“You had one job, William.” June shakes her head, hands propped on her hips like this is a video call and her brother can witness her disappointment.
His audible swallow is all the confirmation I need and I close my eyes, praying those rings were insured.
Will falls quiet and I’m about to disconnect the call and march up the stairs when my husband sighs and says, “This might be far from ideal, but I think I might have a solution.”
“I can’t look, Drew,” my sister, Marley, speaks from behind one hand as she cowers away from the shitshow about to go down.
“Far from ideal.” He got that right. I can’t believe Will is about to do this.
Standing at the end of the aisle, Jensen and Kate join hands and repeat their original vows after almost twenty-five years of happy marriage.
It’d be emotional if I didn’t know what was coming…
Like he’s having second thoughts about his “solution,” Will sneaks a quick look in my direction and I smile sweetly at him. After all, it could well be the final time he sees my face so I should probably make it a friendly one.
Dressed in a tux that matches his son’s, my father-in-law motions to Will when Jon asks for the rings and I see my husband’s face pale.
“Has Will done it yet?” Marley asks, now shielding herself behind a curtain of silky blonde hair.
I shake my head even though she can’t see me. “Not yet. There isn’t any blood.”
“It’s probably just as well Mom chose black,” June remarks from the other side of me. “The dry-cleaning bill will be more reasonable at least.”
Dipping a hand into his pocket, Will casts one last glance in our direction before he opens his palm and… two black velvet boxes appear.
June sits forward. “I thought you said he bought Ring Pops from the hotel’s shop?”
I nod once, words failing me. “He did.”
Marley drops her hand, sensing a shift in the ominous atmosphere. “There’s no way they’d fit in those tiny boxes.”
“Motherfucker.”
Every single head in the room swivels in June’s direction. Jon, Kate, and Jensen’s included.
“I said that really loud, didn’t I?” she whispers.
Literally everyone looks aghast as June sinks into her chair, cheeks turning a deep shade of crimson.
The only person smiling is none other than Tristan Vaughn, someone who could be loosely describe as Will’s teammate whenarch nemesiswould be a more accurate description. They hate each other and the reasons why are too convoluted for me to explain.
And the only person Tristan despises more than Will? June Jones.
“That potty mouth of yours,JJ,” he tuts, repeating in a mocking tone the nickname most people call her. From the row directly behind us, he hovers his chin over June’s shoulder and I watch the way her lips tremble with rage. A reaction which, interestingly, contradicts the rest of her body as goosebumps break out down her bare arms. “It’s like you’re above manners.”
“Fuck off,” June snips, pulling a rumble of satisfied laughter from the Rogues forward.
“Sorry.” Jon holds up a hand and narrows his eyes on Tristan and June. “Is there something more interesting than the wonderous reunion we’re about to witness?”
Tristan sits back in his seat and June waves for Jon to continue, mouthing an apology at her parents.
She leans into me and says in the quietest voice, “It was all a prank.”
Sure enough, Will pops the lid on his mother’s black sapphire ring and then his dad’s platinum engraved band, not a Ring Pop in sight.
“Why would he do that?” Marley whispers in a disbelieving voice.
When Will sets his innocent brown eyes back on us, I find myself thinking over the timeline since we got married and if we’ve surpassed the strict ninety-day cooling-off period before I can divorce him.
