Rich Groom (The Dirty Thirty Pledge 1)

I start to laugh when Annabelle’s eyes go wide with shock, and I can’t keep the smile off my face. “Hello to you too, Andrew.”

“Have you talked to her yet, is she interested in signing?”

I make a non-committal noise, staring at Anna. “I think she’s interested, but I’m not sure. She’s not exactly known for saying yes to important things from what I hear.” Anna gasps, and her mouth drops open.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Andrew asks.

“It means yes,” Anna says quickly. “Yes. Hi. My name is Annabelle Hughes and I’m the girl. I want to sign.”

There’s a sigh. “Fuck, Frankie. You could have told me that she was standing right there.”

“It was more fun this way,” I say.

“Annabelle, welcome to the team,” he says. “If Frankie doesn’t have a contract with you in two days, I will have his ass. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Me too!” she squeaks, and I hang up. And then she’s kissing me. “Yes,” she says between kisses. “Yes to everything. Yes to that. Yes to marrying you. Yes to everything forever.”

I slip the ring on her finger again, and pull her in for a deeper kiss. “I’m going to do my best to be worthy of you,” I say.

Behind us, Anna is being introduced on stage, and she slips away from me to play her set, and I swear that I’ve never been happier.

* * *

Tomorrow is my birthday, and today I’m getting married. The courthouse in Green Hills is bright and airy and it seems perfect for a wedding like this one. After Anna said yes, we went back to her place. And after a couple solid hours in bed together, I told her everything. More details about Glenn and the lawsuit and that idiotic list that he gave me. More than anything, I told her that I would have proposed anyway. That I didn’t tell her about it earlier because I didn’t want to think that my company was worth more than she was, and that I would happily give it up for a life with her. Nothing matters but her. And that if she wasn’t ready to marry me before my birthday, then that was fine, because I’m not losing her again.

As I predicted, she was so pissed that I’m pretty sure she wants to punch him in the face too. Which is why it’s for the best that she’s not here yet when he walks inside. I invited him. He has to see that I’m going through with this himself.

“So,” he says, and I notice that he actually dressed up in a suit. “You fucking did it.”

“Yeah,” I say. “No thanks to you.”

“Yeah…”

We stand there for a minute in silence.

Then, finally, “I’m sorry, Frankie.”

“Yeah?”

He doesn’t look like he’s kidding. “Yeah.”

“What the hell was this, man? Why?”

Glenn shakes his head. “Honestly? I was being a dick. But I was so fucking pissed at you for getting out. And following your passion. You’ve got that label and it makes you so happy, and I can’t say that you haven’t done anything for First Shot, but it’s not the primary thing in your life, and I love First Shot, but I’m tired. You’re living the dream. And I’m stuck in this town in a bar, and I’ve got nothing else.”

“So you wanted me to fuck my way through the town for revenge?”

“A little, yeah.” He scratches the back of his neck. “I thought it would be fun too, but it was the only thing I had on you. The one little thing that I could do to make you feel a little bit of the anger that I felt. It was shitty. Is shitty.”

“It really was. Why didn’t you just say something? We can find someone to help run things if there’s other things that you want to do, Glenn. Neither Wallace or I would force that on you, I hope you know that.”

Glenn scratches the back of his neck. “I do know that, and I’m sorry. It’s been a time, and I let things get the best of me. I’m not going to make you get married if you don’t want to, man. I was being a dick. Wallace set me straight.”

I smile at him. “I really do want to get married. Even though it wasn’t under the best circumstances, this part I wouldn’t have any other way.”

He sighs and rolls his eyes. “I still think it’s a waste. You could be a fucking legend man.”

“I’ll leave that for you,” I hold out my hand, and he takes it.

“You better believe it. My Dirty Thirty is going to be legendary.”

I roll my eyes, but there’s a weight off my chest. Glenn’s been my friend for a long time, and even though we might not be really okay for a while, we will be.