“Buddy, relax. Just take a breath and stay away.”
“But—”
His eyes shot me a warning. “You listen to me. This is my wedding, and Tawnee will strangle me if you do anything. If you want to talk to her, don’t do it here. You owe me this.”
“I owe you?” Blond douche hadn’t moved his hand.
“Yes, if it wasn’t for me and the guys over the past few years, who knows where you’d be. But it wouldn’t be a hockey player on the Wild.”
He had me there. “Ed?—”
“I need your sworn promise, here in a church, that you will leave Pretty Boy and Fern alone for now. You can watch from a distance, but no action until after the wedding. Understand?”
“Come on, I can’t talk to her?”
“Maybe on the down low but not in front of the blond fella and not in front of Novots. I don’t want anyone upset so no rocking the apple cart.” He raised his eyebrow. “Don’t make me hurt you.”
With that, laughter roared out of me. “You hurt me?” I pretended to dry my eyes. “You are so damn cute, Eddie.”
I looked back, and Fern’s eyes met mine for a second before she returned her attention to Tawnee.
“Don’t call me Eddie. You know I hate that.”
“Fine, I will behave over the next two days and not cause any damage to the weird-looking friend of Fern’s.” There, promise made, and I was fairly certain I would be able to hold up my end of the bargain. At least sixty-forty.
“Weird-looking? I’m as straight as they come, but that’s a handsome man right there. He could be on the cover of one of the racy romance novels Tawnee reads. Just saying.”
“Maybe you’d better work on your bedroom game if she’s reading girly porn, just saying.”
He shoved me. “You’re lucky my fiancé would castrate me if I caused a scene, or I’d knock you on your ass.”
“Whatever, bro.”
I stood at the front of the church with Ed, Andrew, Dan, and Dave as the wedding planner stood at the rear of the church, directing the bridesmaids down the aisle. Liv, Pam, and Katie made their way, and Fern appeared at the end of the aisle.
She wore a small smile, and with each step, my pulse inched up. There are not enough words in the English language to describe how beautiful she was. Her bare shoulders, the way her hips swayed slightly as she made her way toward me was almost too much. Come on, look at me. Look at me, Fern. But no, her bright eyes ignored me.
Once she took her place, I saw her blond stupid friend sitting in the second row. His arms stretched out along the back of the pew, Alpha position, and he wore a smug grin as he looked at Fern. My eyes were darting between the two as he winked at her, and she bit her lip to conceal a smile.
Then I remembered biting her lip. Stop it. Pull yourself together! Her sweet breath in my face as her fingers clawed my back. How did I screw this all up?
The question played on a loop in my mind as the rehearsal finished up, and the wedding planner directed everyone to go to Bravos Restaurant for the dinner. I held back as people started leaving. The guy took Fern’s hand as they went to the back of the church.
I was cool as I ducked behind people in order to stay on their tail. Once at the door, he helped her on with her coat. “I’ll get the car and call you when I’m out front.”
I peered around the head of a woman who had large-ass red hair to see him leave. She stood in the corner where she pulled her phone out of her purse and looked at it. I took a breath and strolled over. I stood for a moment, but she didn’t seem to know I was there so I cleared my throat.
As her eyes looked into mine, my chest tightened, and I forced out a breath. “Hi, Fern.”
“Gabe.” She shifted her weight and looked back at her phone.
“You probably don’t want to hear?—”
Her head shook as she glanced up for a split second. “But despite the look on my face, you’re still talking.”
“I need to speak to you if I could.”
“No, thank you.”
