Page 118 of All This Time

“I’m just taking my duty as the best man seriously.”

“And what about booking appointments at the salon, or showing up to yoga at the winery, or buying Ellis a new bike and delivering it to her at Laney’s house, or hacking Laney’s app for her glucose?”

“I’m still waiting for you to get to the point.”

She pops her hip out to the side, squinting again. “This better not be a fucking game to you, Fletcher.”

“I thought games were the whole point of tonight.”

She arches a brow. “You know damn well what I mean. Laney—”

I drop my arms and step closer to her, lowering my voice. “Laney and I are figuring shit out, all right?”

Her eyes bore right into mine. “That isn’t exactly reassuring.”

Jesus, what does she want from me?

Does she want me to admit that for the past twenty-four hours, all I’ve been thinking about is how this is supposed to work between me and Laney after this wedding is over? That now that I’ve kissed her, tasted her, fucked her—I can’t imagine going back to a life where I don’t get to do that every fucking day? That after she told me what my dad said, I stayed up all night wondering if I truly have what it takes to be the man he never could be? I’m so fucking afraid to fail in that regard, especially to fail Laney.

All this time, she’s hated me—the old me, at least. But is the new me ready to be the man she deserves? Or am I just doomed to repeat history and make the same mistakes with her that I already have?

“What do you want to hear from me?” I ask Dilynne.

“What’s your end goal, Fletcher? Because Laney’s life is here, and yours is in Charlotte.”

“I fucking know that, Dilynne.”

“So is this just some vacation fling? Because if it is, I need to be prepared to pick my best friend off the floor again when you leave, just like last time.” She lowers her voice. “You have no idea how much that night hurt her. How fucked up she was over it.”

The thought of Laney being devastated at the end of next week makes me want to fucking punch something. But as much as I want to give her everything, I still don’t have enough answers to erase all of Dilynne’s doubts.

“I understand that now.”

“Do you? Because my best friend let her guard down—foryou. She hasn’t done that with anyone since you rejected her and her mom died. Not even with Spencer and they were engaged.”

“This isn’t a game to me, Dilynne. Laney could never be that inconsequential to me,” I grate out. “But unfortunately, I don’t have any more information for you right now.”

I hold her stare so she knows I’m being honest. There’s only so much I can say right now that can quell her doubts, but even if I had more to say, Laney would be the one to get those words first.

With a nod, she says, “Okay. But just know that if you hurt her, I have plenty of tools I can use to torture you, and I know of several scrap yards where I can hide your body.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

She drops her arms and smiles as if she wasn’t just threatening my life. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go hide these until the big reveal.”

“Does Laney know you are surprising us with this?”

“Of course. But even she doesn’t know the full extent of what’s about to go down.” With a wink, she saunters off with her cutouts down the hall toward a storage closet.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter to myself and then get back to work, making sure this room looks perfect for when everyone arrives.

***

“I just want to thank everyone for coming out tonight,” Elliot says, raising his beer. “And a special thanks to Laney and Fletcher for making this night happen.”

My eyes meet Laney’s across the room. She arches a brow and then rolls her eyes, playing her part so perfectly. Little does everyone here know that I know this woman’s body intimately now, including how that eye roll looks when she comes.

“To Elliot and Tori!” I shout, lifting my glass. Echoes of agreement ring out and then the entire room of people takes a drink to toast the bride and groom to be.