“You like it,” Ryan whispered as the shadow of the tent fell over us.
Before I could retort, arms wrapped around me from behind. It couldn’t have been Lisa, because there were four arms banded around my body.
“What the—” I turned and found Wander and Whitney standing under the tent. Their husbands, Jack and Miles, stood a respectful distance.
“What are you guys doing here?” Tears flooded my eyes, and I was thankful I had put my sunglasses on. “How did you even know?”
Wander pulled me in for a hug. “Remember that time I tried to quit and ghost, and you showed up at my house and slept on my floor? Consider this payback.”
“We would have been here earlier, but our flights got delayed and we had to come straight to the cemetery,” Whitney said as she stole a hug of her own. “How are you holding up?” Her eyes danced between Ryan and me, and she smirked. “Or do I even have to ask?”
“Shut up,” I grumbled, and the girls laughed.
“Hey, champ,” Miles said as he pulled me in for a backbreaking hug. He was in one of his fancy, tailored bodyguard suits and a pair of black Crocs. “Long time, no see.”
“We missed you at Rom-Con,” I said.
Jack tugged at his neatly pressed collar. I hadn’t gotten a chance to know him as well as I knew Miles, since Miles often traveled with Whitney for events. But Wander was in love with him, and I couldn’t deny that the hot firefighter thing had its appeal.
But that wasn’t what appealed to me at the moment.
Ryan’s palm was warm against the small of my back as he extended his hand to Miles. “We haven’t officially met, but I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Miles shook his hand. “Miles Zhou. Whitney’s husband, Willow’s bestie, and father to the first Zhou duckling.”
“Congratulations.”
Miles grinned. “And thanks to my super special skills, I can kill you in under fifteen seconds if Willow gives me the signal.”
Ryan raised an eyebrow and looked at me. “You have a ‘kill Ryan’ signal?”
I mimed zipping my lips.
“Don’t worry about it, man.” Miles gave Ryan’s arm a fraternal slap. “I’ll make it painless. Kind of. Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never been dead. On the upside, your death will be quick. And since there’s already a hole in the ground, it’ll make disposing of you a lot easier. Shep seemed like a practical guy. I don’t think he’d mind a two-for-one.”
I pressed my fingers to my lips to keep from laughing as Ryan paled.
“The first time we met, he asked me what size body bag I wore,” Jack said as he extended his hand to Ryan.
“Ryan Ford,” he said, and they shook hands.
“Jack Wharton.” He tipped his head to Wander. “I belong to Aurora.”
Miles glared at him, and it nearly knocked me off balance. I had never seen him frown before. “What’s the first rule of author husbandry?” Miles clipped.
Jack looked up at the sky and silently prayed for patience. “Always use pen names in public,” he grumbled.
“You make it sound like fight club,” Ryan quipped.
Miles cracked his knuckles and grinned. “Fight club is hella fun.”
A hug snuck up from behind and I knew, without a doubt, that it was Lisa. “I’m only going to ask once because it’s the funeral. But how are you holding up?”
Lisa let out a sharp breath as she plopped her sunglasses on top of her head and dabbed her red-rimmed eyes. “I thought about getting a bus ticket this morning.”
“No one would have blamed you in the slightest.”
“I would have blamed myself.” She let out a sharp breath as she glanced at the casket, then lowered her sunglasses back over her eyes. “Life sucks, but you can’t run from it.”
