Chapter 1
Jameson
She’s fucking with me. This is all part of some sick joke Alex came up with to see if I would fall for it.
“Will you be my man-of-honor?” Charlie asks with a bright smile on her face that almost looks like a smirk.
My best friend is a girl. And not just any girl. She’s one of the best sports agents in the business, and as of last night, engaged to the top defenseman in the NHL. To her players, she’s Charlotte Coachman aka Coach, but to me, she’ll always be Charlie, the girl I slept across from when we were kids. Now, everything is about to change.
But what the hell is a man-of-honor? What exactly does she expect me to do? I ask myself these questions several times, trying to process what Charlie is asking of me. I have never heard the term before. It’s not like I know anything about weddings to be an expert on them.
“Jameson,” Charlie says, snapping her fingers in front of my face. “Don’t leave me hanging. You already gave Alex your permission to marry me. I don’t understand why you’re acting like such a weirdo over me calling you my man-of-honor. It’s not a big deal.”
“Because I have no idea what to say. Do you expect me to…wear a bridesmaid dress?” I shake my head, frowning at Alex Parker, who is fucking laughing at me. Bastard. “Shut up, Parker,” I yell and throw a pillow from the couch at his head.
Of course, he ducks, and I end up knocking one of Charlie’s signed basketballs off its stand. Charlie has a shrine of sports memorabilia that she keeps in her living room from clients and famous athletes. Some of the items could probably go for enough money to buy a house. She’s a real collector and sports lover.
“Oh, shit, not the MJ ball.” Alex is mocking me now. Some days I really hate his ass. That ball means more to Charlie than anything in this apartment.
Covering his mouth, Alex’s eyes widen in shock as he looks down at the basketball signed by Michael Jordan, our hometown hero and Charlie’s idol.
I moved from Chicago to Philadelphia with Charlie after high school, so we could attend college here and escape the foster homes where we’d grown up. Our relationship has always been completely platonic.
And now she wants me to be her man-of-honor…
“Damn it, Jamie.” Charlie gets up from the couch, the cushion shifting beneath her weight. She smacks me upside the head, lightly and with a smile on her face. Even when Charlie is mad at me, she’s never actually pissed. “You could’ve just said yes without starting a fight with Alex. My God, I swear the two of you are like twins separated at birth. Stop being so immature and answer my question already.”
For years, it was just the two of us. We were a team until Alex waltzed into her life and swept Charlie off her feet. In the beginning, I hated Alex. I thought he was bad for her. No one had ever been worthy of Charlie, which was why I was so overprotective. But Alex showed both of us another side to him, proved he wasn’t the womanizing pig the media had made him out to be.
Their relationship had a rocky start. The Washington Capitals had traded Alex to the Philadelphia Flyers after another one his legendary puck bunny scandals. Charlie facilitated his trade and took pity on him after he moved to town. He even managed to rope Charlie into one of his scandals, making me dislike him more. But I learned that people can change, and things are not always as they seem. Alex is a good guy. I couldn’t have picked a better man for Charlie.
Over time, Alex had grown on me, especially after he made such a grand gesture last year to win her back. So, when he’d asked me if he could marry Charlie, I said yes. I’d known that Alex was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. All I had ever wanted was for Charlie to be happy. She deserves it after all the shit we had gone through as kids.
I walk over to Charlie and pull her into my arms, squeezing the life out of her. “Yes, I’ll be your man-of-honor, whatever the hell that even means. But I draw the line at wearing women’s clothing. No way is that ever going to happen.”
She laughs in my ear. I’m about an inch or two over six feet, and Charlie is almost the same height. Back in the day, she played college basketball and was on track for the pros until she’d gotten hurt. That was a life-changing day for both of us, as is this one. My best friend is getting married. And I have to figure out what a man-of-honor is supposed to do.
Thank God for Google.
“You wear a suit, Jameson.” Charlie sticks her tongue out at me because she knows I prefer Jamie to my full name.