Page 94 of The Obvious Check
“You were lying on the ground, crying.”
“Henry,” I grit out. “I wasn’t crying.” Then I flit my hand in their direction. “Anyway, Scotty, Erik, you can be ushers if you want. Along with Brooks and Alex.” I tip my chin in the direction of our other two friends in case they’re listening.
“What about me?” Henry asks.
“You can be the ring bearer.”
“Ring bearer? That sounds like a demotion from usher.”
I look at my fresh-faced friend and point a glare in his direction. “Henry. I like you, but let’s not forget you screwed my sister over in high school. There’s no way I’m going to let you anywhere near walking her down the aisle.”
“Screwed?” Erik says with a laugh. “He definitely didn’t screw Madison. Wasn’t that the whole problem in their relationship in the first place?”
“Don’t take everything so literally, Steele,” Scotty pipes up.
Dash leans forward. “Wait, you’re serious about this, aren’t you?”
I meet his gaze. “I already told you I was. I asked her yesterday, and she thought about it and said yes.”
“How did you even get here?”
“Aww, D. Do you need the birds and the bees explained to you? Happy to help. Hell, I’m even willing to give you a live demonstration,” Erik says, and any kind of explanationaround these guys is impossible. Dash and I need to have this conversation alone.
“I took Savannah out, and you know what they say? When you know, you know. What’s the point in waiting when I can have her forever now?” It’s the truth, but obviously there are a lot more complications behind it. Like the fact I’m not sure how serious Savannah thinks I am about her.
“Are you sure this isn’t some kind of overreaction to Dash porking your sister?” Erik asks and everyone groans before hearing a loud thud. It’s only when Erik topples down that I realize Scotty has punched him in the stomach. Good. He shouldn’t be saying shit like that.
“This has nothing to do with the fact Dash and my sister aredating. As long as they keep making each other happy, then I’m happy for them. This is for me and me only. Well, actually me and Savannah. And maybe Stanley. He loves her almost as much as I do.”
I won’t mention the fur ball has been lucky enough to comfort her tonight while I’m out of town.
“So before any of you bother with any more of your questions, I’m going to save you the trouble. Yes, it’s real, and no, we haven’t set a date yet, but we’re both extremely happy about it, and we obviously want you all to be part of the wedding.”
“That’s great,” Scotty says, the first one to congratulate me. I then end up in a long line of bro hugs and congratulations before I get back to Dash, who’s still sitting, his face locked with an unreadable emotion.
When everything is calm and it’s just me and him, he leans over. “I’m guessing there’s more to the story, which I’m interested to hear.”
“Really?”
“Of course, and the answer is yes.”
“To?”
“Being your best man. As if there was going to be any other outcome. You’re my brother. Always.”
He holds his hand out, and I clasp it, shaking it as it’s as close to a hug as we can get in this cramped bus.
“I love you, man,” I say.
For the first time in history, okay, that’s an exaggeration, but for the first time since I found out about him and Madison, he smiles at me.
“Love you, too,” he says gruffly.
I ignore the snickers coming from the seats in front of me, noticing they abruptly stop when Scotty mutters something under his breath. My grin only grows wider because things are finally starting to feel like they make sense.
I collapse on the bench, dragging a hand down my face as my teammates buzz around me, already rehashing plays and cracking jokes about Southern Collegiate’s pathetic defense.
I should be exhausted. Dead on my feet after sixty minutes of pure aggression on the ice, but instead, I’m wired. Every nerve ending still fires from those two perfect assists I delivered from the left wing.
