I still feel her eyes on me as I walk away. She should be talking about that with her maid of honor or her mother, or someone who’s had a successful marriage, not a guy she used to fuck. Especially when she’s marrying one of my best friends. Not to mention no one made her choose.
She did what she thought would make her happiest. No one can fault her for that. She fell for Matthew. They’re a great pair and they should hold onto it. She’s two days away from getting married. Now isn’t the time to question it.
I shake off the conversation by the time I get to my room. I change for lunch and toss Holden his backpack when we meet at the resort restaurant, and he grins at me. “You took longer than expected.”
“Don’t worry. There was no fighting.”
“Not that she doesn’t deserve it.” Sophie stabs her salad.
Roman rubs her shoulder and whispers something in her ear. She rolls her eyes. “I’m just frustrated.”
“That can be taken care of.” I point out.
“Baby!”
Sophie looks up and sees her mother wearing a wrap dress. She hugs her tightly and seems to relax. Good. Diana drops her glasses down her nose as Sophie hugs Miles and grins at us. “Well, you all look much better when in casual clothes.”
“Diana,” Miles grumbles.
“I’m just saying, no wonder Sophie can’t resist.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
I chuckle. “And now I see where Sophie gets her sass from. I knew it wasn’t Miles.”
Miles rolls his eyes but pulls up two chairs. Both of them get margaritas, and I see the desire flair in Sophie’s eyes. She orders a frozen one, and after two drinks, she winces. “Oh, brain freeze!”
Roman chuckles and tells her to press the bottom of her tongue against the roof of her mouth or to suck her thumb. The look she gives him says she’d rather suck something else. Miles clears his throat.
We end up telling him about our flight, asking about work, how yesterday wrapped up, and a bunch of shit that doesn’t really matter. It just helps Miles avoid the reality that all four of us are with his daughter.
“Have you seen Bella?” He asks.
Diana pauses, then turns to Holden, eager to talk about anything except this. I wonder how much she knows. Roman nods. “We have. They picked us up from the airport, and we ran into her and Matthew today on a hiking trail.”
“It’s good they’re taking time to spend together before the wedding. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in all the things that go wrong.” Diana jumps back in. “Like when Miles and I were getting married. His mother couldn’t stand me, thought we were rushing into things.”
“Not to mention the issue with the caterer.” Miles agrees. “And the florist.”
“I still can’t believe they delivered to the wrong place.” Diana giggles. “The most stressful two days, and then we had to move the venue because of weather.”
“It was worth it.” Miles takes her hand. “Just like being in the hospital recently was worth it.”
God, they’re so sappy. I hate it. I don’t know whether to look away or to crack a joke. But my eyes go to Sophie. If I was ever going to be sappy and pour my heart out to anyone, to go through all that stress and work and exhaustion for someone, it would be her.
Sophie watches her parents as if she’s never heard them talk about this before. She watches and listens intently. “Grandma didn’t approve?”
“Nope.” Miles chuckles. “Not at first. But after we got back from the honeymoon and the first tour ended and I came home to a beautiful daughter and happy wife, my mom was overjoyed.”
“She couldn’t be around enough.” Diana agrees. “I think it was really because of you, but she was happy to babysit, give me hints on what Miles likes for parties and holidays, things like that.”
“That’s cute.” Sophie agrees.
“Excuse me, just a minute. I’m going to run to the little girl’s room.” Diana says.
Sophie joins, probably to get a few seconds alone with her mom. Miles leans close after looking around. “So, how are things actually going? Why do I feel like we’re only here because Matthew wants us here?”
“Bella’s dealing with a lot of feelings,” I say. “She’s stressed as hell and overthinking everything, honestly.”
The guys look at me with surprise. I shrug. “She asked me questions and stuff. The kind of questions that tend to lead to rash decisions.”