me for myself.” He looked up at me, determined. “I’m going to make Sandy happier than he’s ever been. I promise you that. You don’t ever have to worry about him when he’s with me. I would rather cut off my own arm than hurt him intentionally.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
He looked relieved. “I know. And I expect you to.”
Since it was already awkward, I asked, “Are we supposed to hug now? I feel like we should probably hug now. Like one of those bro-hugs where you slap my back three times and I do the same to you.”
He made a face at me. “Let’s not and say we did.”
“I’m onto you now, Mayne. I’ve seen your heart. I’m going to lord this over you for the rest of our lives.”
He scowled at me. “I take it all back.”
I sobered for a moment. “You know I’ll take care of him, right? And that he’ll do the same for me?”
“Yeah. I know. You guys are that disgusting.”
I grinned at him. “Just wait until you’re in my shoes, buddy. I’ll remind you the night before your wedding, okay?”
He swallowed thickly at that and looked away. I let it go.
He opened his mouth to say something, but I never found out what it was because the others started coming back down the hall, loud as hell. Sandy came into the kitchen first, and I could see the hesitation in his steps as he caught sight of the two of us. I didn’t know what he saw on our faces, but it was enough to make him frown.
“Everything okay?” he asked, glancing between the two of us.
“Yeah,” I said, voice even. “Just getting to know your piece of mancake better.”
“Don’t call me that,” Darren said with a scowl, mask back firmly in place. But that was okay, because I knew now there was so much more to him than what he usually showed. If I’d ever had any doubts about him and Sandy, they were gone now.
“He was just telling me how much he loves you,” I teased. “That you are his moon and stars and that he wants nothing more than to make you happy for the rest of your life.”
Sandy rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I doubt he said any of that.”
“Maybe I did,” Darren said, arching an eyebrow. “I am capable of emotion, you know.”
“I really want to blow you right now,” Sandy said, a bit of Helena poking through.
Darren didn’t look like he thought that was the worst idea in the world, much to my dismay. “No blowjobs in our house unless it’s Vince sucking on my dick. In fact, if you want it so bad, you all can leave and Vince can stay home where he belongs.”
“Maybe I should get a cat.” Corey sighed. “I feel like I could make a good cat lady. And I could take up magazine collecting. Or I could grow tomatoes. I’d be good at those things.”
“Vince isn’t staying here,” Sandy said. “It’s tradition that the bride and groom spend the night apart before the wedding and that the best friends get to be together and talk trash about their baes while drinking wine spritzers and wearing cucumber facials.”
“I don’t even know what to do with any of that sentence,” I said.
“Hush your mouth. Tell Vince good-bye while I suck on Darren’s tongue. Corey, go get our bags out of the car please.”
“Sure,” Corey said. “Lord knows I live to help the white man.” But he walked out of the kitchen, whistling for Wheels to follow him.
“We’ll give you guys some privacy,” Sandy said, tugging on Darren’s hand. “But, Paul, I swear to God that if you try and make a run for it, I will hunt you down and drag you back kicking and screaming. Do you understand me?”
“I do what I want.”
Sandy glared at me.
“And by that, I mean I do whatever you tell me to do.”
“That’s better. You have three minutes.” And then they were out of the kitchen.