My husband looked at his friend with tears in his eyes. “I guess that means I need you by my side, asshole.”
Dare flipped him the bird, making all of us laugh, while Greer pulled out his phone. He was going to serve as our photographer.
So in front of the people we loved most in the world, we renewed our vows to one another.
When I saw him again that night in Vegas, I knew he was meant to be mine. And I'd spend the rest of my life proving it to him.
TEN YEARS LATER
BRENT
“Well it took you long enough,”I said to Phantom as we sat on the deck of his parents' beach house in San Diego.
He snickered. “Most people don’t get married five minutes after hooking up. We took our time. Made sure it was the right decision for us.”
“Never thought I’d be married before you. But I’m happy for you, man. It’s the best decision you could ever make.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said. “Moving to California to be near our families helped us see we needed to make it official. Twelve years of dating was long enough.”
Phantom elbowed me and pointed out to where GQ stood on the beach, hovering close to Livie. “Think he’ll ever let her move out of the house? And god forbid if she ever starts dating.”
“Poor kid. But he’s gonna have to lighten up since she’s coming to San Diego State this fall. I guess we’ll all be on uncle duty. But I really wish I had a water balloon to throw at him. Mess up his pretty hair.”
Phantom laughed. “He would kill you.”
“Maybe,” I said, shrugging, “but it would be funny as hell.”
We both laughed uncontrollably as Adam approached. He slipped his arm around his husband of two weeks. We were all here to celebrate with them and to watch the fly over by the Blue Angels.
“What did I miss?” Adam asked.
“Dreamy wants to throw water balloons at GQ to mess up his hair.”
Adam chuckled as we looked at the beach. “He’s gonna die when she leaves home for college.”
“You know it. I bet you a million bucks he buys a house down here now that Dominick is retired.”
Phantom nodded. “That or he orders Livie her own protection detail. Especially with all the SEALs down here.”
Adam pulled out his phone to check a message. "Cole and Patrick are on the way. The player Patrick was scouting for Greer wasn't a good fit."
“Sorry we’re late,” Dare called out from behind us with his favorite sidekick. “Charlotte here had to go back for another swimsuit in case the girls wanted to match. And she forgot her books.”
“Daddy,” she laughed. “Don’t blame it on me. You’re the one who took forever in the shower. You and Papa get slower and slower even though you say you’re trying to conserve water.”
Dare blushed and we died laughing. We knew what that meant, and one day, Charli might too. So I rescued my best friend.
“They’re old, Charli. It takes them a while to finish up,” I said. Phantom lost it when Dare shot me the bird as Charli looked at me.
She propped her hands on her hips and scowled at us just like her Daddy used to. “What’s so funny, Daddy?” she asked, looking confused.
“Nothing! They just like to make fun of us.”Dare pointed to the beach to distract her from the conversation. “There’s your people. Livie and Ava are on their towels, and Maddie and Alex are in the waves with Uncle Marcus.”
She lit up like a Christmas Tree and took off down the steps and into the sand.
We all watched her go and when she was out of earshot, I turned to Dare. “Where’s Greer?”
“Wrestling with the twins to get sunscreen on them. He lathers them up while Addison distracts them.”
