Page 69 of Fight For Me

“That sounds smart.”

“So, you know. Uh. I was thinking. I mean, wondering.” He clears his throat again and I turn to face him, wondering what could have him so worked up all of a sudden. He meets my eyes and lets out a shaky breath. “I was hoping you’d be my best man.”

Oh.Oh. For some reason, that was the last thing I expected him to say. He’s staring at me, expression nervous, like he thinks I’m going to say no or something.

“Shit, seriously?”

He nods, anxiously running a hand over his beard. That’s what finally snaps me out of my surprise. I grab him by the shoulders. “Will. Of course I’ll stand up with you. That’s a huge honor, man.”

“Yeah?” he lets out a shaky laugh. “I don’t know why I was so freaked out to ask you.”

“I don’t know why you were either,” I pull him into a hug, laughing. “You know I’m here for you, brother. Whatever you need.”

He hugs me back. “Thanks, Wyatt.”

“Aw, guys,” Fox’s familiar voice says from somewhere nearby. “Hugging in public? Your dad would be so proud.”

“Fuck off,” we say in unison, starting to pull apart. But then another set of arms comes up around both of us, squeezing tight.

“I want in on this,” River says from somewhere in the vicinity of my ear. “Why are we hugging?”

“Me too!” Fox yells, jumping on top of the three of us.

“I can’t believe you didn’t want to ask one of them,” I mutter to Will as we push the cousins off.

Apparently, our huddle attracted the attention of the girls, because the four of them join us. “What’s with the love fest?” Rose asks.

Will slips an arm around Eva’s waist. “Just talking about some wedding plans.”

She smiles up at him, the bone-deep contentment clear on her face matching my younger brother’s. My chest gives another throb of jealousy. Jesus, what is wrong with me? Without even thinking about it, my gaze shifts to Alex. She’s watching them too, and I get the sense she might just be feeling the same way I am. She catches me looking and gives me a tight, strained smile.

My stomach twists. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I’m hurting her. That I’ve been hurting her. She did a damn good job of making sure I knew she wasn’t pining for me that night at the club. But looking at her now, seeing the same ache in her eyes that I feel—this isn’t over for her any more than it is for me. And every time I push her away or shut down my feelings, I hurt her a little more.

The realization makes me feel sick to my stomach.

“Lele!” Bodhi yells, appearing at Everly’s side, an exasperated Leo following behind him. “You will never believe who I just saw!”

“It wasn’t him, man,” Leo says.

Bodhi ignores him. “I swear, he’s sitting right over there on the edge of the patio.” He names some male actor who sounds vaguely familiar—a comic book movie star, I think. He definitely sounds familiar to Everly, because she lights up like a kid on Christmas.

“Well why are we standing over here then?” she squeals, grabbing Bodhi’s arm and pulling him away.

“It wasn’t him,” Leo calls after their retreating backs, but they ignore him. He rolls his eyes as he turns back to Rose. “You never should have introduced the two of them. They double each other’s ridiculousness.”

Rose smirks at him. “Such a party pooper, Mr. Malone. Come dance with me, I love this song.”

Since Leo appears to be every bit as much besotted by his girl as my brother is by his, he doesn’t argue, taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor, where something slower has started playing. Eva and Will follow, all wrapped up in each other and oblivious to the rest of us.

River shakes his head, watching them go with a pitying expression on his face. "Well, unlike some people, I plan to enjoy the fact that I’m young and single.”

Fox clinks his beer bottle against his brother’s. “Same.”

River looks at me. “You wanna go scope out the ladies with us?”

“I literally can’t think of anything that I would rather dolessthan watch the two of you drool all over the poor, unsuspecting female population of Miami.”

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong,” River says, tapping his temple. “There are also plenty of female tourists for us to drool all over.”