They were rugby players, some were in the military, some – like Seph and Callum – were manwhores and had an image to uphold, so everybody was cut and tight and toned but I couldn’t peel my eyes off Elijah. He could dance, I’d seen that before, and at some point during the day, he’d been taught some moves that I’d seen before in a couple of movies.
Payton’s head landed heavily on my shoulder as her whole body retched with laughter at the very uncoordinated moves that were being strutted. “I can’t cope!” she said, or half-screamed. “I think I’m going to wet myself!” Owen was one of the more proficient, managing a back flip of all things in the large space where they’d positioned themselves.
Eli mirrored it and I pushed Payton off me, climbing onto my chair to holler at him, which raised the general volume even further. I heard Amelie yell something about getting the rest off and then Sophie shout something similar. There was a quick glance between the guys who were sober enough and then most attempted to rip off their pants. A couple, namely Matty and Dan who played rugby for the Callaghan Green team, managed to get stuck in theirs, but the rest were successful, leaving them in matching black, well fitted shorts. I kept my eyes on Eli and hoped no one else in the room was doing the same.
And then the level of screaming reached the point where only dogs were able to hear us. Payton was on the floor; Victoria was on a table. Vanessa had tears and make-up streaming down her cheeks and Claire was filming the whole thing, pretending to ignore the fact that her husband to be was in the middle of the entourage.
Thankfully, the song came to a stop and most started to reattach their trousers, apart from Seph and Matty, who had finally got free and seemed to want to stay that way. One of Sophie’s beauticians had come out for Claire’s hen do and appeared to want to mount Seph, who seemed more than happy with the idea. I averted my eyes and forced my legs to walk over to Eli, who was still shirtless. I wasn’t complaining.
“Told you we’d look after you,” he said as I wrapped my arms around him. He was slightly covered in a gleam of sweat.
“Was that one of the activities that you planned for Killian today? Learning a dance performance?” I asked, enjoying the feel of his hands around my waist and the closeness I felt. The rest of the noise had dimmed, even Payton’s high pitched shrieks at Owen as she made him do the back flips again.
Eli nodded. “Breakfast. Beer. Dance lessons, which were fucking hilarious and then the rugby. K’s face when we got him to the dance studio and made him put on a tutu was the best thing I’ve ever seen.” He pulled me in closer. “Except you naked. Because that’s the best thing only I can see.” He gave me a chaste kiss, his eyes gleaming wickedly.
“When I phoned you before,” I said, shifting in closer, “I was in the bathroom. Have you checked them out here?”
Eli shook his head.
“They’re really private. Want to come see?”
Chapter Fifteen
Elijah
October
The air hada bite to it; that slight nip that autumn sometimes had. But if there was bright sunshine and a clear blue sky that meant the morning could be frosty and the rugby pitch hard for tomorrow’s game.
Because only Killian O’Hara would quietly make sure there was a rugby game the morning after his wedding and somehow ensure the conditions would be unarguably decent. And also make sure his wife was good with that and would be there with their daughter to cheer him on.
I readjusted my tie and then shifted my arms around to loosen the feel of my shirt. Ava had persuaded me to get one of the super fitted things from a tailors near her office as she said she wanted to be able to see my biceps. It wasn’t the comfiest thing I owned but it did look good, good enough for Seph and Callum to rib me about it.
The suit and waistcoat were new also, the quality a step better and more expensive than the ones I usually wore for work, but Ava was as much of a shopping queen as Claire and she pestered me into getting this and another two. The recent strength and weight training I’d been doing had increased the width of my back, so my old ones were tight. Not a bad problem to have.
A hard knock rattled the hotel room door. Claire and Killian’s plans to have a country wedding had changed when she’d found that Dartmouth House was available on the date she wanted due to a cancellation, which meant that the rugby fixtures didn’t need to be changed and taking the Monday off work was also a good idea as the wedding celebrations would continue after the rugby game. Rugby wasn’t just popular to play because of the sport, but the drinking that surrounded it. Killian’s stag day had involved more than him wearing a tutu and at one point, oversized fairy wings. There had been several of us dressed in a similar fashion with photos to prove it and as most of us had played rugby through university, we were comfortable with much worse than that.
“You finished doing your make-up yet?”
I heard Owen’s voice rumble through the door. He and I weren’t part of the wedding party as such, but because we were dating two of the bridesmaids there were assumptions that we’d be able to help, rather than just drink whisky in support of Killian giving up his freedom.
“Just about. You need me to do yours?”
I opened the door and saw Owen wearing a brown suit that I recognised. “I’ve got that same suit.”
“From Sweets the Tailors?”
I nodded. “Were you with Payton?”
“Yes. Did she help you in the changing rooms?”
“Let’s not discuss this any further.”
“Because they probably have.”
We both nodded and I headed to the minibar in the room we had. We were all staying at Claridge’s, a gift from Claire’s parents as the rooms weren’t cheap but it was an experience. The best part of that experience so far was discovering the whisky Grant Callaghan had left in all of our rooms. “Drink?”
“Fuck yeah,” Owen said, sitting down on one of the chairs next to the window. “How was Ava this morning? Nervous? Payton was actually awake at five.”
