CHAPTER ONE
As the groom slid the garter from the bride’s leg, guests cheered. Blaise Mortenson didn’t join in. Instead, he rubbed the back of his neck and tried not to frown. A multimillion-dollar wedding at a winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley with performances by singers who graced the top of the Billboard charts and dinner prepared by a Michelin-star chef, yet the newlyweds had included every reception tradition pinned on Pinterest.
Given the bride was a successful event planner, he shouldn’t be surprised. The groom’s two-point-six-billion-dollar net worth meant everything tonight was over-the-top bespoke.
Blaise fought the urge to step outside and check his email. Better yet if he returned to his hotel room and his laptop.
But he couldn’t.
His friends would never let him hear the end of it. And rightly so. Tonight was worth celebrating.
Three down, two to go.
Mason Reese saying “I do” today meant the social media app billionaire was out. He’d lost the bet. Surprising—okay, shocking—because he’d come up with the “last single man standing” wager five years ago.
Half of the six friends participating were now married. All within the past three months. Which was why as soon as Mason announced his engagement and wedding date, Blaise had stopped drinking the tap water in the Portland-metro area.
Crazy, yes, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He even brushed his teeth with bottled water. Call him superstitious or paranoid, but something in the water would explain why his friends were falling in love and marrying so fast. Not that Blaise minded the rash of nuptials or having to purchase each couple a wedding gift.
Only two more to go until he won the bet.
He would be the last single man standing no matter what it took.
Losing wasn’t an option.
His cell phone buzzed. He reached for it.
“The text can wait.” Wes Lockhart pushed Blaise’s hand away from his tuxedo pocket. Wes had added muscle to his frame which had thinned when he was sick. His hair was the longest it had been in two years. “It’s time to join the others on the dance floor.”
Blaise lowered his arm to his side. “What for?”
“Mason’s going to toss the garter.”
Blaise flinched. He took a step back. “No.”
“Yes.” Wes shot him the infamous suck-it-up look. That must be something they taught rich kids at prep school. “Mason expects you, me, and Dash to be out there. Best friends forever, remember?”
The amusement in Wes’s eyes didn’t stop Blaise from feeling his bow tie tighten around his neck, threatening to cut off the blood flow to his brain. Okay, not really, but the outdated garter toss tradition should have disappeared with the dotcom-bubble-crash. That, however, wasn’t the only reason he didn’t want to take part.
He raised his chin. “Mason won’t notice. He can’t see anyone except his bride.”
“Heart eyes have blinded him, but this is what friends do for one another.” Wes’s gaze softened. “The same way you guys made sure someone was with me during my chemo treatments.”
Blaise hadn’t known what to expect being a chemo buddy, but he’d appreciated the time with Wes despite the reason he was there. “That was different.”
“It’s the same.”
Maybe, except…
“Mason will aim for one of us.” The words flew from Blaise’s mouth. “Adam and Kieran did that at their receptions. And remember the rules? If each of us marries within a year of the first wedding, the bet is off. That’s only nine months from now.”
Blaise sounded like a kid on the verge of a tantrum, but he couldn’t help himself. So much money was at stake he had to be careful. Sure, the six of them were wealthy. They weren’t called the Billionaires of Silicon Forest—Oregon’s version of the Bay Area’s Silicon Valley—for nothing. But he wanted…more. Winning the five-hundred-million-dollar pot and bragging rights would help him reach his goals that much quicker. Normally, he allowed things to play out in due time, knowing the payoff would occur, but not with the bet. He felt compelled to make it happen. Sooner rather than later.
Wes laughed. “I can’t believe a piece of lingerie is scaring the mighty, hard-nosed Blaise Mortenson.”
“Not scared.” Blaise’s spine went ramrod stiff. “But Kieran caught the garter at Adam’s wedding. Mason caught it at Kieran’s. Whoever catches Mason’s…”
Wes eyed him warily. “Last week, you claimed they fell in love because of the water.”
