Chapter Five
“Is a marriage license the kind of thing that needs to be cancelled?” Riley asked, sipping from the cup of coffee Brent had made him. Brent seemed a little brighter, a little less defeated now that he’d gotten drunk, cried a lot, and had a decent breakfast.
It wasn’t the most elegant solution, but it had worked.
“What? No,” Brent said wrinkling his nose. “No, they expire on their own.”
“How the hell am I supposed to know that?” Riley asked. “I stick to best man duties. No one would be stupid enough to marry me.”
“Maybe you’re the smart one, here,” Brent said.
Riley sighed. Brentdidseem better, but he wasn’t back to his old self yet. Riley wanted to hug him until he was okay, until the world seemed better, but he wasn’t sure that would work right now.
He missed being a kid with Brent. Things had seemed a lot simpler back then. Hugs had fixed everything.
The doorbell ringing stopped him from responding, which was probably just as well. Riley didn’t have anything constructive to say right now.
He wasn’t used to feeling helpless. He was used to having a way to solve problems for the people he cared about.
This wasn’t really a solvable problem. It wasn’t even really a problem. It was just pain.
There was no easy fix for pain like this.
Riley opened Brent’s front door to see Marcus stranding on the other side of it, his hands tucked deep into his jean pockets.
“Oh,” Riley blinked at him, surprised. He liked Marcus, but he was glad his little brother wasn’t dating him anymore.
They hadn’t been right together. Some people just weren’t. It didn’t mean either of them were bad people.
Marcus was actually a sweetheart, even if he wasn’t all that expressive about it. A man who baked cakes for a living couldn’t be all bad.
“How’s Brent holding up?” Marcus asked.
Riley sighed. “He’s… getting better, I think. Do you really need to talk to him? Because I’d rather not put him through any stress right now.”
Marcus nodded. “Understood. I just wanna know what you want me to do with the wedding cake. You can ask him if you want.”
Riley pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d forgotten about the cake.
How did people even plan weddings? There were so many things to do. And Brent had only been engaged for something like two months. Just long enough to put something like this together.
Wedding planners must have been wizards.
“I wouldn’t ask, but it’s got a shelf life. I don’t want it to go to waste if it doesn’t have to.”
“Can you do me a favor?” Riley asked.
“Sure, anything,” Marcus said.
Riley believed that. He was one of the good guys, and even though he didn’t know Riley particularly well, Riley was confident that he really would have helped with anything he’d been asked to.
Riley’s request was fairly simple, though.
“Cut it up and give it away. And send me the bill via Owen.”
To Riley’s surprise, Marcus shook his head. “I’m writing it off. It actually works out better for me that way. Besides, I feel for the guy.”
That sounded like Marcus. He had a little bit of a tough exterior about him, but underneath that beat a heart of gold. Riley didn’t have to know him well to see that.
