Page 207 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

He yanked on Dale’s jacket lapel, eyes huge as he stared at Xander. “Dale. Dale. Dale.”

Dale caught his wrist. “What?”

Rid pointed.

Dale glared.

His beer bottle hit the table hard enough to make the glasses jump. He turned on Fox with murder in his face. “Are you fucking serious right now?”

Fox shrugged and turned his beer up.

Dale stared. “What in the hell is Xander Vale doing here?”

Fox lowered his beer. “Technically, Curtis invited him.”

“I need oxygen,” Rid said.

Xander moved through the crowd with Wes, Law, and Cassidy. He didn’t stop and speak with any of the guests. Instead, he came straight to Fox. “Thank you for inviting us,” he said, offering his hand. “This is incredible. Your property is beautiful.”

Fox shook his hand. “Glad you made it.”

“You look amazing,” Xander said, shaking Genesis’s hand too. “Congratulations.”

“Curtis is gonna be thrilled. Thank you so much for coming.”

“Wouldn’t’ve missed it.” Xander smiled.

Wes and Law were introduced by God and Day.

Wes took in the ranch with obvious appreciation. “This place is stunning.”

Bull tipped his beer. “Appreciate that.”

Law shook everyone’s hand before he turned his attention back to Fox. “Thanks for answering the email about the fireworks.”

Fox nodded. “No problem.”

“I’m sure you guys can put on a helluva show, but fireworks would make my animals stark mad,” Bull said.

“Of course,” Law agreed. “Would’ve been a great gift, but I think he’ll like the gift card we sent to his Amazon account too.”

Genesis groaned. “Oh boy, I’ve already had to put our delivery guy on our Christmas card list with how many packages Curtis gets a week.”

The guys laughed.

Xander turned slowly, taking in the tent, the lights, the pastures, the horses, the families, the soft music playing from the mounted speakers. “This looks like something out of a movie.”

Fox smiled. “Around here, we call that Sunday through Sunday.”

Dale muttered, “Around here, we call that too many celebrities on my grass.”

Fox’s grin sharpened.

God saw it coming before Dale did.

“Don’t even think about it,” Dale warned.

Fox put a hand at Xander’s shoulder. “Xander, there’s someone I want you to meet.”