“I...” She exchanged a glance with Arizona.
“What?”
It was Arizona who finally relented. “We thoughtyouwould marry her. I mean, eventually. Maybe in a decade. But... I just thought it would be you.”
“You thought I was going tomarry her?” Something akin to horror stole through him. The idea of Rue being stuck with him... “Have youmetme? Absolutely not. Absolutely not.”
“You care about each other. Clearly. You have since you were kids. We’ve all watched it,” Arizona said.
“Yeah. Wecareabout each other. That’s not the same thing as wanting to get married.”
“It’s not like I don’t think men and women can be platonic friends,” Arizona said.
“I don’t,” said Fia.
“That’s a little bit regressive, Fia,” said Arizona.
“In my experience sex is regressive, Arizona.”
“Gross. Because you have sex with my brother.”
“All the time,” said Fia.
The women regarded each other, and Justice now wanted an escape button, his admiration for them dimming slightly.
“Here’s the thing, I don’t care what you say.” He directed that at Fia. “Men and women can be friends. Rue is my best friend. In the whole world. And it has never even almost been anything else.”
Yeah, when he had seen her in her wedding dress earlier he had been knocked on his ass. She was beautiful. He wasn’t blind. He was familiar enough with women and how they were shaped that eventhough she dressed much more conservatively than any woman he would ever consider taking to bed, he was aware that she was hot. The wedding dress had been... a shock. Because it was like a reality check he couldn’t ignore. She was getting married. Life was changing. He could do without that, frankly. But it was balanced by the fact that he was happy for her. Thrilled for her.
“It’s weird to react this way,” he said to both of them. “If I had a male friend getting married you wouldn’t be moaning about the fact that he hadn’t married me instead.”
“Well, it depends,” Arizona said.
“On what?”
“If I thought you’d be good together romantically.”
“Ohplease,” he said. “You’re liars.”
“Liars with good taste in party favors, though,” Arizona said.
“The value I place on that is waning, little sister.”
He groused through all the setup. But was cheered mildly by the obscene balloons. And the even more obscene candy hearts that were going in different bowls stationed around the living room.
“You’re annoying,” he said to both of them. “But this really is fantastic.”
His siblings and Fia, plus significant others, arrived shortly after that. They had decided to make it an extended-family affair.
The alcohol was flowing freely, and Bix had brought some of her special, higher proof alcohol, which he imagined Daughtry in no way approved of. But hey, if Daughtry didn’t approve, then it was a good party.
When Daughtry walked in, in uniform, they all groaned. “Whoop whoop,” Bix shouted. “Five-OFive-O.”
“The police are here,” Arizona wailed.
“Maybe it’s just the stripper,” Justice said, reaching into his pocket and taking out his wallet.
“Adorable,”Daughtry said, his expression suggesting he did not, in fact, find it adorable.
