“Hey, Damon.” Drew was standing at the bar having a beer. “Beer?” he shouted to me.
I gave him a thumbs up and made my way to him, greeting people along the way. I felt like one of the penguins in that cartoon, Smile and wave boys, just smile and wave!
“This was a great idea,” Drew gave me an opened beer. “Much better than party bus venue hopping.”
“It’s an awesome night,” I took the beer and had a sip. “I must say, I too feel this was a much better idea.” I agreed and gave myself a mental pat on the back.
“Have you spoken to Carla yet?” Drew raised his eyebrow and grinned, “You know, after you showed nearly the entire wedding party what she looks like naked.”
“That was an accident!” I said for about the tenth-millionth time today.
“I know,” Drew laughed and slapped me on the back, “but you know women!” He shrugged and that was when I realized that Hayley was not at the luau.
“Where’s Hayley?” I looked around some more. There were actually very few women there. The wedding guests at the luau were mostly men. What the…
“She’s out with Carla and some of the other women,” Drew informed me. “They said they might pop past later.”
“Where did they go?” I asked, feeling a little angry.
“To see a private Gruesome concert at Ken’s club,” Drew finished his beer and turned to order another.
“Gruesome?” I spluttered. “The Gruesome, number one best-selling rock band?”
“That’s the one,” Drew thanked the bartender.
“Are you okay?” I asked him because I knew Drew and I could see he was trying to restrain his emotions. But he was angry. He thought he was good at hiding his anger but I’d known the guy nearly my whole life so I knew!
“Everything’s good,” Drew took a deep swallow of his beer, “just peachy.”
“Okay,” I said, stopping him from chugging down his beer. “What’s going on?”
“Hayley,” Drew raised his bottle of beer, “is having second thoughts about our marriage.”
“What?” I spluttered once again. “Did you two have a fight?”
“You could say that,” Drew fiddled with the label on his bottle.
“Is this because of the dress incident?” I asked him.
“No, Damon,” Drew looked up at me impatiently. “Not everything is about you.”
“Fair enough,” I frowned. Okay, this was serious. Drew never attacked me like that unless he was really pissed off or guilting over something. “Then tell me what it’s about?”
“I don’t know,” Drew turned and leaned against the bar. “Maybe Hayley is right.” He pulled the label off his bottle of beer. “We’ve been together since we were in high school.”
“You guys broke up for a few years,” I reminded him. “I remember how much you missed her during your breakup.”
“I did,” Drew looked up at me and sighed, “I don’t know, man.”
“What happened?” I turned and leaned on the bar as well.
“I didn’t want her to go to the concert,” Drew told me. “I thought it would be better for all the ladies to join us at the luau.”
“Uh-oh,” I raised my eyebrows, “Dude, what were you thinking?”
“That it would be nice for us to spend time together here at the luau,” Drew stood up and turned around to look out over the couples that were there having fun.
“This is Hayley’s last few days as a single woman,” I reminded him. “and now she thinks that you aren’t even her husband yet and you’re trying to control her.”
“I can see that now!” Drew looked at me impatiently.
“I know what this is really about,” I grinned. “Trent Wise,” I raised one eyebrow. Trent Wise was the lead singer and every female fantasy bad boy complete with tattoos and a magical voice.
“They are invited to meet the guy,” Drew took a long swig of his beer.
“And he happens to be Hayley’s favorite singer,” I smiled and an idea popped into my head. “Why don’t we appoint your second-in-command in charge of the luau for a couple of hours?” I looked at my watch. “It’s early still.”
“Why?” Drew gave me a suspicious sideways glance.
“I thought we'd crash a Gruesome concert,” I shrugged.
“Seriously?” Drew finished the rest of his beer.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Let’s do this and get you your fiancé back.”
“You don’t think she’ll think I’m being stalkerish or stifling, do you?” Drew asked me.
“Not if you go there to apologize.” I finished my beer. “Then tell her to have a great time, you love her, and then we leave.”
“Could we at least stay for a song or two?” Drew asked while I found one of Drew’s best men to look after the guests at the luau for a while.
“Let’s play that by ear,” I advised him.
***
“Gentlemen,” Ken greeted us at the door of his club. “I have strict orders not to let you in.”
“Come on, Ken,” Drew looked up at the giant. “I need to see Hayley; we had a fight.” He blurted out.