Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“I always thought it’d be pretty unlikely that I’d find someone who’d actually want to marry me,” he said. “But on the off chance I did, all I ever wanted was a simple ceremony. I’ve never understood why people turn their weddings into these huge, flashy events. What more do you need besides your future husband and a few close friends in a beautiful setting?”
I meant it when I said, “I hope your next wedding is everything you want.”
A few minutes later, Vee texted us to find out where we were. After we replied with our location, he and Hal showed up with five big, burly guys in tow. They stopped off at the bar for a trayful of shots, and when they joined us Vee was grinning from ear-to-ear. “We made some new friends. They’re part of an all-gay rugby team. How great is that?” He gestured at us and told his companions, “Boys, meet Embry and Bryson. They’re getting married tomorrow.”
A huge, red-haired guy with freckles raised a glass and exclaimed, “Awesome, a bachelor party! Let’s get wasted!”
Someone stuck a shot in my hand, and I muttered, “Why the hell not?”
7
Bryson
The next morning, I woke up on the couch in my hotel room. A blanket slipped off me as I sat up and stretched my stiff neck. When I saw what had prevented me from sleeping in my bed, I couldn’t help but grin.
Embry was splayed out across my mattress, tangled in the top sheet and snoring softly. He was still wearing the tiara, and he was cuddling the dick-shaped sports bottle like it was a stuffed animal.
I grabbed a few things from my luggage and snuck to the bathroom as quietly as I could. A hot shower helped me feel close to human again. Afterwards, I got dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt and returned to the bedroom.
Goldilocks had rolled over while I was gone. He was still lightly snoring, but now his head was under the sheet, his knees were bent underneath him, and his butt was sticking up. He was dressed in nothing but a slightly cropped T-shirt and a pair of red briefs, so that was awkward. I gingerly tossed a blanket over him before retreating back to the bathroom with the hotel phone.
Not surprisingly, my head was pounding. After I placed an order with room service, I popped three ibuprofen, turned on the sink, and used my cupped hand to scoop some water into my mouth.
I’d definitely overindulged last night. After leaving the hotel bar, we’d taken a cab to a very loud, crowded gay nightclub, where we’d remained until closing time. The rugby players came along, and at some point the rest of their team had joined us.
I remembered feeling self-conscious at first. I’d never been in a gay club before, and I definitely felt like a fish out of water—at least until I got drunk. At that point, I didn’t care about much of anything.
A knock at the bathroom door brought me back to the present. When I opened it, Embry said, “Sorry to interrupt whatever you were doing, but I really need to pee.” His curls were wild, and the tiara was hanging off the side of his head.
“I was taking drugs. Ibuprofen! Not whatever that must have sounded like.” I grabbed the phone and mumbled, “I’m done,” before relocating to the couch.
He joined me a couple of minutes later with the tiara neatly centered on top of his head, and he asked, “How do you feel?”
“Not great, but that’s to be expected. How about you?”
“I’m fine. I stopped drinking around ten last night.”
“Wish I could say the same.”
He smiled at me. “You looked like you were having fun, though.”
“I can’t believe you got me out onto the dance floor. Let’s hope your friends didn’t film that.” Embry chuckled when I pantomimed some of my less than epic moves.
There was a knock on the door a few minutes later, and Embry asked, “Want me to get it?”
I got up and pointed out, “You’re not wearing pants.”
“I left them in my room. I tried to go to bed when we got back from the club, but Vee invited some of the rugby guys over and kept partying, so I came here.”
“Now I remember.”
After the room service waiter set up a table for us and took off, I handed Embry a mug of hot chocolate. He took a sip and said, “This is what I would have ordered for myself. How did you know what to get me?”
I shrugged as I slowly pushed down the plunger on a French press. “You were drinking that the day we met. I read the order on your cup.”
Embry murmured, “Thanks for noticing.” He seemed touched by that, but I didn’t know why. It didn’t seem like a big deal.