We were over at my house and I’d made sure the doors were locked so we couldn’t be disturbed while we tried to figure the centerpieces out. That had been after Scott had popped in to ask us to check with the venue whether these darn things could even be accommodated. Then Reece had dropped by to make sure they’d arrived and that we had the tools we needed, and Colt had burst in after him to ask if he could help.
At least he’d offered, though. Reece, the one to whom this was apparently so darn important, had simply ambled in to check the delivery and looked at us like he expected athank youbefore he’d left again. I’d expected that Caitlin might step in for him if he was too busy to help, but we hadn’t even seen her since the meeting.
Teddy still had that faraway look in her eyes when she started explaining her understanding of Colt and Reece’s relationship to me. “They’re both part of a larger group of friends, and apparently, the others balance them out when they’re all together. Even when they’re not with the others, I’ve heard that they usually get along just fine, even if they do tend to get more competitive when they’re alone. I think it might be the stress of the situation that has thrown them out of sync. Or maybe it’s because Colt’s been having a hard time and he’s taking it out on Reece because he’s the closest to him?”
“If that’s true, I’m just glad he’s not taking it out on you. I don’t know, though. Colt has mentioned a few times that he thinks there’s something going on with Reece. He doesn’t seem to think he’s the one responsible for the wheels coming off at all.”
She gestured toward the table. “Well, he’s not responsible for this but we still need to get it done. Hand me that candlestick. I think it might fit into this part of the base right here.”
I handed it over but then paused before I got back to work myself. “Are you sure you’re happy with these? We don’t have to use them if you don’t want to. I’ll take the blame. We can tell Reece that I hate them, and since the best man is meddling in things that don’t concern him, I’m playing the maid of honor card.”
A soft sigh came out of her before her dark brown eyes rose back up to mine. The expression in them was soft, even if there was also a little frustration swimming around in them. “I’m happy with them. Really. I promise. I’d have preferred it if they could just stop making changes, but I do like these. They’re very pretty. Besides, Scott says Reece has been a bit down and he thinks it’s because Colt has been getting his way more often than Reece has. It’s important to us that they both feel like they’re part of the wedding.”
“Is it, though?” I asked, grinning.
She laughed and shook her head. “It’s fine.”
“As long as you’re happy,” I said, even though I hated that she felt like she needed to compromise on her big day just to keep them happy.I’ll be giving Colt a piece of my mind about this for sure.
My gaze snapped up when another tinkling crash came from her side of the table, and I started laughing again when I found her scowling at the mess like it would make it feel guilty for not coming together right. It took us a bit more time before we finally caught on and managed to get the first centerpiece assembled properly but at least it gave us more time alone together and to choose laughter over irritation.
Once we got into the rhythm of things, it started going faster. We were both tired and still cranky by the time we were done, but I also felt a massive surge of pride rolling through me. We’d done well, we’d gotten every last centerpiece assembled, and neither of us had lost our shit over the men whose silly egos had led to us having to do this.
Teddy sank down on my sofa once the last one was finished, kicking her feet up and dropping her head back as she groaned. “God, if anyone had told me a wedding was this much work, I’d have eloped. You should learn from my mistake and just take off to a beach somewhere when it’s your turn.”
I chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind, but in the meantime, I’ll go grab us some takeout. It won’t take long at all.”
“Food sounds amazing,” she said, lying down for another beat before she finally sat up again. “While you do that, I’ll clean up and get things organized. Your dining room looks like a packaging warehouse got sick over a wedding supply shop right now.”
My nose wrinkled at the vivid mental images her statement conjured up, and I laughed before I grabbed my phone. “Thanks for that. I think I may be scarred for life now. I’m just going to go before you can come up with any more colorful descriptions of the state of my house.”
She was still laughing when I stepped out and placed our usual food order on the app I had for our favorite place. It was right around the corner, which meant I only had a few minutes to kill before I could go pick it up.
I let out a deep breath and tried to collect my thoughts, but I found myself staring at the Eldridge house. Colt’s rental was parked in the driveway, so I knew he was home. Glancing down at my watch, I realized I still had enough time to sneak over there before I went to get our food. Colt and I needed to talk, and now was as good a time as any to do it.
Every new day seemed to be bringing with it a ton of new ideas from both of them, and I needed to put a stop to it. Tonight. Before dawn broke and either of them had dreamed up yet another thing that needed to get done just so they could take credit for it.
As always, their back door was open. I crept in quietly. Scott was supposed to be over at the hotel with Reece but I kept it down just in case he was back already. He parked his car in the garage, which meant that the fact that I hadn’t seen it out front didn’t mean he wasn’t home.
I didn’t want him or Teddy knowing what I was about to do. Their brothers needed to stop, but it would be better if they thought the two had done it of their own accord. Luckily, I knew this house just as well as I did my own.
Stepping over the creaky floorboard on the stairs, I headed toward Colt’s bedroom. Light spilled from it into the hallway through the open door and I heard the faint sounds of movement coming from inside.
Although we’d spoken about it a bunch of times, Teddy had decided to keep her brother’s room exactly the way he’d left it. She said it would always still be his home too, and that even though they were living here permanently and he only made an appearance once every few years, she didn’t want him to feel like they’d forgotten about him or worked him out of his own house.
As I turned into the doorway from the hall, it was strange to see the room had come back to life with him in it. I was so used to walking past a dark, quiet room on the occasions that his door was even open that it felt, once again, like I had plummeted back in time upon seeing him in there again.
The posters from the bands he used to like were still on the walls. All of his old furniture had remained where it used to be, his desk pushed up against the window and his double bed against the wall. Random snapshots and reminders of his high school life were still stuck against the mirror above his dresser and he still had a framed picture of the ice-cream truck on his nightstand.
He’d told me once that he’d put it there because it was the closest he could get to a picture of me in his bedroom without arousing suspicion. It made my heart race to see it there now, bathed in a soft glow of orange light from his lamp.
What really made my heart pound though was the man himself, shirtless, sweaty, and doing pushups in the center of the room. I instantly flashed back to high school again, back to a time when I used to love watching him work out without his shirt on. My hormones went all crazy, making me feel like an out-of-control teenager all over again.
Colt must’ve seen me then, because he suddenly dropped out of his pushup, rolling over on the floor without making a sound before sitting up and looking at me. “What do you want?”
Strands of damp black hair hung over his forehead, and his cheeks were all flushed. His lips parted as he breathed in and out just a little harder than usual. Black sweatpants sat low on his hips, and tiny beads of sweat clung to his skin. There was a light smattering of hair on his chest and on that happy trail leading down into his pants.
My own breathing sped up when I met his hooded gaze, but I dug deep to focus on my anger instead of my libido. This was about Teddy, after all. For her sake, I needed to bury my stupid desires deep down inside and concentrate on getting my point across.