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AIDEN

Me: I told Lennox how I feel.

Brooks: Shit, really??

Beckett: Proud of you.

Gavin: What did she say?

Me: She told me to leave

Brooks: Shit, sorry.

Beckett: Where were you?

Me: At a wedding.

Gavin: Whose wedding?

Me: I don’t know. That’s not really the point.

Beckett: How do you not know whose wedding you were at?

Brooks: Are you high?

Me: No. We crashed the wedding. But like I said, NOT the point.

Beckett: Okay, I’ll bite. What’s the point?

Me: I think she likes the wedding singer

Beckett: Is this a prank text? Are we supposed to be guessing movie titles? So far, I’ve got Wedding Crashers and The Wedding Singer.

Gavin: Epic movies, though anything Vince Vaughn does is hysterical.

Beckett: The one where he got locked up in Thailand, not so much.

Brooks: True. Major downer.

Me: Focus! No, this isn’t a movie game, although that does sound like a fun time.

Me: What do I do?

Gavin: I’m still confused about what’s going on.

Me: Lennox’s boss wanted her to talk to some band. I guess Millie found out they were playing at a wedding tonight. Lennox and the lead singer are probably having drinks, and she’s likely falling for him. I should go back, right?

Gavin: Millie says you’re an idiot.

Another chat pops up, and when I see Millie’s name, I groan.

Millie: I did not say you’re an idiot.

Brooks: I’ll say it. You’re an idiot.

Sara: Hey, guys. What are we talking about?

Beckett: Aiden finally told Lennox how he feels and that he’s not getting married, but now Lennox is hanging with some wedding singer, so she told Aiden to leave. That sum it up?

Sara: OH MY GOD. AIDEN! You aren’t getting married?!?!

Beckett: Duck.

Me: Beckett…

Beckett: I’m really ducking sorry.

Gavin:

Sara: Wait, you all knew??

Sara: Brooks Langfield, you are dead to me. Aiden, spill now.

Me: I haven’t had a chance to tell Lennox yet, so you have to keep this to yourself.

Sara: Ah, shit. Okay, talk to me.

As my phone vibrates in my hand and Sara’s name flashes on the screen, I can’t help but stew over the events of the last couple of hours. If only I could go back to the dressing room, when I had Lennox’s undivided attention. Everything was perfect until I had to insist on taking her to a wedding so she could meet Ryder. What the fuck kind of name is Ryder anyway?

“It’s a perfectly good name,” Sara replies, her voice barely audible, since I’m still gaping at my phone.

I bring the device to my ear. “I guess I said that out loud?”

“You did,” Sara sings.

Brooks chuckles in the background.

“Duckhole,” I grit out, referring to my asshole brother.

“Good boy,” Sara coos. “Now tell me what happened?”

My jaw is clenched so tight that my head pounds as I dive into all the details, starting with the moment Lennox stepped into that office last weekend and how I ended things with Jill and discovered she’d been cheating on me throughout our entire relationship.

“That bitch,” Sara hisses. “Dammit. I saw her in New York last season. I thought it was suspicious, but then I got distracted and totally forgot to mention it. I’m so sorry, Aiden.”

I sigh as I climb out of my Uber and head for the lobby of the Langfield building. “It’s fine. Honestly, she doesn’t matter. I should have listened to all of you when you told me to dump her years ago. The cheating was the icing on top of her awfulness.”

“True,” Sara agrees.

I hit the button for the elevator. “What if she falls for him?” My heart cracks a little as I force the question out.

“Him who?” my brother asks.

Sara scoffs. “Ryder. Stay with the story, Brooks.”

“Who’s Ryder?” he asks.

“The guy in the band,” Sara hisses.

“He’s got arm tattoos.” I let out a dramatic sigh as I step off the elevator onto my floor. “And he can sing. Probably better than me.”

“Definitely better than you,” Brooks agrees.

“Oh my God, you are so not helping.” Sara huffs, the sound crackling through the phone. “Aiden, you’re you. No one else can be you. You make people laugh with your absurd songs. You do ridiculous things like plan a wedding that’s not happening just to make her smile?—”

“Oh, the wedding is totally happening. It’s July twenty-eighth, and it’s for Gavin and Millie. Save the date.”

“Oh,” she squeals. “That’s fun!”

Brooks grunts, closer to the phone now. “Can the two of you focus?”

“Right.” She hums. “You have a bedazzled penis. Not many people can say that.”

“He very well could have one too,” Brooks teases. “I mean, he’s got forearm porn.”

I scoff. “Who said anything about forearm porn?”

“The tats. It’s what Sara calls it. It’s in her books.”

“It’s true. Forearm porn is totally a thing, but you can’t ride a forearm.” Sara’s tone is a bit too seductive for this conversation.

Shuddering, I ask, “Ride a forearm?” Why am I even asking?

“Yeah, like I ride your brother’s?—”

“Crazy girl, you finish that sentence, and we’re going to have a problem,” my brother grumbles.

I snort. “Okay, I’m hanging up now.”

“What? No . We were just getting to the good part.”

Inside War’s apartment—my apartment now, I guess—I slide off my shoes. “The good part?”

“Yeah. When you tell me about the grand gesture you have planned.”

I survey the empty space. The quiet is impossibly loud now that I know just how bright life could be with Lennox in it. Memories of her pink hair and bright smile pummel me, one after another. The way she lit up at the park as she painted a picture of a beautiful wedding. The awe in her expression as she watched me buckle her shoes.

“You’re right,” I whisper, more to myself.

“I know I am.”

“I’m going back to the wedding.”

“ Yes ,” Sara cheers. “Oh shit, wait.”

“What?”

“She just texted.”

My heart jumps, and all the breath leaves me. “What did she say?”

“She’s coming home, and she needs to talk. Brooks, you gotta go.”

“Why do I have to go?” my brother grumbles. “Stop pushing me toward the door. I don’t even have shoes.”

Her laughter is so loud I have to pull the phone away from my ear. “Your brother is on the way. Aiden, don’t worry. I got you.”She screeches the way she does every time Brooks tickles her, and then the phone goes dead.

Trepidation washes through me. Am I really leaving my fate up to them?