Page 35 of Bordeaux Bombshell (Sunshine Cellars #3)

Nate

The clink of a loose belt buckle beside me catches my attention. “I’m so full I could burst,” Philip groans, shifting in his seat. “Ek het so veel geeet, my broek pas skaars. Haven’t had a steak like that in months.”

I should have known that getting Kel’s brother-in-law, Philip, to help me plan the bachelor party would mean we’d be eating our way through the day. That and trying to decipher his Afrikaans.

It’s been six long weeks since Sydney left me in the middle of the night to go to Boston, and I’ve spent most of them with people I never would have predicted.

Once I dropped Manon off at the airport—after making it crystal clear that there was nothing left between us—I threw myself into rebuilding the foundations of my life here.

So I could prove to Sydney that I was here for good, and that I wanted to be here with her.

Theo Sutton and I have been poring over business plans and real estate listings, while Philip and I have been going over second opinions and planning a day of fun for Kel.

Of course, I’ve also been at Kel and Maggie’s as often as necessary—I even spent a whole evening helping Maggie tie little bags with candles inside. Well, I tried to help, but Maggie didn’t like the way I made the bows, so I was relegated to watching Jordan so she and Kel could do it.

The remnants of my steak dinner linger on my plate, tempting me to have just one more bite. I’m also tempted to loosen my belt and go for it, but I refrain. I spied cheesecake on the menu earlier, and I want to enjoy it.

“I appreciate your help with the planning, Philip, but I’m never letting you be in charge of food again.” I relax into my chair, arching back to make some space in my overly full belly.

As Kel’s best man, planning the bachelor party was my responsibility.

But being social is not my forte, so I recruited Philip to help me.

Since he and his wife Ophelia had been road-tripping across the country until they arrived yesterday, I still had to do all the work, but he was full of suggestions for restaurants and activities.

“Right. How was I to know Kel would be cooking a big, fancy breakfast?” Philip groans. “I don’t think my brother has touched a frying pan since he was at college. His stag do consisted of a lot of beer and fish and chips down in Simon’s Town.”

Kel had been in the middle of making some fancy egg dish for his kids when we showed up at his house this morning. Sitting at their kitchen table, surrounded by the laughter and chatter of his two kids and Maggie, I stuffed the food in my face to drown out the jealousy bubbling in my chest.

A trip to Tanaka for Japanese katsu sandwiches for lunch, and an afternoon at the Multnomah Whiskey Library after that has me wishing I’d worn more comfortable pants. Even walking around the Japanese Gardens while we killed time before our dinner reservation wasn’t enough to work off all the food.

But totally worth it to see my best friend enjoying himself.

“So, are you sad we never got to do this back when we were spry and in our twenties?” I laugh, pretty sure I already know the answer.

Kel wanted to marry June so badly, but she always put him off.

Right up until she fell in love with her current wife.

I offered to throw him a “dad party” before Olive was born, but he turned me down.

But for all that, I know he wouldn’t change a thing.

If only I could be so sure of my future.

Kel grins at me before draining his old fashioned. “Definitely not. We can afford higher-quality drinks.”

“I’ll toast to that.” I raise my glass and clink it to his and Philip’s. “To growing up and buying off the top shelf.” My body is warm and relaxed for the first time in weeks, floating on a sea of happiness for my friend.

Philip laughs with us as we drain our drinks. “I never had a stag do, you know.”

“Can’t have mine.” Kel points a finger at Philip. “Get married in Vegas, that’s what happens.”

I cut them both off as I set my glass down less gently than anticipated. “Now you’re both just being greedy. Kel’s had this whole day to celebrate, and Philip had a whole week in Vegas to celebrate his marriage.”

Kel grins at me, head lolling a smidge, giving away how not-sober he really is. “Are you jealous, Nathaniel?” His voice has gone a little singsong. “Can’t have a bachelor party without a fiancée. And you gotta have a girlfriend before you can have one of those.”

“No you don’t,” Philip interrupts, then belches. “’Scuse.”

Scrunching his eyebrows, Kel stares Philip down for a moment before speaking. “You have a point. But Nate the Great here doesn’t even have a best friend like you did. Best he’s got is my sister. His mortal enemy.”

“She’s not my enemy. Think I might be hers, but that’s just because I love her.” My words land on the table like a record scratch.

Oh fuck, I think I wasn’t supposed to say that out loud. Still fuzzy-headed, I try to make it better. “I mean, like. I love your whole family, man. Your family is like my family. I’ve always loved her—them—you. Shit.”

Still groping for the right words, I swing my gaze from Kel to Philip, who is grinning at me, arms crossed and turned in his seat, watching us like a football game. Soccer. Football. Whatever.

Sucking in a breath that does nothing to sober me up, I sneak a glance at Kel.

He’s also grinning at me like a fool.

“I fucking knew it!”

And then the pair of them bombard me with questions that I’m too damn slow at answering.

