11
The ceremony had been long, but the pictures were worse. When he said he’d be in the wedding, he had no idea it would mean three freaking hours of pictures. Although Morgan looked absolutely stunning and Corey almost laughed at the whomped-upside-the-head expression on Nick’s face when she appeared at the end of the aisle, her no drinking until after the pictures were finished rule was utter crap.
“On a scale of not too bad to I’m screwed, how mad is Genni?” Will asked.
Corey turned his head and saw a group of women standing on the deck that surrounded the country club overlooking the golf course. Will’s longtime girlfriend, who Corey, out of respect for his friend, would never say aloud was a bitch, was glaring over at the bridal party.
“You’re screwed.” Corey nodded. There were three other women with Genni. “Who are the others?”
“Yeah, almost missing the start of the wedding means you skipped introductions,” Will joked.
“I flew in this morning with the team. Nick knew I’d be here when he said ‘I do,’ but I had to skip everything else. Even Morgan was fine with it.”
Will grinned. “I’m just messing with you. The brunette is the flight attendant from Luke’s flight home yesterday.” Will shook his head in utter disapproval. “I can’t remember her name. Not that it matters.”
Corey chuckled. That was true Luke Evans. He had a new girl in every city, and although he always claimed he left them on good terms, the family never saw a repeat.
“I don’t know if you remember the ginger. She was a couple years behind Clayton in school.”
He remembered she used to babysit Beth’s kids. “How old is she now?”
Corey watched the pretty red-head laugh at something Genni said. It made sense that Genni would be talking to her. Never forget a face, smile, shake hands, kiss babies, all the crap that she lived by. Corey couldn’t understand why his best friend dated such a fake woman. He suspected it was because Will knew he could never be serious about her, and he wasn’t ready to settle down.
“Julie’s twenty-one already, if you can believe it.” Will shook his head. “I’m starting to feel old.”
“Definitely could drink to that,” Corey agreed. “Oh, but wait—we can’t drink.”
Will rolled his eyes. “You’re such a dumbass.”
“So, the blonde is with Danny?” Corey assumed. If one of the Evanses hadn’t brought a date it would be Joey. He was a little less social than the other boys. Most of his time these days was spent in a lab working on a cure for diabetes or something.
“No, she’s with Joey. One of his lab assistants. Her name is Penny or Polly. I’m sure I could ask Genni,” Will said.
“Danny doesn’t have a date?” That was hard to imagine. If there was an Evans who never spent a night alone, it was Danny. The man had more women flocking to him than most picnics had ants.
“Pfft, of course he does.” Will laughed, but it seemed uncomfortable. “I’m surprised you didn’t see her at the ceremony.”
The church had been packed. Corey wasn’t sure how Will thought he’d pick out some random woman and peg her as Danny’s date.
“Maybe she went home between the ceremony and the reception since there’s such a long gap.”
Genni took that moment to turn another heated glare their way.
“Uh, Nick, are we wrapping this up?”
Corey tried not to laugh at the trepidation in his best friend’s voice.
Nick nodded and waved them away while the photographer set up another shot of the couple.
The door to the country club opened, and Corey was pretty sure his eyes bugged out of his head. He knew the petite frame of the woman holding six bottles of Coors Light, but that and the beer were the only things that looked familiar.
Corey’s eyes started on the strappy sky-high black heels and ran up the lean legs on display in the dress that stopped well above the knee. The black dress fit like cellophane, and the strips of material on the bodice wrapped around her body like bondage. Her hair was long, way too long to have grown in a week, and done in big curls that softened her entire look. Her face, although unconventionally pretty without makeup, was drop-his-jaw perfect made up, and those sea greens were flanked by long, thick curved lashes. The woman looked like a fantasy, especially with three beers in each of those hands ending in French manicured fingernails.
“Danny’s date. Although, in fairness, date probably isn’t the right word. It’s more like they were both coming, so they came together—platonically,” Will said, clearing his throat nervously.
Corey looked at Will incredulously.
“Cor, I don’t meddle, you know that. So none of this is on me.” Will raised both hands up.