A Cheshire cat grin appears on his lips as he abandons his book on the red velvet chair and stands up to join me by the mirror, watching me intently as if he’s a cat who found a fish. “You are, aren’t you?”
“Are you going to be useful anytime soon?”
His grin widens. “Not until you admit you’re nervous. Aww, should I have been a good best man and got you a hooker last night?”
“If you had done that, I’d be getting Queens a male stripper on her wedding night.” I grin back, and his falls as he flips me off.
He heads back to the chair. “Looks like you don’t need help, after all. You can have a wedding without the bowtie.”
“Nash…” I warn.
He stops midway and throws me a glance over his shoulder. “Do you admit it?”
“I’m not nervous.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m not. I’m just…” I release a long breath. “I can’t believe this is happening. My mind keeps sending these signals that something will go wrong, like back when we were eight or afterwards, when she didn’t remember me.”
“Or maybe she’ll one day wake up and realise she deserves better than you.”
“You fucking —” I’m about to punch him in the face but stop myself because I can’t have my best man with a bloodied nose.
“Relax.” He smiles a little. “I was speaking from my point of view. That’s what I think Silver will do every day. It’s not a fun feeling.”
I exhale deeply. “At all.”
We remain in awkward silence for a few seconds. Neither Cole nor I are good with directing feelings to the outside. We’re inward people and I think that’s why we gravitated towards each other in the first place.
He takes the bowtie from my fingers and straps it around my throat, aiming his attention on it. “Elsa chose you when she could’ve gone with someone different.”
“If you don’t stop saying shit like that, you’re going to get punched, and fuck having no best man.”
He chuckles. “Just saying. My point is, she chose you and she knows exactly what she’s in for. If she still hasn’t given up on you yet, I say it’s for the long haul.”
“Long haul?”
“As long as you make it, King.”
He finishes off and steps back to stare at his handiwork. “There. Done.”
The door flies open and in comes Ronan, holding Xander’s shoulder as they laugh about something while stuffing their faces with appetisers.
As soon as they see us, Ronan barges between me and Nash, holding an imaginary microphone. “Yo, King. How does it feel to be getting married?”
“Nervous.” Nash smirks and I flip him off while smoothing my jacket.
“I’ve got to admit, I thought I would be the first one to get married.” Xander pouts. “But I guess my father is stricter than Jonathan King.”
“Jonathan is strict.” Cole retrieves his book. “Aiden just doesn’t give a fuck.”
“Okay, Aiden wins in the wedding department.” Astor points a finger at himself. “But my Teal and I got engaged first. We’ll get married before you know it, so try to beat us, Xan.”
“Oh, you’re on.” Xander hits his shoulder playfully and the latter returns it.
They start one of their bickering sessions before I turn around and ask, “Have you seen Elsa?”
“Fuck yeah. She was my fiancée first, remember?”