“Just … nothing too mushy. Or stupid.”
He laughs. “Would I do something like that?”
Giving him serious side-eye as we walk, I nod. “One hundred percent, you would.”
“Yo!” calls a familiar voice behind us, and I turn to see Dozer jogging toward us, his girlfriend Marissa walking more sedately behind him. We pause and wait for her to catch up before continuing to the place overlooking the stream where Hailey and I are going to get married.
Frowning, Marissa looks around. “What are y’all doing for music?”
I shrug. “Nothing.”
Her frown deepens, and she turns the full force of it on me. “You’re marrying a musician, and you didn’t arrange music?”
“Well,” I splutter, “it’s not like she could play at herownwedding, is it? And she just moved here. She doesn’t have connections.”
Marissa rolls her eyes. “You could’ve asked around. Or asked me. I would’ve helped.”
My brows crimp together, and Dozer fills me in. “Her sister’s a violinist too. She might’ve been willing to step in for something like this.” He glances at Marissa, who nods. “And if she couldn’t, she’d probably know someone who could’ve.”
“Oh.” Now I feel like an ass.
Her face buried in her phone, she taps and taps. “Do you know what kind of music she likes?”
“Uh …” I cast around, feeling stupid and hopeless. “Pretty kind?”
Marissa rolls her eyes at me. “Okay. Well. Hopefully this’ll be good enough.” Then she glances back up the path, eyes narrowed, before turning to Dozer and saying, “Actually, I’m going to head back to the parking area and watch for her and Maggie. I’ll let her pick something from my phone, then I’ll come ahead to play the music while she walks in. She’d probably prefer live music, but something’s better than nothing, after all.”
“I have those Bluetooth speakers in the trunk.” Dozer hands her the keys. “Grab those. They’ll be better than your phone.”
She brightens at that and gives him a quick kiss. “Good thinking. You’re the best.” Narrowing her eyes, she looks at me. “You could learn a thing or two here.” She points between Dozer and me. “Pay attention.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I mumble, and Dozer and Bouchard both laugh as Marissa walks back up the path.
“This is crazy, man,” Dozer says quietly as we all stand around, waiting.
“What, exactly, is crazy?” I ask, putting a little edge to my words. If he thinks me getting married is so crazy …
“Just that you’re the first of the three of us to get married. I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone, and all of a sudden, you’re calling me up and telling me you need me to come to your wedding and sign the marriage certificate as a witness. It’s just wild, that’s all. Feels kinda … outta nowhere.”
I grunt at that.
“He’s got a point,” Bouchard chimes in. “I figured Dozer’d be the first of the three of us to get married.”
“That’s what I’m saying!” Dozer exclaims.
“Oh? You planning to propose?” I ask, happy for the diversion they both set up so nicely. I’m not sure if Bouchard did that on purpose or not, but I’ll take it regardless.
He rubs his nose, then scratches the back of his head. “I mean, not, like, immediately. But we’ve been talking a little about the future.”
“I can do your ceremony,” Bouchard offers, looking like a little kid asking for a cookie. “I’ve got the whole thing down. I brought notes just in case, but I don’t think I’ll need them.” He pulls a couple of index cards out of his jacket pocket and holds them up as evidence. “I’ve been practicing. Right, Chalmers?What’m I asking you for, you don’t know. Ask Maggie when she gets here. She’ll vouch for me. I’m gonna kill it. Just watch.”
Dozer looks him over like he’s not sure he believes him, eyes narrowed a little. “We’ll see how today goes. Consider this your audition.”
Bouchard scoffs. “You’d be lucky to have me doing your wedding. Besides, Marissa’s the one who’ll decide. She’s the one I’ll need to impress.” He points at Dozer. “And you better make sure you handle the music. You saw how she was about this time. Imagine how she’ll be for her own wedding.”
“You heard her. Her sister’s a violinist. I’m sure we can get the music handled.”
Bouchard scoffs again. “You expect her sister to play at her wedding? You don’t think she’ll want her as, I dunno, a bridesmaid or something?”
