Page 8 of Big Stick Energy
My poor tired brain lights up with the image of Darcy’s long legs. We’re in Florida, so she was wearing a short skirt today…
Stop it, brain.“It’s a real mindfuck,” I admit. “And now I have to look her in the eye and pretend she didn’t say she wants to…”
“Lick you,” DeLuca says with a smirk.
I feel another flash of heat. Christ. “Not sure my poker face is up for this challenge.”
“Oh, it isn’t.” He chuckles.
“You know what’s funny?”
“All of this? Best gossip nugget I’ve heard in alongtime.”
“Hey.” I give him a sober glare. “You can’t spread this around. She doesnotdeserve that.”
“Yeah, okay. I wouldn’t want to embarrass Darcy, she’s great. And if we piss her off, we’ll probably get the worst hotel rooms next season.”
“Right. Focus on that.” I rub my temples.
“But what’s the funny part, then?”
“Idohave to go to that wedding.”
DeLuca only looks confused.
“The one she wrote about in the message. Darcy and I grew up a few towns apart in Massachusetts, so it’s not that weird, I guess.”
DeLuca’s dark eyebrows rise. “No shit? Who’s getting married?”
“Um…” The thought of this wedding makes my stomach hurt, which is why I vowed not to think about it at all until after the playoffs. “So, before my brother died…”
DeLuca’s expression drops immediately. Everyone I’m close to has already heard the sad story of how my brother died in an accident when I was in high school.
“He had a girlfriend, Maribel. They were real high school sweethearts. We were all close, she even lived with my family for a while. It’s her wedding. This July.”
“Ohshit.” He flinches.
“No, it’s great,” I say firmly. “She moved on with her life. She’s found a path forward.”
“Yeah, but you have to watch her sayI doto someone else?” The elevator doors part. “That’s rough, man.”
It is rough, but mostly because my parents are taking it so hard. Unlike Maribel, they’re stuck in the past, so this wedding is going to be a family ordeal. It doesn’t help that it’s a huge wedding, too, the kind that lasts several days. “I’m kinda dreading it,” I admit.
“At least you have a new tux. And a date, if you want one.”
“A date,” I repeat slowly, and I try to picture sitting with Darcy at the reception while my parents weep into their champagne glasses.Ugh.
“She offered. Sort of.” DeLuca smirks. “Maybe that’s how you two get past Darcy’s little faux pas. You can bring that team-dad energy you’re so good at, make her laugh, and tell her that you really do need a date for that wedding. I mean—you can’t bring Mona to this wedding. Merritt and I willriot.”
I sigh, because my friends aren’t shy about the poor choices I make with my ex-hookup when I’m drunk and horny. But he has nothing to fear in this case. “Mona and I are done for good. And I’d never ask her to a family wedding. She’d get the wrong idea.”
“Damn right,” he agrees. “She meets your parents, you might as well start picking out a flatware pattern.” He punches me in the arm.
I shiver as we approach the Palmetto Room. “Why do they even call it that? It’s not flat.”
“Who knows. But you’re better off going to this wedding with a friend who’s less needy. Darcy is perfect, and you can bang her as a thank-you.”
“Don’t talk about her that way. She deserves our respect.”
