Page 3 of Dumping the Puck (Men of Havoc #4)

Somehow the wedding planner is convinced easily that Wren wants the videos to play as she’s walking down the aisle. Whatever Wren told her earlier has her swooning like Cameron and Wren are some sort of freaking princess movie all the girls like to watch.

The bridesmaids go first, walking slowly down the aisle with fake smiles plastered on their faces. I know for a fact that half of them have fucked my brother while married to their husbands, his friends .

Once the last one is in place the doors open to me, alone.

All eyes are trained on me. Waiting for me to speak. Which I am not prepared for.

“Wren has a surprise for her groom. She wants it to play while she walks down the aisle.” I announce robotically to a room full of people I can’t fucking stand.

I follow the same path as the bridesmaids, stopping at Cameron.

“She knows.”

I turn on the televisions as the slideshow presentation starts with a video of Cameron and another girl.

“Why won’t you marry me instead, Cammy? Aren’t I prettier than her?” The woman in the video coos at my brother.

His response is just what I expect.

“You know why. I have to marry her. I can’t let Kayce win something else he wants. He’s already a fucking professional hockey player. But I got the love of his life. Besides, I’ve put almost seven years of training into her. She’s the perfect wife to cook my bosses dinner and not bitch. But you’re fun, perfect for me after she falls asleep in that miserable house.” He nuzzles into her neck as she giggles and leans into him like that’s the best compliment she’s ever heard.

Anger boils beneath my skin as the slideshow continues with photos. Nudes. Dick pics. Sex videos. Text messages. Documenting their entire relationship back to before the engagement.

On instinct I punch him. Hard, and my fist connects with his nose. Right where I want. The blood starts flowing and sprays onto the crisp white button down I’m wearing. He crumples to the floor at my feet. I stand tall, and step over his body retracing my steps back down the aisle and straight out of the venue to my truck where Wren awaits me. I don’t give a shit who is trying to stop me.

My step-father is chasing after me screaming my name. But I don’t stop. Not until I get to Wren.

Getting in my truck, I slam the door on my step-father and stick my hand out to Wren for the keys, without looking at her I feel the keys touch my palm.

I start the truck and peel out of the parking lot leaving rubber marks on the spot where my truck was once parked. A permanent memory of what happened in there.

Staring straight out the windshield, trying to simmer the anger before I talk to her. Trying to reconcile the fact that I just knocked my brother out cold in front of everyone on his wedding day and walked out with his blood on my shirt.

The tabloids are going to love that.

“Johnny,” her meek voice sounds to my right.

I don’t answer. I just put my hand out with my palm up. She puts hers in mine and doesn’t push me to talk just yet.

I drive until I hit the highway, heading back to Houston, and find a rest area to stop at when the anger has subsided just a fraction.

Parking in the first available spot I turn to Wren, silent tears run down her cheeks. “How long?”

“How long what?”

“How long have you known he’s been doing this to you?” I lift the center console off the seat to turn and face her, pulling her toward me until our knees touch.

“I mean. I’ve been ignoring the signs for a while. But actual proof? Last night. She was waiting outside my hotel room for me. She had all that proof on a thumb drive. She knew I’d leave him. Do you know who she is?” She rests her head on my shoulder.

“Yeah, June. I do.”

“Who the fuck does this to their best friend? And their brother? Did you hear what he said about you? I was always just a game to him.” She cries into her hands. “What was the chaos that you left behind?”

“I punched him, he passed out and I stepped over him to leave. I didn’t stop to listen to anyone.”

She reaches out to touch the spots of blood sprayed on my shirt. “How hard did you punch him?”

“Hard enough.”

She gulps loudly. “Oh, God, what did I do?”

“What you had to do. I’m sure our phones are blowing up. This is your call. What we do next is totally up to you.”

She pulls out her phone, flashing the screen to me with all of her notifications. “I want to get far away.”

“What about your honeymoon? It’s only a week but we could get away for a minute, let things calm down here.”

“We?” For the first time today, she flashes me a small smile.

“I’m here for you. If I have to go on vacation and sip cocktails with you, I’ll take one for the team. For you.”

Her laughter fills the truck. A true, genuine laugh, although it’s short lived.

