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A word, huh?
Tonight was meant to be Lara’s birthday celebration and instead it had turned into a surprise wedding.
It was damn . . . romantic.
Or at least that’s what he would have thought if he hadn’t hardened his heart to anything romantic. Tanner no longer cared about any of this shit.
Not since her . . .
“And I can’t elope!” Raid said. “Hannah loves this stuff. I’m not taking this away from her.”
Tanner rolled his eyes. For fuck’s sake. “So then stop complaining.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Maybe because I don’t want to hear it?”
“If I have to live it, then you have to hear me complain about it,” Raid grumbled.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“It is what it is,” Raid replied. “My girl wants the big, white wedding, so that’s what she gets. With all the hoo-ha that comes along with it.”
“Even if you don’t enjoy any of that?”
“What’s my enjoyment got to do with it?” Raid gave him a bewildered look.
“You’re ridiculous,” Tanner told him, shifting Mitch on his chest. The baby was handling all the noise like a pro.
He was a Malone, though.
Malones thrived on chaos.
“And you’re turning bitter and twisted,” Raid told him. “Never thought you’d end up grumpy and anti-social. You’re making West look good.”
“What are you talking about?” He was not grumpy and anti-social.
“You’re sitting here, scowling at anyone who looks like they’re having fun. You’re like the dark gloomy uncle, living under a thundercloud, sucking the fun out of everything.”
“Ouch.”
“Someone has to give it to you straight. Tanner, I know Lilac broke your heart?—”
“She didn’t break my heart,” he interrupted Raid, turning to glare at him. “Shut the fuck up. You know nothing about it.”
“I know you fell in love and then she left. She didn’t tell you she was going. She never answered her phone or texted you. There were things she didn’t tell you. And now she’s gone, and you’ll likely never see her again. I get that fucked with your head, but you have to get over it. There are plenty more women out there.”
“Yeah? What would you say if I said that about Hannah, huh? If you lost her?”
Raid stood up slowly and glowered down at him. “If you weren’t holding my baby nephew . . .”
“Yeah,” he said bitterly. “Plenty more women, huh?”
“Fuck, Tanner. It’s not the same.”
Tanner just stared up at him.
“You cared about her that much?” Raid asked, looking pained. Even though evening had fallen, the fairy lights strewn everywhere lit up the darkness. They were in all the trees. Around the tables that were set out around the makeshift dancefloor.
