It was commonplace for my name to be dragged into it, always had been. It was probably why my tolerance for dealing with idiotic clients was high – I’d learned to turn a deaf ear. And not lip read.
“Claire wanted to know if you needed an instruction manual to help you get through the wedding night?” Killian refilled Max’s glass with another two fingers of whisky.
“I think I’ll be okay.” They clinked glasses. “But tell Claire thanks anyway.”
I watched my brothers, Shay, our friends and then glanced at Owen. I was thrilled for my sister and I knew that in a few hours, Owen’s life would be changed; their coupledom would turn into a family.
I couldn’t wait to watch them grow.
9
A leather-bound version of Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales – From Owen to Payton
Max
“You all set for this?”Jackson had his feet on the table, something that wouldn’t be allowed if Marie was anywhere nearby.
To be fair, he wasn’t wearing shoes, just the most hideous pair of Christmas socks I’d ever had the misfortune to see.
I thought for a moment. I’d never planned on getting married; didn’t think I was the right candidate, given that I was a grumpy-arsed workaholic who would turn into my father. But Victoria had removed that barrier, battered it down with her snark and intelligence, and, if I was being honest, her tits.
My obsession with them hadn’t declined; it had only gotten worse. Every so often, she’d send me a tit pic, usually when she knew I was on a conference call or taking clients out to lunch, sending me an image that she knew would have me growling down the phone to her as soon as I could find a private place.
She knew every button to press, every whisper that could calm me or rile me, every touch that could bring me to my knees.
Was I ready to marry her?
Hell, yes. I had been months ago. Maybe longer.
“What do you mean by being ‘set’?” I was a lawyer. There was no such thing as a straight answer.
“Are you ready to A – promise yourself to one woman forever - ”
“Kind of done that already. You ever think about going near another woman after meeting Van?” I already knew his answer to that.
“I’d rather have chopped my own balls off. So B – are you ready for your wedding? Suited, booted, stared at, hugged at least fifty times by Marie, Dad getting a tear in his eye. I suppose it’ll be Seph and Shay getting ridiculously pissed now. Callum’s got Wren to stop him making stupid mistakes, so… you good to be a groom?”
If Vic and I had thought just about what we wanted, we’d have been on a beach in the Caribbean now, just the two of us, with no fuss and no getting more nervous by the second in case it all got a bit too much with my crazy family and she changed her mind.
“No. I want to be Victoria’s husband. Not the person who stands at an alter and has everyone gawp at him.” Or her. She could turn up in her pyjamas and have bed hair, and everyone would still stare at her because she was just that beautiful.
Jackson laughed and poured himself another whisky. We were last two up, the rest having either gone to bed - Seph, Nick, Eli, Owen; been summoned – Killian; or fallen asleep at the table and been carried to the sofa in the cabin – Shay.
I hadn’t been on my own with my closest brother in what must’ve been months; work, family shit and life in general getting in the way. It was nice now, to be sat here with him, without any background noise.
“You won’t notice anyone else because you’ll only have eyes for her. Promise you. You remember mine and Van’s wedding?”
I nodded, because it really wasn’t that long ago.
“She kind of wanted the big deal, for her gran as much as anything else, and I wanted her to have whatever. She was doing me the favour by marrying me. I had a shit ton of nerves the week before, thinking about all the things that could go wrong and it was a waste of time.”
“You never said you felt that way.”
Jackson shrugged. “You’d have taken the piss out of me and given me an out, saying I didn’t need to do it.”
“I wouldn’t have talked you out of marrying Vanessa.”
“Didn’t mean that. You couldn’t have done that if you’d tried. But the whole wedding thing. When she gets the photos out, I’m really glad we had everyone there. It was one of the few times everyone’s been together. As the rest of us get married and have kids, it’ll be harder to find times like that.”
