Page 54 of George’s Big Day

He did, it was true. I had no idea about the transformative nature of a black suit before Chris Mancuso went from beach bum to James Bond with a mere change of clothes and a shave. I also suspected that the slicked-back hair was Jill’s doing.

“You look amazing. Truly.”

Instant scowl. “The hell is the matter with you?”

He knew me well.

“He’s worried he’s gonna fuck this up,” Ian explained, his voice catching for some reason.

Chris took a breath and crossed his arms, studying me. “The wedding or the marriage? Which one?”

“Both. Either.”

“The wedding won’t be perfect. It already isn’t,” Chris said with a shake of his head. “Let that shit go.”

He was right. “Fine. The marriage, then,” I stated after several moments, the fear like a hard ball in the pit of my stomach. “I mean, the fuck do I know about being married?”

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to know shit,” Chris assured me. “You just have to listen and think about your partner before you think about yourself.”

“That’s good. And make sure he knows you love him,” Ian chimed in. “You have a scary job, especially when you’re deployed. Tell him. Don’t ever leave the house without the yell.”

“What yell?”

“The I love you yell.”

“That’s a good one,” Chris granted. “Another is, don’t be a dick when you fight. There are no trophies for whoever was right, so don’t act like there are. Always ask yourself, would I rather get laid or would I rather be right?”

“This is not good advice.”

“It is,” he replied flatly.

“Yep,” Ian concurred. “Also, there should never be a time when you think, I’d rather be right. If you do, that’s the end. You have no idea how many breakups there were, before Miro, when the most important thing was to win.”

Chris grinned and then left the room.

“Where did he go?”

“To talk to Jill,” Ian said as he got up. “Just sit tight.”

“You’re leaving me?”

“I gotta go kiss my man,” Ian told me. “And maybe grope him a bit. Just like Chris is doing with Jill.”

“Why?” I asked right before he opened the door.

He turned back to look at me. “Don’t you want to kiss Kurt whenever you think about him or talk about him with other people?”

That was a no-brainer. “Yeah, of course.”

“Then you answered your own question,” Ian apprised me. “We’ll both be right back.”

I nodded.

“In the meantime, maybe look for your tie.”

“What?”

“Your tie, genius. Look for it while we’re gone. Maybe retrace your steps. It’s probably in the last place you sexed up your fiancé.”