“I think you’ve dented Jamie’s bank account enough.”
“He not mind.”
Sean rolled his eyes and elbowed him in the side. “Be polite.”
“Am polite! Would stop ordering truffles if Jamie say where he send us for honeymoon.”
Alexei pointedly raised his voice, staring at Jamie with an expectant look on his face. Sean laughed into his tequila. Alexei had only been bugging Jamie for the past few months to know where they were going for their honeymoon. He’d come up with varying excuses on why he needed to know, but Jamie had yet to cave.
“You’ll like it,” Jamie promised with a smile, having found his way back to Kyle’s side.
“Have to know what to pack,” Alexei remind him.
“Just tell him so he can stop bugging me to ask you,” Kyle said, looking at Jamie.
Jamie rolled his eyes fondly as he took a sip of whiskey. “Fine. The casino islands off the southern coast of France. You’ll both be staying at the Quinte Royale luxury resort on Fortuna-sur-mer. It’s all expenses paid and comes with a house line of credit. Pack for warm weather. The cluster of resort islands are protected behind a biodome, and it’s warm all year round. You’ll take one of my family’s jets there and back.”
Sean blinked, a little surprised at the extravagant gift. Jamie had already bought them the apartment they lived in, with the title deeded to both their names, which was more than Sean had ever expected to receive from the other man. But a honeymoon spent in the lap of luxury, their every whim catered to, paid for by Jamie felt over-the-top.
“We keep you in family,” Alexei told Jamie with a wide grin. “Even if Kyle not marry you, you still family.”
“Hey! Fuck you!” Kyle said with a laugh. “We’re getting married next year. The date is set, remember? You’re going as best man.”
Alexei raised his glass to Jamie. “Spasibo. For trip and everything.”
Jamie smirked. “Including the truffles?”
“Da. Is good chocolate.”
Sean laughed and finished his tequila. He set the glass down and stole Alexei’s vodka rather than drink the rest of his beer. Alexei gave him a mournful look before leaning in to kiss the taste off his lips. Sean parted his mouth and drew him in for a slightly deeper kiss, feeling happy from good food, a night out with friends and family, and the man he loved by his side.
“Dance?” Alexei asked when he pulled back.
Sean looked around at everyone and shook his head. “In a little while. I like hanging with everyone for now.”
The club wasn’t quiet, but it was a calm night for them after weeks of wedding preparation. Both his family and Alexei’s had been drawn into wedding decisions, mostly because if it had been left up to Alexei, they’d have done it at the nearest city hall and gone to a nice meal afterward. But his mother had put her foot down, and then Sean’s mother had put down hers, and suddenly the wedding had become anevent.
Not one to be left out of the decision-making, Sean had taken charge of the wedding planning with help from both their mothers. Alexei’s standard answer when asked always came down to he wanted whatever Sean wanted except when it came to the wedding cake. That decision Alexei had approached as if it were a life-or-death mission. The taste test of wedding cakes and other desserts had spanned an entire week and five bakeries before they settled on a winner.
Admittedly, their wedding cake and adjoining dessert table were going to be amazing, but it had taken nearly a month before Sean had even wanted to think about eating anything sweet after that week. Alexei had taken it upon himself to eat all of Sean’s desserts whenever they’d gone out.
Because of the wedding planning, they’d had to push the wedding back further than they had both initially wanted. The only way they’d managed to get a venue for the ceremony this year was due to Jamie leveraging his family’s name. Sean would’ve felt guilty about taking the spot from someone, but he’d been waiting to marry Alexei for months already.
Parker leaned around Madison and caught Sean’s eye. His youngest brother was dressed as if he were going on stage, which was a little too casual for the club dress code, except he was a rock star and could get away with anything at a club like this.
“I hear there’s another bet on the table other than your arrival time tonight,” Parker said.
“Is always bet,” Alexei replied.
“Yeah, but this one I actually got to throw money into the pot. What last names are you guys going by once you’re married?”
Sean glanced at Alexei, who arched an eyebrow before smirking at the group at large. “Not tell.”
“Comeon. It’s been weeks already!” Valentina wheedled.
“You can wait two more days. We are,” Sean said.
Katie handed Matthew her glass for a refill on vodka. “Speaking of that bet. I need to know if anyone wants to change their choices.”
