Caspian (Carolina Reapers 8)

STEWARDSON’S.

“Oh shit.” No wonder Mom had wanted Ryleigh escorted to every event.

“Yeah.” She folded her arms under her breasts. “Chuck’s mom opened it about two years ago after the Howells declined to sell her the diner.” Her inhale was shaky. “I mean, it's a great restaurant. It’s all farm to table, and the food is delicious, but he works here, so…yeah.” She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder.

“I’ve never seen you nervous.”

She startled. “I’m not. I’m fine. This is fine. It’s all fine.” Her chin rose a good two inches.

“Right.” I held out my hand. “Well, let’s put on a fine show, shall we?”

She nodded and took my hand, her grip firm, but her skin soft beneath my fingertips as we walked up the steps and into the bustling restaurant.

“There he is!” Sawyer McCoy, one of our goalies, called out from the bar, raising a beer in my direction. At least I thought that was the bar behind a massive balloon arch. A massive coral arch.

Holy Shit, my mother had lost her craft-loving mind. The whole restaurant was decorated in an explosion of coral crepe paper and balloons, and in the middle of it all, London stood with the same awestruck expression Ryleigh had.

“Oh shit,” Ryleigh whispered. “My mom’s binder exploded in here.”

“It’s…” I didn’t even have a word for whatever the 1980’s hell was going on in here.

“Caz!” London squeezed her way through a sea of locals and my teammates, her blue eyes filled with panic. “Thank God you two are here!” My little sister grabbed ahold of my arm with superhuman strength and pulled me through a side door, Ryleigh captured in her other hand.

The door slammed behind us.

“Are we…” I looked around at the shelves and stacked furniture.

“In a storage room?” London answered, her blue eyes all flustered. “Yes.”

“We have to stop meeting like this.” I shot a grin at Ryleigh.

Ryleigh laughed, and fuck me, it was the best sound I’d ever heard.

“Could you be serious for just a few seconds?” My sister shot me a look that wiped the smile off my face.

“Absolutely.” I shifted her present under my other arm. “What can I do?”

“You can sneak back in here and pop every single coral-colored balloon you can find once the shower is over.” Pretty sure her nails were about to draw blood.

“There’s a lot of coral,” Ryleigh whispered.

“Right?” London covered her face with her hands. “I told Mom she could do whatever she wanted with the shower, and it’s so…lovely,” she finished with a swallow. “And I really am grateful, but now she wants to see if the wedding coordinator can put some of these decorations into the ceremony, and Madeline is threatening to quit if she has to put a balloon animal on the altar…” She looked up at me with pleading eyes.

“So basically, make sure the giant 1986 prom photo arch doesn’t make it to the church?” I offered, sliding my arm free from her grip so I could toss it around her shoulders.

“Could you? Please?” She looked past me to Ryleigh. “Our mothers have lost their minds, and if they get into it with Madeline—”

“Consider it handled,” Ryleigh answered quickly. “Savannah is here, too, right?”

“Yep! She and Hendrix got in last night. Jansen’s taking it all in stride, but he has no idea how hard it was to get Madeline to drive all the way from Des Moines to pull this off so quickly!”

“We’ve got this. Don’t worry.” Ryleigh gave her a decisive nod and comforting smile.

“Thank you!” She hugged us both tight and raced out of the storage room.

“I hate seeing her all frazzled like that,” I muttered. London was usually pretty chill about stuff like this, especially since she was a game day coordinator for our team, but planning a wedding thousands of miles away had taken its toll on her sanity.

“So do you want to take a pin to the balloon sculptures, or should I?” Ryleigh asked, mischief in her green eyes.

My chest went all tight. Another time. Another place. Another…life, and maybe I would have asked her out for real. But this was Cherry Creek, and I didn’t exactly live here anymore. Asking her out when I couldn’t follow through would make me the same kind of asshole as Chuck. “Grab the scissors and we’ll do a little sabotage after everyone leaves.”

We went back out to the party, and I set Ryleigh’s gifts and my card down on the gift table. “Holy shit, what is that supposed to be?” I whispered, eyeing the mass of twisted balloons.

“A butterfly. I think?” Ryleigh tilted her head at the decorations above the table. “What did you get them, anyway? I got the popcorn maker.”

“A Skee-Ball game.” I grinned, imagining the look on my sister’s face when she opened the stack of cards from the Reapers.