? I don’t get it.
“Uh oh. Here comes trouble, and she brought friends,” Mason shouts over the blaring music. My eyes follow his line of sight and land on exactly what he’s seeing.
A leggy brunette with curled hair that falls over her shoulders in a blue dress that ends mid-thigh and heels that make her at least 4 inches taller walks toward us. Lainey is followed by Gwen, Ellie, Hailey, and Gwen’s best friend Damian.
The group doesn’t look exactly thrilled to see us here, and honestly, I’m a little pissed as well. What the hell are they doing here? Clearly they didn’t know we were here, considering the looks on their faces.
As they approach, I can’t stop my mouth from watering, and I have to mentally will myself from getting out of my seat and throwing Lainey over my shoulder to get her away from all the male attention she’s receiving.
I’m not usually a possessive guy, at least, I’ve never really had anything to be possessive about. But God damn, if I wouldn’t throat punch every single dude in this place for looking at her wrong.
That includes my cousin who is ogling her like she’s his next meal.
Reaching across the table, I slap Mason on the back of the head just like Ryker did, although this time he doesn’t have a clue why he’s being hit.
He shoots me a glare. “What the fuck, dude? What was that for?”
I just shake my head, not wanting to give away my reasoning. I won’t hear the end of it from any of the guys if they find out I’m horny for my sister’s best friend.
When they stop in front of our booth, Gwen and Ryker exchange a small smile. Lainey glares at me. What the hell did I do?
“What the hell are you doing here?” she spits, directing her question to me, and not the four other guys sitting at the table with me.
