1
Hayes
“Ican’t say I saw it coming… you standing up as the best man atAxel’swedding,” Ryker says with clear surprise in his tone. “But I guess this means you’ll be ready when you stand up as mine.”
“Aw, buddy. Are you asking me to be your best man?” I slap him on the shoulder to drive my sarcasm home. He hasn’t officially asked me yet, but he doesn’t have to. We’ve been through a lot together. He’s like a brother to me and I would do anything for him.
“You’re a dick, you know that?”
“Yeah, I know. But I thought you and Arabella weren’t doing the big wedding.”
“We aren’t. But I still need a witness and that doesn’t sound nearly as fun asbest man.”
“You’re not wrong. But you also know I’ve got your back.”
We give each other a cursory bro-hug and my phone buzzes in my pocket. Who the fuck is texting me right now? Everyone knows I’m busy. The club is closed and literally everyone else of importance is here.
Pulling it from my back pocket, I glance at the name on the screen.
My lawyer.
BEN:I finally have the answer we’ve been searching for.
“Everything alright?” Ryker asks, concern lacing his question. “Your face is doing that thing it does when you’re nervous.”
“Are you kidding?” I scoff. “Idon’tget nervous.”
He scoffs. “Sure, you don’t. What’s going on?”
“You know the land we’re trying to develop behind the club? For the primal play?”
He raises an eyebrow curiously, then nods.
“Well, we’ve been hitting some kind of a snag trying to buy the land. But the deeds office is locked up tighter than a nun’s vagina and we haven’t been able to figure out what the issue is. Ben and I have shown our faces, both separately and together. No one will tell us shit.”
“That’s odd. I wonder what all the secrecy is about.”
“No idea. Ben did say this can happen sometimes. Probably something simple. Bureaucratic bullshit and some pencil pusher with a stick up his ass thinking he has real power. I guess the jokes on me, because we’ve been trying to get this done for months now and we hit a wall every damn time. Anyway, I’m going to give him a call really quick. Be right back.”
Ryker nods and just as I walk off, I watch Arabella jog up to him. It’s nice seeing him so fucking happy. The man is a saint and deserves all of it.
I press the green dot next to Ben’s name and the phone starts ringing. He picks up immediately. “Hayes, I have the answer and you’re not going to love it.”
A handful of minutes later, we disconnect the call with plans to meet up next week to figure out this literal fucking shit show.
I slowly make my way back over to Ryker, who is still canoodling Arabella.
“Shit, Hayes. Everything alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Ryker inquires calmly.
Arabella adds, “Yeah. There is zero color left in your face. What’s going on?”
“Well, I know now what’s stalling the land deal.”
I can feel both sets of eyes burning into my skin as they wait for the punchline.
“Actually… not what,” I correct myself. “Who.”
“Well…?” they say in unison.