“How long? Since we were kids?”

“Is this why you’re such an asshole?”

“Must be. Unrequited love makes you mean.”

“Could have blamed it on the whole ‘his legacy was bought out by a billionaire’ thing, mate. But having blue balls the size of Oregon would do it too.”

“Gross, I do not want to think about his—”

“My balls are not blue, thank you very much,” I interrupt, finally wrapping my brain around a topic long enough to speak up. And I’ve said exactly the wrong thing.

“Never talk about your balls and my sister in the same sentence ever again.” Kel gags before downing some water. “Blech. Gross. Okay, wait.” His expression changes, and I know the moment he figures it out. “Hold the fuck on…”

Shit, shit, shit. Fuck. He’s going to kill me. I’m about to be murdered by my best friend in plain sight of his brother-in-law and the waitress who’s standing at the next table taking the order of that old couple. Who are now glaring at us. Oh fuck.

“Fuck. Wait—” I hold my hands out, attempting to placate Kel from across the table. “It’s not like that. That’s not what I meant. I mean, she was in Boston until yesterday, remember?”

Kel shakes his head like he’s trying to clear his brain, while Philip apologizes to the table beside us. Charming fucker has them laughing with only a few words.

“Okay, hang on. Be serious. You and Sydney?” Scowling, Kel stares me down. “How did you know when she got back? Have you seen her already? How did I not know this?”

“She—”

“You love her? Seriously? But I thought you—”

It’s my turn to cut him off. “Yeah, I do. I have since I was about seventeen, if I’m honest. But I’m also an idiot and, according to her, a petulant child.

I swear, nothing has happened.” Nothing I’m about to admit to, anyway.

“Honestly, until a few months ago, I thought I’d ruined any chance I had with her when I left. ”

“Does she love you?”

“Once. Not sure if she does anymore, though.”

Philip turns back to us, slapping the table. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

Draining his glass of water, Kel doesn’t chime in, just stares at me expectantly. “Well?”

If I’d thought about how this conversation might go, I would have predicted more death threats and less acceptance. Maybe all that whiskey earlier was a better idea than I imagined.

But because I can’t leave well enough alone, I open my mouth to speak, and what comes out isn’t the groveling I intended. “You’re not mad?”

“Should I be?” he counters.

The condensation on the outside of my tumbler is cool on my fingertips in contrast to my flaming cheeks. “Well, no. Not really.”

“Have you broken her heart lately?”

He’s being entirely too laid back about this. “She broke mine. This time, anyway.” Picking up the coaster nearest me, I pick at the edges, shredding them while I wait for Kel to absorb my words.

Philip is the one who asks the obvious question. Kel is still staring at his almost-empty glass, swirling the ice in circles. “This time? Was there a previous time?”

“I think the score is about even at this point.” The coaster is in bits on the table, leaving my hands with nothing to occupy them. Risking a glance at Kel, I suck in a breath at his expression.

There’s pity in his eyes and the twitch of his mouth. “Everything makes so much sense now. No wonder you’ve been so miserable all these years. I thought it was just about Sunshine, but it’s more, isn’t it?”

I’m about to open my mouth when Philip lets out a strangled noise. Glancing over, he’s got his hands curled under his chin and shoulders hunched. It takes me a second to realize the noise was a squeal he couldn’t quite contain.

“Ophie and I always thought there was something going on between you two. No one tries that hard to avoid someone unless it’s deeply personal. And Sydney’s excuse about you abandoning everyone never quite rang true. You abandoned her. That’s why she was so mad.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” I grumble.

Kel breaks the silence that follows, abruptly sitting up straight. “Well, what’s the plan? Are you gonna try to win her back?”

Shocked, I copy the movement. “I hadn’t planned on it, no. It’s your wedding, man. The next two days should be about you and Maggie.”

Philip clasps a hand on my shoulder. “Good man. No stealing the bride’s thunder. But you know what you have the opportunity to do?”

“What?” I ask, not sure I know or trust where he’s going with this.

“Woo her.” He grins, as if that’s a complete answer.

“Woo her?”

Kel lets out a guffaw so loud every table around us stops talking and looks.

“You think this asshole knows how to be charming? I’ve known Nate forever—he’s been a grump since the day we met.

How do you propose he woos my sister?” He makes a face as he finishes, like the words taste bad in his mouth.

“Sydney? Really? She’s so…stubborn. You sure you wanna live with that? ”

How do I tell him that her stubbornness is one of the things I love about her? That when she juts her chin out at me, the challenge in her eyes goads me to prove myself worthy of her. And when she bends and melts into me? It’s so much sweeter for the work it took.

But I don’t say that out loud. It’s a surefire way to get a punch in the gut.

“I’m sure, Kel. She’s it for me—always has been.”

He stares at me, then nods. “Well. Let’s make a plan, then. Operation Woo the Hellcat. No, wait.” He burps, then tries again, falling off his chair from laughter. “Operation WooCat!”