“Appreciate it.”
“Best piece of advice I can offer is to always put your marriage first,” he begins. “It sounds simple, right? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? But priorities change. Someday, you might want kids, or one of your careers is gonna take off. Life is crazy and stressful, but if you keep making time for each other—nurturing the love that brought you together—it will carry you through the tough times.”
“Thanks, Lance,” I say, my throat suddenly thick.
“How are we supposed to follow that?” Zander croaks, his voice hoarse with emotion.
“I don’t know, but you’re next, dude,” Hen tells him.
“What the fuck?” He groans. “Okay, um…I’m gonna go the non-sappy route—no offense, Lance—and offer some practical advice.”
“All right.” I give him a nod to go ahead.
“If your wife tells you her doctor said it was safe to go bare while she’s switching from one birth control pill to the other, unless you want a surprise in nine months, do yourself a goddamn favor and use a condom.”
I tip my head back and bark out a laugh.
“You’re just never gonna let that one go, are you?” Hen chuckles.
“Elena has since confessed she may have misheard her,” Zander says with a smirk, but then just shrugs. “Whatever. Marisa is fucking cute, and I’m damn lucky. Hen?”
“Travel,” he simply says. “Before Zara went on tour with the band, she’d barely left California. Getting to see the world through her eyes was like falling in love with her all over again. So yeah, travel. Explore. Make memories on every continent if you can. You’ll be happy you did.”
We all stare at him, sort of stunned.
“What?” He stares back, confused. “I’m romantic as shit. Don’t look at me like that.”
I shake my head, grinning, and take a sip of my beer.
“Cash, what about you?” Zander asks. “Got any advice for the groom to be?”
Cash looks up from his beer, his expression grim. “Yeah,” he replies. “Always get a paternity test.”
An uncomfortable silence lingers between us until Myles pipes up and says, “Well, I’ve never been in love, so we can just skip right over me. Ash? What about you?”
Asher has been pretty damn quiet the whole time. I don’t know if he’s uncomfortable or if this is just how he is. Broody, loner rock star seems to fit his vibe. “Never had the privilege,” he replies. “Doubt I ever will.”
“You know, I thought for a minute you and Pres might date—when you came to family dinner back in May.”
“What the fuck, Hen?” Z slaps the back of his head before he sends an apologetic look my way.
“Ouch, what? Obviously, they didn’t. Pres didn’t even bat an eyelash at him. I think she’s the only woman alive immune to charm.”
Asher flashes a grin. “I wouldn’t go after your sisters, Hen. There’s a code.” Everyone turns to look at me. Asher’s brow furrows in confusion. Apparently, he doesn’t know all the sordid history between the Creeds and me. “What did I say?”
“Yeah, Hollis. What did he say?” Hen smirks.
I roll my eyes. “It’s a stupid code. Also, we weren’t even acquaintances, much less best friends, when Pres and I got married, so technically I didn’t break any code.”
“Am I missing something?” I hear Asher whisper.
“Hollis and Hen used to be best friends in high school,” Myles whispers back.
“You want to claim a technicality.” Hendrix raises a brow.
“No, I want to claim bullshit.”
Hen looks dramatically over the group. “I still think he deserves punishment. What say you, boys?”