“Okay. Let’s go.” She sombers again. “He can fuck his girlfriend, and we’re going on vacation on his dime.”

Silently, I pull the truck back onto the highway, heading to the malls.

I don’t have clothes for a week-long vacation, and I’m ninety percent sure she doesn’t have anything in that small bag she always carries around with her.

“Is it true?” she whispers from the passenger seat.

“What?”

“What he said in the video, he got the love of your life?”

I look over at her briefly, seeing the vulnerability in her eyes. “Do you want the truth?”

“Yes. No. Maybe not yet.” She sighs.

I reach over to squeeze her thigh. “You tell me when you’re ready.”

She doesn’t say anything, she just goes back to watching the scenery pass by out the window as we cruise down the highway toward Houston.

I let her stay in silence until we pull into the parking lot of the mall. I can’t imagine what is going through her mind right now. Cameron is an ass, but she must have loved him, or still loves him. The thought makes my stomach sour.

“What are we doing here?” She sits up straighter looking around.

“Well I don’t have clothes for a vacation. Do you?”

“I didn’t get that far in my plan, I guess.” She shrugs, not making eye contact. A sure sign she’s embarrassed.

“Didn’t think so.” I wink at her, trying to get her to feel comfortable again.

I hop out of the truck, changing my blood stained shirt for a Havoc tee I have in the back. I go around to her side of the truck. She knows when she’s with me she doesn’t open a door. Ever.

Pulling her door open she slides out, lacing her fingers with mine as we walk across the hot pavement. Heat radiates up our legs in the Texas heat.

“So. Where are we going on this honeymoon?”

She huffs out a breath and rolls her eyes. “Fucking Jamaica. How cliche is he? He had one job and it was to book our dream honeymoon.”

“Ok. Well that could be fun. What kind of excursions did he book?” I push for more information.

“None. He wanted to relax with a beer after the stress of planning the wedding.” Another eye roll as we push through the doors. “Like he made even one choice.”

“You hate sitting around. It makes you fidgety and you feel like you’re going to crawl out of your skin, and his plan was to make you sit on a beach all day?” He’s such a fucking dick.

“Guess so. Better buy some bikinis.”

“Nope. Not going to Jamaica. I’ve got this covered, I’ll fix it. You’ll get the honeymoon of your dreams, June.”

She veers into a store and I follow while texting my assistant.

Me: I need your help.

Charley: Aren’t you supposed to be at a wedding?

Me: Got called off. You free to help or what?

Charley: Touchy, touchy, boss. At the risk of not losing my job tonight, I’m here to help.

Me: Here’s a link to a Pinterest board. No budget. Make it happen, please?

Charley: Uh, My Dream Honeymoon? You leaving out some details of this called off wedding?

Me: A lot. Let’s just say my brother is an asshole to be nice, and Wren deserves her dream honeymoon after dealing with him.

Charley: Oh this is for Wren? You could have led with that.

Me: Just let me know when flights are booked. We’re in Houston. I want to leave as soon as possible.

Charley: hand salute emoji

I shove my phone back into my pocket, rejoining Wren on her quest to find clothes for a mystery vacation.

“So I don’t need bikinis? Can you tell me where we’re going, or what weather to pack for?”

“Summer. Maybe some cooler nights too.” I finger a barely there bikini, and decide to push my luck. “A few of these too,” I say, pulling it off the rack winking at her.

“Kayce!” Her cheeks blush red as she rips the scraps out of my hand. “I couldn’t be caught in public wearing this. What will people say?”

I pull her close to me, whispering into the shell of her ear. “That I’m the luckiest bastard alive.”

She shivers at my proximity, but pulls away from me instead of leaning in.

We stare at each other, the tension radiating off me. I’ve always been careful not to get too close when she was with Cameron. All our flirty touches stopped the moment she went on a date with him. Now that I’m free to have that back, I’m taking advantage.

She breaks contact first, reaching past me for a flowy summer dress, “Would this be good?”

“Absolutely.” I don’t look. I don’t break my gaze on her. But I see the flowing lavender material in my peripheral.

I don’t care what it is, she’ll look fucking stunning in it. She always does.