He hoped the media didn’t get wind of this, though. It would cause a riot in the country music world if anyone who was anyone caught the three of them together. All three of them had, at one time, ruled the stage in front of thousands. And here they were at an intimate gathering for Brantley’s and Reese’s closest friends.
Reese reminded himself to give JJ a huge hug for coming up with this.
“Glad you could make it,” Baz said, his voice raised to be heard over the din of conversation as he squeezed between people, holding his drink high in the air so it wouldn’t get jostled out of his hands. He gestured toward the stage, then looked at Brantley. “They’re a gift from your cousins. JJ called Zoey and put a bug in her ear. Zoey, in turn, called Brendon… It took off from there.”
“Is she here?” Brantley glanced around as though expecting to see JJ.
“She wanted to be, but she’s at home with her feet up.” Baz laughed when Brantley shot him a skeptical look. “Don’t worry. She’s not alone. She’s puttin’ some ladies to work paintin’ the babies’ room.”
Reese was surprised JJ wasn’t in the thick of things, but he was glad she had stayed home. He knew from talking to her and Baz that the doctor wanted her to stay off her feet as much as possible. She was evidently taking his advice—which was honestly surprising—because she’d convinced Baz to set up a desk for her on the main floor of HQ so she didn’t have to go up and down the stairs.
“You wanna beer?” Brantley asked him. “Or you wanna go with somethin’ stronger?”
“Stronger,” he said without hesitation. It was one of thosego big or go homekinda nights as far as Reese was concerned.
“I was hopin’ you’d say that. Be right back.”
While Brantley went to the bar, Reese followed Baz to a table set up just for them. He was stopped a dozen times by people he saw all the time and others only rarely.
“JJ insisted that you wear—”
“Dear God, don’t make us wear those stupid hats,” Reese groaned as Baz grabbed something from the table.
He laughed as he turned around. “Not tonight. But I told her I’dtryto get you to wear”—he produced a black satin sash with the wordsgroom-to-bein silver glitter across the front—“these.”
Reese rolled his eyes.
“If you don’t wanna wear it, could you at least put it on long enough for me to take a picture?”
Considering all the work that had gone into this and all that JJ had done to make this happen, Reese wasn’t going to put up a fight. He grabbed the sash, pulled it over his head, and draped it across his chest.
“I thought I’d never see the day.”
Reese’s grin widened when he heard his brother’s voice and turned to see Z and RT.
“You’re gonna spoil me if you stick around too much longer,” he told his brother.
Reese hadn’t realized just how much he missed seeing Z until these past few days when he had the opportunity to see him whenever he wanted to. His brother had even taken the time out of his day to go to the barbershop in town, both of them getting haircuts for the wedding. After, they’d stopped by the bakery for coffee. Reese missed hanging out with his brother.
“That’s the plan,” Z said with a beaming grin. “My baby brother only gets married once. You didn’t think I’d miss it, did you?”
Honestly, Reese hadn’t been sure. Since RT was currently running Sniper 1 Security, it wasn’t easy for them to get away, much less for them to be away for longer than a few days at a time. He knew Z wouldn’t miss the wedding, but he hadn’t anticipated him being here for the entire week.
An elbow nudged his arm, and he turned to see Brantley holding out a glass of clear liquid. Vodka, he hoped.
“Y’all lookin’ for a house to buy yet?” Brantley asked RT and Z, clearly not surprised to see either of them.
“Unfortunately, no,” RT told him. “Although it’s not a bad idea. A home away from home might be nice.”
“Unless they’re hidin’ a beach somewhere around here, I don’t think so,” Z chimed in. “But a trip or two a year isn’t a bad idea.”
Reese loved that his brother would even consider it, but he knew that life often got in the way of good intentions. He wouldn’t hold it against him. Plus, now that they worked for the same company, Reese did get to see him quite a bit more because they were up in Dallas at least once a month.
“Thought maybe we could buy you breakfast tomorrow or Friday,” Z offered.
“We can probably be persuaded.”
“Hey, you mind? You’re hoggin’ the guests of honor,” Braydon Walker called from behind Z.
