My head was a blur as Chelsea introduced me to Logan’s family. Each new person she presented to me seemed like a perfectly decent individual, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you one from the other. I was a little awestruck when I met Logan’s dad, Steve, the former rugby league star and one half of the legendary Lovric brothers who both represented Australia when I was a kid. Steve’s husband, Greg, was a fan of The Monarchists, so we had a good chat about how he’d seen us perform pub gigs before we signed our big record deal.
Logan’s mum, Angie, was warm and embraced me like we were already family. She appeared to have formed a close bond with my mum and it occurred to me how much I’d missed living overseas for so long. Destiny’s mum, Melinda, was also in the small group with Angie and although she greeted me politely, she gave me an assessing glare from dark eyes that were a mirror image of her daughters.
Despite how many people I was introduced to, Destiny was always in my periphery and it looked like she was just as ruffled by my appearance. She worked the room like a pro, floating from one group to the next, laughing at private jokes and hugging everyone like they were her family. Which I guess they were, since she was Logan’s best friend. Every now and then, she would avert her eyes from her companions in search of me.
We sat through several courses of food with wine glasses that seemed bottomless. At some point during the night, Mum hadslipped my car keys into her pocket and reminded me I could stay in my old bedroom in their onsite residence. Logan’s family was lovely. His mum, dad and stepdads were down-to-earth and easy to get along with. His cousins were warm and funny.
That brother of his, though, Jordan, I was just about ready to punch him. He’d spent the night whispering in Destiny’s ear, his arm resting on the back of her chair. She laughed at his jokes and swatted him affectionately when he’d said something she disagreed with. There was a level of comfort there that I found decidedly uncomfortable.
As the night wore on and more than one person had started to yawn, Mum directed everyone to their cabins. The conversations continued as everyone stood up, my eyes were trained on Destiny. My insides were boiling as I watched Jordan help Destiny with her jacket. Then, as they started walking, he placed his hand on the small of her back and that was it. I saw red.
“Get your hands off my wife!” The room grew silent. All eyes were on me, but the set that was most important to me. They showed a moment of pain before she focused all of her attention on me for the first time since Chelsea had reintroduced us.
“No, Mason, stop.” Her face was fierce. “You don’t get to sit there all night looking broody and sexy and possessive. It was one night, I am not your wife, now go sober up before we create even more of a scene in front of your family.” Destiny turned and stormed out the door, leaving me with our loved ones to deal with the aftermath of my stupid outburst.
7
Mason
Iwas a wanker. I was very much aware of it when I went to bed in my childhood bedroom alone. I was even more aware of it when woke up with a screaming hangover. But when Mum in came in to tear me a new one, I was neck deep in my awareness of my level of wanker-dom.
“We love Destiny,” she’d said as she walked into the bedroom, two take-away coffees from the onsite restaurant in her hands. “She deserves more than you acting like a caveman. That woman is a breath of fresh air and she has enough to deal with between her man-child father and keeping those two best friends of hers in line.”
“Wait…two best friends?” I winced as I sat up against the headboard. The two single beds that had been in the room when I’d shared it with Hayden were long gone and replaced by this much more comfortable queen size bed. There was not a trace of the band posters or sports equipment that had littered the room the last time I’d lived with my parents.
“Yes, Logan and Jordan are like brothers to her. She might be closer to Logan, but they are both protective of her, especially since her brother, Jye, moved to the UK to play in the Superleague.” Mum placed my coffee on the bedside table next to me. “Destiny deserves a man who will talk to her, not growl like a dog protecting his territory.”
“I know Mum. I was in shock.” My reply was weak, taking the coffee she handed me. I threw my head back and sighed. “She’s amazing. Everything I ever wanted in a woman, but she ghosted me and I wasn’t expecting to see her here, of all places.”
Not only had I not expected to see her, but she looked radiant, at ease and in her element, with so many loved ones around her. It was a punch to the gut how easily she fit in with my family in a way that I felt like I hadn’t quite adjusted to. Fate had dropped her into my world and it was like a sign that I’d finally made the right choice. It was the ultimate homecoming.
Mum stared at me, her face expressionless for what seemed like a year. “Oh, my Sonny. She’s your one, isn’t she?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. There was no fooling Mum. She could read me like a book and if I were honest, I was relieved to talk about it with someone who wouldn’t look at me like I was crazy. “It was just like Dad described it. She walked into the room and everything just faded into the background. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Then she opened her mouth, and she’s smart and funny and strong.”
Words were running out of my mouth at a rapid pace. I wasn’t playing it cool; I knew it. This woman had blown my world apart, and I wanted to jump up and down and declare it to the universe. Mum looked at me indulgently. She was a sucker for romance and has been impatient for my sibling and me to settle down. The main reason she kept organising the resort’s charity bachelor auction every summer.
“It warms my heart to hear this. All I’ve ever wanted for my babies is for them to find a love like the one I have with your father. I knew it would happen one day. The Kings fall in love at first sight.” Mum’s eyes misted over, no doubt remembering the day she met my father.
“But I’ve fucked up big time,” I admitted. “She probably won’t talk to me again since I made an ass out of both of us in front of everyone.”
“If I’m being honest, you’re the only one who looked like an ass last night.” Mum gave me a pointed glare. “Destiny is amazing. I would love to have her as a daughter-in-law. You need to fix this.”
“Yes, Mum.” I agreed. It was a moot point. Of course I had to fix this, but how? There was no way I was letting Destiny leave town without smoothing things over. If I had my way, she would only leave town long enough to pack up her place and move in with me. If it was good enough for her boss to live in Hartwood Bay, I couldn’t see a reason for her to stay in Sydney.
“So, what’s your game plan?” Mum was ready to develop a military operation. She opened a draw in the bedside table, took out a notepad and put on her game face. If anyone understood the importance of not losing my chance with Destiny, it was my romance obsessed, blissfully in love Mum. She believed in happily ever afters because she was living hers.
I grew up in a home filled with love and I found myself sitting in that home, with my mum, as we conspired and caffeinated. We discussed various grand gestures, each one more elaborate than the last. Then I remembered the Destiny I’d met in the bar, the woman who just wanted to get out of the city that was all bright lights and big shows. That woman was down to earth, and I thought she would probably appreciate a frank conversation and a genuine apology over anything too convoluted.
As she left, Mum handed me the car keys that she’d confiscated the night before and I made my way back to my house to start my grand plan. The one that involved total honesty from me and I was afraid that she wouldn’t take my apology well, especially when she learned the truth about our wedding that I hadn’t realised until long after I’d left Las Vegas and had received something in the mail. The truth that the ceremony the concierge had planned wasn’t a touristy gimmick, it was a legal marriage. A marriage that neither of us had consented to but were too distracted to realise. A marriage that we could probably get annulled, but one that I hoped she would be willing to give a chance.
8
Destiny
My head didn’t just ache. It pounded. I hadn’t experienced a hangover this bad since I was at university drinking Passion Pop out of the bottle. The wine I’d been drinking was definitely a better vintage, but at the rate I’d consumed it, I was hoping that I could’ve blacked out. I didn’t want to remember that dinner.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Chelsea and her parents. I’d been unofficially adopted by the Lovrics when my parents split up, so seeing Logan happy and in love was amazing. Chelsea and Logan were couple goals for me.
