“You’re ridiculous. And no. I just wondered what it is that makes guys want to do it so badly.”
“Are you telling me there’s a long list of guys who have finished on you before?”
I smirked. Was that jealousy I detected? “No. Would you just answer the question?”
Chris kissed my earlobe, then gave it a playful little nip with his teeth. “I was marking you. That way you’ll remember who you belong to for the next few months.”
I wanted to correct him. I should have corrected him. Except all I did was stand there and smile like the idiot I was.20ChrisFor some reason, Belle insisted that I bring someone else with me when we went to pick out tuxes for the wedding. For some other reason, Belle also didn’t accept my answer that I already had several perfectly good tuxes. Apparently, it was important that my tux actually matched her dress.
So I brought Damon’s wife, Chelsea, and Luna. I guess I should’ve started thinking of Chelsea as my “sister-in-law,” but that was weird. It still felt like a few weeks ago when I was sure my stick-up-his-ass of a brother would be forever alone.
Chelsea and Luna were both dressed in tennis gear, and Chelsea had apparently taken it upon herself to bring her friend, Milly as well.
I met them all inside the shop before Belle arrived.
Luna hugged my leg, and we did our usual routine where I got on my knees and started play punching her in slow motion. She blocked like I’d showed her, then surprised me with a vicious uppercut that I sold like a professional wrestler.
I was on the ground cupping my chin in mock agony when Belle walked into the store. She paused, looked down at me, then turned her focus to Chelsea. “Do I even want to know?”
“Probably not,” Chelsea said. The women all made introductions while I got off the ground and dusted myself off.
Luna was staring up at Belle with her hands on her hips. “If you and Uncle Chris get married, will you be my mom?”
Chelsea had that age-old look of a mother who didn’t have enough left in the tank to tackle the hundredth strange question of the day. I decided to jump in and save her the trouble.
“When Belle and I get married, she’s going to be your aunt. That’s if I let her out of bed long enough to do the job, I mean.”
Milly and Chelsea both gave me the eyeball equivalent of kicks in the shin.
“You’re going to make her sleep?” Luna’s face was scrunched while she tried to process what I’d said. She turned to Belle. “I hate naps, too. Mommy always says ‘I’ma knock you out if you pop out of that room one more time little missy!’”
Chelsea went a little red. “Mommy says that jokingly, you should add.”
Luna just shrugged.
Belle cleared her throat. “We should go ahead and start picking out tuxes.”
“All business today,” I said. “That’s a change of pace from yesterday.”
My comment drew curious looks from Chelsea and Milly.
Milly took me by the arm and pulled me aside. She was Chelsea’s best friend and an aspiring tennis pro. She had freckles dotting her upturned nose, which was currently scrunched in annoyance. “Chris. I know you’re not playing with a full deck, but you’re obviously making that woman uncomfortable. Would it kill you to take it easy?”
“I can’t control who gets uncomfortably aroused when they’re in the same room as me.”
Milly didn’t even glare, which was probably a sign that she’d been forced to endure me enough to build up a tolerance. “You’ve already corrupted Luna enough. Maybe try modeling a healthy adult relationship for a change?”
I spread my palms in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’ll try to behave.” More, at least.
One of the employees at the store took a liking to Luna and whisked her and Chelsea off so Luna could try on any dresses small enough for her.
Belle and Milly shadowed me as I browsed the tuxes.
“Okay,” I said after running my hand along a row of them. “So what will match your dress best? Black, or black? Or maybe something with a little touch of black would be nice?”
“It’s not even worth trying to explain it to you, is it?” Belle asked.
“It’s really not,” Milly said. “I’ve learned it’s easiest to deal with him if you just pretend he’s a giant, cute puppy.”
A few minutes later, Belle held a tux up to me, conferred with Milly, then nodded. “Go try this on.”
I took it and headed into a dressing room. She was trying to play it cold after last night and the incident with the spider. Honestly, I felt bad for the spider. Belle had been so horny she’d thrown the poor guy in the line of fire. What if I hadn’t listened and whacked him with a shoe? What would you even say at the funeral? Thanks for sacrificing yourself so momma could get that dick she needed so desperately.