“It’s not counterproductive. I won, which means it’s my turn to make a suggestion and you haven’t even let me finish.”
Just like that, the Emma Says rules fell apart and things erupted again.All because Reece is a sore fucking loser.
Before he could respond, Emma sighed loudly and pursed her lips as she looked us over. “This isn’t working. Let’s all split up. Teddy and I will tackle Reece’s ideas and Colt can work with Scott.”
It was clear she was only trying to split the two of us up since the rest of the group hadn’t even come up with anything yet. My fingers curled into fists underneath the table and a wave of anger rolled through me.
Not at Emma, but at Reece for being an asshole who was causing all this friction. Unable to bite my tongue anymore, I faced off with him directly. “Look, man, all I want is for my sister’s wedding to be perfect. I love you like a brother, but you’re fucking everything up. They don’t want a ballroom. They want to be outside, and if you’d listened to anything anyone has been saying, you’d have known that.”
“Reece just wants everything to be perfect, too,” Scott said, finally finding his voice. He turned his pleading eyes to mine. “Can we please just find a compromise? You both want what’s best for us, but you’re turning all of this into something it doesn’t have to be and something we don’t want it to be. The sooner we work together, the sooner we’ll be able to send out the invitations, and since time is running out fast, we really need to do it sooner rather than later.”
While he wasn’t on his knees, the fact that he was begging me to compromise made me realize that Reece wasn’t the only one who was being an asshole. In this instance, I was the smaller asshole as far as I was concerned, but Emma might be right about dialing it back a notch.
“I’ll try,” I replied and ground my teeth together. I took a deep breath. Instead of trying to convince Reece that the winery was better than the ballroom, I kept my focus where it belonged and spoke to Teddy and Scott. “The park is a great venue, but it’s also a lot of extra work. At the winery, everything is set up in advance by the staff and we’ll have less to do on the day. The staff will also be on hand to help us with everything before, during, and after. They’ll handle the cleanup as well, which takes that off our hands completely. After the wedding, you guys will be able to just relax and know that everything is being taken care of by people you don’t have to feel guilty about not helping.”
Emma backed me up, just like she’d promised she would. “We’re more than happy to take care of the cleanup, but Colt has a point. If you know we’re all there late into the night and the morning after, you’ll feel obligated to come help us even if you don’t have to. At the park, we’ll also need to bring every piece of cutlery, crockery, table, chair, and everything else we need. All of which will need to be packed up dirty, washed and cleaned somewhere, and then returned to the rental company. It costs so much extra for them to collect it dirty that it’s just not worth it. The winery already has all those things, plus tablecloths, chairs, an arch, red carpet, and the works.”
Teddy seemed to be softening to the idea, and even Scott was starting to look a little bit excited. I leaned forward, brushing my hand over my sister’s on the table. “Whatever you want, we’ll do, sis. If you consider everything you’ll need to rent, plus the fact that we’ll have to cart it all back and forth, plus the mess with everything from your hair to the sound if there’s just too much wind, the park just might not be the most practical option.”
“The winery is beautiful,” Teddy said finally before hurrying to include Reece in the conversation. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but the ballroom is just a bit too fancy for us.”
Scott looked at him hopefully. “Will you find out if your caterer can do the winery? If not, you and I can find a different one. Like Colt said, they’re sure to have recommendations as well, but if you think this guy is the best, let’s speak to him first.”
Reece looked between them in disbelief, but then he sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “Sure, let’s speak to him. You’re going with the winery over the ballroom then?”
Scott glanced at Teddy, who was watching them with wide eyes shining with as much hope as his. Thankfully, Reece seemed to notice it too, falling back against his chair as his brother confirmed it. “Yeah, we’re going with the winery. Colt made a good case for it, but we really do want to feel like we’re outside and the ballroom is right in the middle of the hotel. It doesn’t even have windows.”
If I was a little more juvenile, I might’ve pumped my fist for the victory, but I kept myself under control. I did feel a lot better for it, though.
“We’ll use your limos,” Teddy said, conceding that point to Reece but I didn’t give a damn about the cars. The venue was way more important.
Reece nodded, but he didn’t seem happy at all. Eventually, I’d have to pull him aside to find out what the hell was going on with him, but now wasn’t the time.
Emma jotted down the decisions that had been made. Then Teddy and Scott divvied up some tasks and the meeting wrapped up. After everyone left, I went for a run to give my sister and her future husband some space. The meeting had been tense and I was pretty sure they’d want to discuss it without the fear of me overhearing them.
Plus, I needed to clear my head and running was the best way to achieve it. I’d barely made it down the block before my phone rang with a call from Parker, though. Taking it via my Bluetooth earbuds, I grinned but kept running.
“What’s up, man? How was your group workout the other day?”
“It went well,” he said. “Are you running? It sounds like you’re running.”
“I am,” I replied as I took the corner toward the park. “I needed to get out of the house for a bit and exercise seemed like a good idea.”
He laughed. “It’s a good thing you’re keeping up your regimen. With all the wedding cake you’ll be eating, we’d have had to roll you back to the city otherwise.”
“At this point, I’m more likely to smash the cake in Reece’s fucking face instead of eating it. Can you please remind me why we’re even friends with him? He’s being an insufferable dick.”
Parker sighed. “You guys getting competitive again? Just remember that this is about your sister and his brother, not about you. I know how you two can get, but it won’t be good for the wedding if you both don’t get a grip.”
“I’m devoted to making it a perfect wedding this time,” I said. “It won’t be anything like the kitschy shitshow we left behind in Niagara Falls.”
He paused for a beat. “I’m worried about you, Colt. It can’t be easy to have to face all this with your own sister after everything that happened.”
I blew him off, not about to get into it with him when the last thing I wanted was to get into it at all. “I’m fine. This wedding will go off without a hitch, unlike my own disastrous attempt at nuptials.”
Parker still sounded worried and I didn’t blame him. Everyone was, my sister and Scott included. None of them had any reason to be, though. I was fine. Sure, I didn’t want to be around weddings, but Teddy’s was going to be everything she wanted it to be and more.
It wasn’t like this whole thing was going to make me go off the rails, up and quit my job, and ride into the sunset to become a small-town hick or a beach bum. I just needed to get through the next couple of weeks, and then I’d go back to work and return my focus to rebuilding my life.