“Aren’t these flowers reminiscent of a certain period in Franny’s life?”
They’re lilac. Emma nudges me, but I don’t miss that smile.
“I need to pee,” I announce.
“Thank you for sharing.”
A server passes and I stop him and ask where the bathrooms are. His directions seem easy enough to follow. I ensure my sister will be okay, then go in search of relief from all the champagne I’ve consumed while waiting for Nova to get her ass down here.
It sure as hell will be interesting to see her again. If Emma can forgive, I guess I can, too. But I’ll never forget.
Entering the property is like walking into something offLifestyles of the Rich andFamous. It’s really OTT. Following the directions to the bathroom, I turn down a hallway with the portrait painting landmark.
Counting off the doors, I’m almost there when I hear a commotion from a room on my right. What is that? I’ve always been too nosey for my own good. Instead of heading for the bathroom, I head for the doorway, where it sounds like another party is going on.
There is lots of male laughing. Is this the wedding party?
“He’s going to lose his shit when he sees you.”
“You look fucking ridiculous, man.”
“I don’t know. He looks kind of sexy.”
At that last remark, there is a lot more laughing and insults to whoever said it. What are they talking about? Taking a chance, I peer around the doorway.
There are five people in the room. Diego is one of them, as well as three other guys, all wearing matching suits with lilac ties. There is the purple again. I almost snicker.
My eyes are drawn to the other person in the room. Is that the bride? The long, flowing white dress is a dead giveaway. Oh wow, she got big. But there is something odd about the person. The dress is stretched across the back and being held together by a strap. It definitely does not fit.
Thenheturns around and my eyes widen. First, shock hits at the sight of a man in a wedding dress. Then laughter bubbles up because I’ve heard of this trend. A male friendpretends to be the bride at a reveal and turns out it's the groomsman. Hilarity always ensues.
Lastly and most disconcertingly, my stomach swoops, my heart thunders, and my breath catches.
The man in the wedding dress is Ronan Christian. The drummer of Velvet Echo. Only one of the biggest rock bands in the western hemisphere.
And he’s looking right at me.
ronan
. . .
I’ve always been upfor a laugh. And living the life I lead, embarrassment was left behind somewhere around the late two thousands. Life in the spotlight can go one of two ways, forever hiding and wanting your privacy, or embracing the attention and not giving too many fucks about it.
There is a mixture of that between my bandmates in Velvet Echo and I’m somewhere in between.
I don’t go out of my way to embarrass myself. Living as normal a life as I can while I’m in a fishbowl is a fine balance. And I love a good joke as much as the next guy.
Hence why I’m standing at my brother’s wedding, in a wedding dress and veil, waiting to shock the shit out of him.
My suit is hanging up in the corner so I can change quick for my best man duties. This stunt is to loosen Brandon up.
My brother is shitting himself somewhere in one of therooms in this vast house. It belongs to his boss, who, despite being a billionaire, is a down-to-earth guy. Brandon’s wedding followed a whirlwind romance. I’ve only met his bride-to-be once. More my fault than theirs, given I’m always mixed up with something to do with the band.
She seems nice enough. I’m not the one marrying her. As long as Brandon loves her, that is all that matters.
I drag up the front of the dress again to stop it slipping down my ribcage. I don’t have boobs to fill out the chest part. Normally, I’m not shy about showing off my chest. There is something obscene about my nipples poking out of the top of a dress.
The guys are all laughing about how I look, and my grin is wide as Terry says he thinks I look hot. We need to get set up for Brandon before he walks in here and finds us, which involves me hiding in a closet. Movement at the door has my heart thundering. Shit, are we about to blow this?
