Riley Mackenzie: Beautifully Done

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” I backed away with a raised hand. Kate was definitely attractive, but she screamed emotional disaster. I had no intentions of touching her with a ten foot pole. That woman needed way more than I could ever give her. Just because I had a dick didn’t mean I had to be a dick.

Scanning the massive beach tent, I eyed a second bar, then a third, and then a fourth. Another beer was calling my name, so I made my way across the dance floor, enjoying the occasional bump and grind along the way. Hey, you only lived once and I was never too shy to get my groove on. And leave it to my boy to do it right, sparing no expense for his bride. Who strung crystal chandeliers up in an outdoor tent? Chase would piss money away if he could; his disdain for the almighty dollar was bewildering. Good thing the loser had me watching his back. I made us both more money than he could spend in a lifetime.

I switched out my empty for a full one; meanwhile, smooth arms tackled my sides in a tight bear hug. The blinding blue rock on her finger gave her away.

“Your best man toast was perfect. We loved it. We love you.” Lili had a tendency to get affectionate when she drank, and it didn’t take much.

I spun and hugged her back. Chase was all of two inches behind with his typical me-Tarzan-her-Jane expression. I squeezed her a little tighter just to be a dick and mouthed aw, she loves me. Only I could get away with that shit.

“You can take your hands off my wife’s ass at any time.”

Who was I kidding? I never got away with it.

“Man, she married your needy ass. Think you can drop the whole caveman thing. Gorgeous as always, Lili.” I kissed her cheek and folded her back into her husband’s arms.

I loved her. She was all around awesome: sweet, fun, loyal to a fault, and not to mention ridiculously easy on the eyes. But it was her effect on Chase that solidified her spot in the family. She woke his sorry ass from years of misplaced guilt and gave me my best friend back.

“Not in this lifetime.” Chase was dead serious.

Lili looked up at him with her killer baby blues as if he parted the Red Sea. I couldn’t promise anyone until death do us part , but hell, I wouldn’t have minded someone looking at me like that.

“You guys psyched for your trip? Sucks every romantic destination in a twelve-hour radius was booked.” Who honeymooned in Japan? Lili laughed at my joke. Chase rubbed his face and cracked a smile. He did that a lot more since Lil.

“Just try not to get yourself into trouble the next three weeks. All right, asshole?”

“C, you trying to say you’re gonna miss me? Cause if so, that’s pretty lame.” The new Mrs. Colton laughed her sweet ass off. Her boobs jiggled too. Yup, I was an asshole.

We briefly shot the shit about work while Lili pointed out every single female at the wedding she deemed worthy of my attention. The woman was relentless, always spewing about me deserving a hay or HEA. I decided to feed into her good mood and indulge her a little.

“Hey, if you really think I deserve a happy ending tonight, who am I to question the bride?”

Chase buried his face in her hair but not before he half choked on his beer. He was too easy to rile, how could I not? Lili, on the other hand, fake rolled her eyes and winked right back at me. She was the bomb.

I tried to keep the joke going to circumvent the conversation returning to the why Asher should settle down topic, but Lil cut me off when she saw a bunch of people making their way off the dance floor. The band had just slowed things down a notch.

“There’s my baby girl,” she sweetly said, reaching for the doll-sized princess her stepmom was holding. Her little dress was a mini version of the bride’s with a big pink bow matching the obnoxious sparkly clip dangling from her still half-bald head. Rubbing her tired eyes, Lili showered her porcelain face with kisses and cushioned her snug against her chest. “Aww, Chase, look, she’s exhausted. Poor baby. I’m going to take Layla back to the house so she can get tucked in. Be right back.” She handed him her empty glass and gave him a peck on the lips before she carried the now sleeping child away.

Chase’s eyes were crazy glued to her every step until she disappeared through sliding glass doors. Then he ripped at his tie, unbuttoned his top three buttons, and took a deep breath. Shit.

“I’ll go find Sierra and let her know where they went, okay, sweetie?” Lil’s stepmother Sharon sympathetically patted Chase’s cheek.

“Thanks, Shar.”

I let the silence stew long enough to order us two fresh cold ones. “Sorry, C—sucks, man.” There was nothing else to say.

Chase stared at his beer with the intensity he stared at his patients’ brain scans. “Yes. It. Does.” Then he drained half the bottle.

Lili’s face lit up the room every time she was around that baby. It sucked for Chase, seeing how natural she was with Sierra’s daughter, and knowing it was all his woman wanted for herself. They had been trying to have one of their own since Lil miscarried a few weeks after getting out of the hospital. No luck so far. Life was fucking unfair.

The poor guy deserved to enjoy his wedding, not beat himself up over what couldn’t be changed, so I switched topic. “Could be worse, we could still be barefoot.” I followed suit, draining my bottle.

His steel armor cracked and he shook his head. “That was a fucking stupid idea, wasn’t it?”

Five hours later, my jacket and tie were nowhere to be found. Hell with it, I hated the damn tux anyway. It didn’t matter who designed it or how much you paid, those straight jackets never fit a guy my size. The party was winding down, and somehow I was left with the whole thanks for coming, hope you had a great time best man bullshit. Kissing every aunt, cousin and grandma on both cheeks, I needed a tetanus shot. People stuffed envelopes in my hand and I was tempted to ask, “Just out of curiosity, what part of the five thousand square foot oceanfront cottage with the Cirque du Soleil tent pitched in front made you think an envelope was an appropriate gift?” But I held back. No need to piss off the bride, and besides, it was all going to a great cause. As their wedding present, I set up a foundation for abused women and children in their name and I promised to match every donation they made. What else did you get for the couple that needed squat?

“What a beautiful party, honey. Where’s Chasey and Lili Blue?” This particular beauty got two kisses and a hug.

“Not sure, Ma.” But it was a good question. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell them you said goodnight. Where are Dad and the girls?” Saying the girls was easier than listing my three sisters, their husbands and my five nieces.

“Oh, the babies were getting cranky.” My youngest niece was three but that was beside the point. “It was getting late, so your sisters left a while ago. And I told them to take your father. He was starting to get a little confused, and I didn’t want him to be embarrassed about it in the morning,” she ended on a whisper.

We all lived in a bit of denial, especially my mom. Watching my grandfather and uncle suffer with Alzheimer’s for decades was devastating. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to believe he would remember in the morning.

“Okay, Ma, but how are you getting back to the hotel? I’ve got to stick around for a while, but I’ll get you a car.” The resort was less than a half-mile down the road, but no way in hell was my mother walking. I fished my phone out of my pocket to call a service.

“That won’t be necessary, darling. She can drive with me.”

She might have been trying to make amends for her life of poor choices and shortcomings since her husband’s death, but Chase’s mother was still an ice queen that made my skin crawl. I knew for a fact that Chase didn’t invite her, so the only logical explanation was that Lili hit her head a little harder than we all thought. Unfortunately, that didn’t explain my parents’ thirty-year friendship with the Coltons. Talk about day and night. Principled and indecent.