Which was a total lie. Okay, maybe I hit on him when he told me because I was annoyed, but the way he presented it made no sense. Marriage wasn’t a fucking ‘why not’. Sure, I had no plans of getting married, and the only married couple I knew that were actually happy were Cat and Max, but I knew enough about it that I was sure it was more than a fucking business decision.
I couldn’t get it out of my head. It didn’t fit; it was just wrong. Molly had been a friend since she joined our pub nights, but I had watched both of them over the years. Harry and I had had enough late nights talking about their arguments to know marriage shouldn’t be the next ‘step’ for them.
It was like I was stuck in hot sludge whenever I thought about standing next to him as he and Molly exchanged rings and pledged themselves to each other for life. Or, as long as forever lasted nowadays. I’d handled enough divorce cases to know it wasn’t exactly a lifetime.
“Does it matter what I think? As long as he’s happy, that’s enough for me.”
“I just want to know why he chose now to get married, is all,” I followed up.
There was no spark of desire between him and Molly that lit up the room whenever they were together, yet he was still happy enough to propose to her? I was calling bullshit.
I never saw them giving each other hungry looks, like the fiery energy that always passed between Cat and Max.
“And did you ask him?” Cat asked, notching her elbow on the back of the sofa and resting her head in her palm.
“Yeah, of course I did. He said it was a ‘natural step’.” I lifted my hands, making air quotes as I pursed my lips. The way he phrased it was still annoying me, like it was a simple thing, not tying your life to someone for-fucking-ever.
“Right, and you’re pissy about it because…?”
“Why do you think I’m pissy?” I paused my hand on her foot as a slight punishment for poking me in the way she was so good at.
“You mean besides the scowl on your face?”
I gave her a twisted smile as I tried to hide it, but it didn't work. And she had a point. I hadn’t even noticed the tightness in my arms and legs until she highlighted it. I’d been frustrated since he told me.
“Dom, why are you bothered about it when you’re off fucking some random guy every other night?”
“It’s not the same. I didn’t want you marrying Max, and I don’t want Harry marrying Molly.”
“I can still hear you, you know!” Max called through from the kitchen, only deepening my scowl, especially when Cat burst into a grin, her eyes shining as she returned her attention to me.Her hand softly circled her belly, and I got back to my work on her feet.
“You really don’t think there could be another reason you’re so upset?”
“I told you,” I growled. “I just don’t want him to be taken away from me—just like you were.”
She gave a deep sigh and propped her other foot on my lap, encouraging me to swap. I complied, taking out my frustration on her taut muscles.
“Jesus, okay.” She rolled her eyes as she tutted, “Look, maybe have a search in that big brain of yours and think about why you get in such a fucking mood every time Harry and Molly take a ‘natural step’. Or, even better, why you’re always making sure he’s ‘taken care of’, as you say, even though he’s got loads of other people in his life to do that for him.” She smirked at me. “He literally pays people to look after him, and you still butt your giant head in, convinced you know how to do it better.” She raised her eyebrows at me and stared me down.
“I did exactly the same thing for you. I’d do it for any of you.” My thumb ground into one of the knots on her heel too hard to get back at her, but she just moaned. “The same for my sisters. Hell, even Sally if she ever actually needed it.”
I refused to call her ‘Mum’ any more. Sally had put me through so much that she didn't deserve the title. It had only gotten worse since I left uni.
Cat only knew the brief outline of all the crap Sally had put me through, but despite everything, I still loved her in my own fucked-up way.
“And he works too much,” I finished.
She ran her hand over her belly. “And I don’t?”
Cat was the new head of the law department of The Fischer Foundation and kept up her cases until right before Keiran was due. She even went to work weeks after he was born. I came around whenever I could to cook her food, clean up, and mind Keiran so she could sleep. She had Max, but he spent half the year touring with his band.
But Harry… Harry would do twelve straight hours at The Foundation, seven days a week, and still go out to all the parties and events Mallory and her other socialite friends hosted, as well as movie premieres, award ceremonies, and anything else that required his presence. Molly worked almost the same amount of hours, and it was easier for them if I left them food, just to make sure he was okay and see that he wasn’t getting too stressed or overwhelmed. Normal friend stuff.
I sighed deeply, my thumb sweeping the arch of her foot. “Fine,maybeI’m beingslightlyweird.”
“I highly doubt things will change just because they have rings on their fingers.”
“But is he going to be happy?” I asked.
