Page 138 of Spurred On

Chapter Twenty-four

Porsche and Brandon’s wedding was a circus. The whole damn thing. To begin with, someone had had the brilliant idea to chuck the formal arrangements, kidnap the bride—and her friends—and hie off to Vegas.

Cody didn’t mind the Vegas part. He’d always enjoyed Sin City in small doses.

It was all the other crap that was annoying. Porsche and Brandon had booked a stately older hotel downtown but had scheduled a crap-ton of activities. There were rehearsals and fittings and receptions galore. All of which required monkey suits.

To make matters even worse, Porsche had insisted that Cody be part of the wedding party.

He had no idea why.

But because it was Porsche, he agreed.

She’d promised to help him make peace with Sidney. He had to believe that this ploy was part of her plan. At least, he hoped it was.

Sidney was in the wedding party as well.

And while it was wonderful to see her again, his heart ached at the sadness in her eyes. And his heart ached at the fact that she refused to meet his gaze.

He had no idea what Porsche had planned, but it had better be pretty freaking phenomenal. It would take nothing less than a miracle to break the icy wall between them.

Once they had all checked into the hotel, they headed down to an elegantly appointed small ballroom for a reception. It was an intimate affair—just Porsche and Brandon’s closest friends—with an open bar and canapés. Everyone else who’d come to witness the wedding would join the festivities at the bachelor and bachelorette parties planned for later tonight.

Cody wasn’t a fan of tiny food-like things, but he was hungry so he was hardly about to complain. He scarfed down about a dozen bacon-wrapped scallops before everyone in the party even arrived. And then he grabbed a drink and made the rounds.

One thing became painfully clear as he quartered the room.

He was the only single man.

Cade had Lisa on his arm, and Charlie and Claire were draped all over each other. Logan had his arm around Hanna, and Ford had his around Crystal. Mark, Brandon’s brother was there with his wife, Penny. And of course, there was Brandon and Porsche.

And Cody was alone.

At first, it was a painful, irritating thought, although it had been his choice to not bring a date. And then, he realized, it was a boon.

Because Sidney was alone as well.

She walked through the doors wearing a gorgeous, slinky cocktail dress and his attention zeroed in on her. His mood lifted.

He shot a thankful glance at Porsche, because obviously she had orchestrated this.

To his surprise, Porsche didn’t respond with a smile or a nod. In fact her expression was chagrined.

And he discovered why a second later when Ben Wilder followed Sidney into the room, cupped his arm around her and pulled her close to whisper in her ear.

Cody’s heart froze at the sight.

All of a sudden, his hopes dwindled.

All of a sudden, he realized how much stock he’d put in Porsche’s plan.

All of a sudden, he wished he’d stayed home.

The fact that all the Wilder brothers followed Ben into the room didn’t help.

With so many single men vying for a female partner, he wouldn’t have a chance to cut Sidney from the herd tonight. Wouldn’t even have a chance to speak to her. Not privately, at least.

Thoughts of escape roiled through him. This was Vegas. He could go to a bar and get drunk, gamble, even go watch overpriced movies in his room. Anything but this.