“Right?” Jax hit my chest. “I thought I was going to have to hand him my pocket square.”
“Shit, I did hand him mine.” Knight threw his head back in laughter. “It was right after their first look photos. Dude was a fucking mess.”
“Don’t act like that won’t be both you fuckers.” LJ crossed a patent leather shoe over the other, smirking. “Especially you, kidney boy. I saw you making goo-goo eyes over at your girl the whole ceremony.”
He jerked his chin in the direction of Cleo, the girl instantly flushing to her ears. Out of all the girls, she seemed like the shiest. Apparently unashamed by the comment, Jax knotted his arms around her trim waist.
“Fuck yeah, I’m going to fucking cry.” He rested a chin on Cleo’s shoulder, staking his claim further when he tugged her into him. He grinned. “Real men aren’t afraid to shed tears for their girls. I think my moms will be surprised if I don’t cry.”
He had been raised by women, his mom and her partner, and he was right. There was nothing wrong with crying. I, too, had been basically raised and supported by a woman, my dad fucking useless. He’d abandoned me in all ways beyond the physical and even worse when I’d gotten older.
In fact, many of these men lacked influential father figures in their lives, Prinze included, and they’d obviously done all right. They didn’t let that technicality hold them back. They grew despite that, thrived even.
Not really trying to think about that, I offered to take the wedding gifts myself. That’d been the reason I came inside and had nothing else to do. The rest of my night would consist of Netflix and my own bottle of Heineken, so it was the least I could do to transport the wedding gifts to where they needed to go.
“Oh, let us do that, bro,” came from Knight Reed, handing LJ another package. “It’s the best men’s job, anyway.”
“Yeah, we got this,” LJ said, placing a rather large gift on the cart between them. “Anyway, you should take it easy. You’ve been, like, everywhere tonight, brother. Helping and shit.”
“Yeah, he has.” Jax arranged the gift on the cart, chuckling. “Didn’t see you around tonight at all, and when I did, you looked like the maintenance crew.”
Had it been that obvious? I shrugged. “Just trying to help out.”
“Well, I think you’ve got that accomplished.” That last gift settled, Knight angled his big body back against the gift table. The guy was built like a Marine and I knew Marines. Had one or two in my family, and this guy could give any one a run for their money with his size. He was basically popping out of his gray suit. He grinned. “Like LJ said, take it easy. We’ll make sure these get to Royal and December’s place. Go have fun. Cash in one of those many digits I’m sure you got tonight.”
A jostle from more than one of them tonight for that and the bouquet toss fiasco. I lifted my eyes to the heavens. “Eh, don’t know about that. I was just going to head home. Relax.”
Jax’s jaw basically hit the floor, like I had the audacity at all to suggest such a thing for myself, and I suppose I wasn’t surprised. Odds were, these boys were headed to the club after all this tonight for an after-party and most certainly would get far more action than me since they had girlfriends. Seemingly appalled, Jax tucked his hands under his pits. “Fuck, bro. You serious? All that damn pussy just tossed to the ether? What the fuck?”
No sooner had he said the words, than his girlfriend Cleo looked like she had somewhere way better to be, shoving him with a “Jaxen” before he snagged her arm and inched her back to him.
“I meant for him, babe. For him,” he emphasized. Clearly, this girl was the only one in his eyes. Cupping her ass cheeks, he hitched her against him. “You know I ain’t about that life anymore. I gave you my damn kidney.”
He sure had, again fucking crazy.
And where this girl a second ago looked ready to run for the hills, now seemed hard-pressed to be anywhere but beneath him. He enveloped her in a sea of hands and well-timed kisses, making her giggle, and the rest of us roll our eyes, hard. Jaxen Ambrose roped like the rest of these boys.
And so, miracles really did happen.
He got a jostle or f
our from his friends, but not before I got another push to do something else with my time besides Netflix tonight. They even invited me to the after-party they planned to hit (I’d guessed right, a club), but I turned it down. Today had been a lot. Hell, the last few months had. I’d been December’s right-hand guy and that was on top of my own personal shit. I was ready for a cold one and a good night’s sleep.
“Fine, brother. Lame ass,” Jax goaded, but chuckled when he shook my hand. Our rings clinked, as did mine with Knight’s and LJ’s when we shook. We were all a part of the prestigious though equally infamous Court, brothers, though in the past we hadn’t acted like it. Tonight was clearly different, those days of the past gone, and it only helped we shared a common understanding. Our best friends got married today.
I suppose that made us linked for life.
I thought I’d get away with the last of their handling and I had for the most part, but not before Jax could slip the joint he had behind his left ear to my pocket.
“You need this more than me,” he said, obviously referencing my night of impending solitude. He patted my pocket. “Don’t get too wild tonight.”
This received barks of laughter from both Knight and LJ, but a head shake and a pair of flushed cheeks from his girlfriend. I suppose I wasn’t the only one who didn’t smoke weed. I guess I had in the past, but not since high school.
I flicked it in a wave after them before thinking better of that and pocketing it. Not that kids even a decade younger than me didn’t smoke these things in these very halls. Hell, I’d been one of them.
And yes, at fucking twelve.
I used to get up to all kinds of shit, but that was the past for the most part. Even still, I decided to take a walk down memory lane through the halls of Windsor House before heading home for the night. I had properties both here in Maywood Heights and on my new campus, Pembroke University. I thought that’d be best considering my plans to delve more into my father’s businesses here in town while at the same time going to school. Having two homes gave me convenience and ample choice about where to stay if I was tired or just didn’t feel like trekking the almost two hours to and fro.