Seth wished that he could remember Mr. Bishop’s first name, so that he could call him by it just to annoy him. If only he’d asked before he left.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t cared enough to find out. Not until he’d been cornered alone.
Where the hell was Oz, anyway?
“We all do,” Mr. Bishop agreed. “You’ve come a long way to be here. Let me say on behalf of the whole family that we appreciate it.”
“I appreciate the invitation,” Seth said, smiling his most polite smile. “The service was lovely, and Stephanie has turned into a beautiful young woman.”
Seth actually had no idea how to rate the service—Emma and Mason’s had seemed classier, and then the one Oz had taken him to had been joyful and non-traditional, but who was he to judge other people’s weddings?
“Thank you,” Mr. Bishop grinned. “You know, your father and I always thought you two might end up together.”
Seth braced himself for another round of dancing around the wordgay, like it was some kind of ancient curse.
“Have you met my son? He was only a baby when we last saw you, but he’s grown up into a fine young man. Jason,” Mr. Bishop called out, catching the attention of…
Well, a college-aged kid who looked pretty much exactly like his sister. Seth’s heart sank. He knew he’d been sent out here for some bigger reason, and this was obviously it. If they couldn’t marry him off to the daughter, the Supreme Court had given them the opportunity to marry him off to the son.
He wondered if Jason was even remotely interested in men.
Jason excused himself and walked over to where Seth was standing, stopping in front of him.
Seth scanned the crowd frantically for Oz. He’d gone to the bathroom what felt like an hour ago, and the house was big, but it wasn’t that big.
It had probably only been a few minutes, but it was now a few minutes too long.
“Hi,” Jason said, smiling awkwardly. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Seth blinked. He’d forgotten the guy existed, too busy trying to keep his sister from bullying him to think about a baby. “Oh, uh. None of it’s true, I promise.” He smiled. That was what people said in this kind of situation, wasn’t it?
Jason laughed the fakest, most nervous laugh Seth had ever heard, and for a moment, Seth almost felt sorry for him. He’d probably been tricked into this as much as Seth had.
Thankfully, Oz chose that moment to reappear, moving so he was by Seth’s side as though he belonged there, the faintest hint of possessiveness rolling off him.
“This is Oz,” Seth said. “My boyfriend,” he added, taking Oz’s hand and hoping he’d be forgiven for it later. He needed to escape this situation as soon as possible. Oz would understand.
Mr. Bishop’s face fell, but only for a split second before he remembered himself. “Always happy to meet a friend of Seth’s. You look like a local, son.” He offered his hand, forcing Oz to let go of Seth’s to shake it.
Seth bristled, but tried not to react outwardly. He could see what was going on, and he didn’t intend to have any part in it.
Emma really had gotten lucky with Mason.
“Yessir,” Oz said, suddenlysoundinglike a local. Seth hadn’t really noticed before, but Oz’s accent was comparatively light, and his word choice was usually neutral. That was probably something he did on purpose. “Born and bred.”
“I guess Seth’s got a taste for us,” Mr. Bishop said, his smile enough to make Seth recoil if he wasn’t determined to be polite. “I’ll leave you boys alone, then,” he added, slapping both Seth and his own son on the shoulder before walking away.
“I told him it was a bad idea,” Jason shrugged. “Nice to meet you, anyway.”
“Nice to meet you, too. If I don’t have a chance to talk to your sister, tell her I’m happy for her.”
Jason nodded, touched his hat—Oz had been right about the hats—and walked away.
He seemed harmless enough, but even he knew what both his and Seth’s father were trying to do. Maybe Jason was gay and this really did seem like doing the right thing to both of them, but it wasn’t, and Seth wasn’t about to play along.
“You mighta told me I was walking into the wolf’s den coming here,” Oz said, putting his arm around Seth’s waist.
Seth looked up at him, confused about both what he was sayingandwhat he was doing. “Huh?”
