Page 89 of The Worst Best Man

Chapter Thirty-Four

Aiden shoved his gloved hands in his pockets and watched the crowd fighting their way into Madison Square Garden. There was no sign of the Baranski brothers yet, and he had a brief, unsettling flash of concern, wondering if they weren’t actually serious about the invitation.

That sort of thing didn’t happen to him. Not with the last name Kilbourn. Growing up, there hadn’t been a birthday party, a bar mitzvah, or a wedding he hadn’t been invited to. However, those invitations usually came with strings. It was the reason he’d been looking forward to the game. Gio and Marco didn’t seem like string-holding guys. And what would it be like to spend an evening being just one of the guys?

Frankie had been entertainingly shocked when he told her he couldn’t meet her for her booty call tonight because he was hanging out with her brothers. It was good to keep a woman on her toes. And lately, he’d been feeling like Franchesca was holding all the power in their relationship. Turning her down tonight made him feel like he’d taken a step to restore the balance of power.

“Hey, Kilbourn!”

He turned with relief at his name and spotted Gio and Marco making their way through the crowd to him.

“Good to see you, man,” Gio said, slapping him on the shoulder.

They all exchanged greetings. The brothers were decked out in Knicks apparel. Aiden, not sure of girlfriend’s brother’s hangout etiquette, had kept it simple with jeans and a sweater.

“We ready to get out of this ball-freezing cold?” Marco asked, digging into his coat pocket for the tickets.

“Where we sitting?” Gio demanded, blowing into his hands and rubbing his palms together. Aiden wondered if anyone in the Baranski family ever remembered gloves.

“Well, we’re not nosebleed, but we ain’t front row,” Marco said, waving the tickets.

Aiden debated for a second before digging into his own pocket. “Actually, we are,” he said, producing the tickets. He didn’t want it to seem like an over-the-top gesture. But when they’d invited him, he’d actually been excited and not in a conquer-the-business-world way. Besides Chip, Aiden’s friends were few and far between, and there was something entertainingly normal about Frankie’s brothers.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Gio snatched the tickets out of Aiden’s hand.

He couldn’t tell if the man was going to hit him or hug him.

“Front fucking row?” Marco whooped.

“I hope you don’t mind—”

“Mind?” Aiden found himself enveloped in a male embrace and actually lifted off his feet.

“This is like a real fucking dream come true,” Gio said, still staring at the tickets. Aiden wasn’t sure, but it looked as though his eyes had gone a little misty.

Marco released him back to the ground and slapped his brother on the shoulder. “Can Frankie pick ‘em, or can she pick ‘em?”

“I wish you’d tell her that,” Aiden said before he thought better of it.

“She giving you a hard time?” Gio asked sympathetically.

Aiden hesitated. Family loyalty dictated that Frankie’s brothers would be one-hundred percent on her side.

“She’s great,” Aiden said evasively.

“She’s a slippery one to nail down,” Marco said. “If you want to be in it for the long haul, she’ll make you work.”

“Overtime,” Gio added.

“Tough nut to crack,” Marco said.

“I can’t tell if she wants to be in this relationship, or if she’s just waiting for it to end.”

The brothers shared a look and a laugh. “How about we get inside and talk over a beer and some steak sandwiches?”

“Real quick, hang on,” Gio said, snatching the old tickets out of Marco’s hand. “Hey, kid.” He stopped a gangly teenager in a jersey. “You got tickets?”

The kid shook his head. “No, man.”