Page 10 of The Snuggle Is Real

We are both control freaks. It’s one of the reasons we understand each other so well.

Malcolm, who has been dishing up mugs of hot cider, hands me one.

"Try it," he says. "Just try it before you judge."

I sniff it first, because I do like the scent of cinnamon. “It’s the acidity,” I complain. But I obediently take a sip.

The taste is not bad. If really-freaking-delicious is the same as not bad.

"Well?"

"It's fine," I say, because I will die on my pumpkin spiced hill.

"It's fine?"

"It's very good, I will admit it." I take another sip. "Faith still should've done a pumpkin option though. It's just good event planning. Always give the guests a choice."

"The bride chose apple."

"Malcolm, that's an apple dictatorship."

“Isn’t the bride always right?”

“The bride is almost never right,” I tell him. “They’re just vocal.”

“Are you becoming jaded about weddings?” he asks, adding another healthy dose of bourbon to his own mug.

“Becoming? I’ve been jaded. But I can’t quit now. I’ve spent my whole adult life in this industry and honestly, it’s fascinating seeing the trends change over the years. At least we’ve moved past the flash mob phase.”

Malcolm pauses with his mug halfway to his mouth. “You and I are definitely not flash mob people.”

“Maybe in our new relationship we are,” I tell him, holding my hand out for the bourbon. “Give me a splash.” I shiver a little as the wind picks up.

“Are you cold?” He tips the bourbon over my mug. “We should go sit by the fire.”

Malcolm’s brothers are part of the group circling the roaring blaze. I’ve met them all, of course, and seen them at various functions over the years, first for family events, and then corporate ones once the distillery opened.

It’s been interesting watching them all grow up and become three completely different men, including Dylan and Ian, who are identical twins. The three of them are also nothing like Malcolm, who is much…stiffer.

But what really interests me tonight is that I get to meet the women who have taken three consummate bachelors and turned them into the marrying kind.

We enter the circle and I take a seat on the nearest empty bale and give the group a wave. “Hi all, good to see you again.”

"Well, well, well," Dylan says. "If it isn't the happy couple."

"Don't," Malcoms says.

"Don't what? I'm being supportive." He grins at me. "Emily. Always a pleasure. This is my amazing girlfriend, Lauren. The only woman besides our mother who calls me out on my shit.”

He puts his arm around the woman next to him. She’s wearing the most adorable red sweater and a headscarf with polka dots. “I do do that,” she says cheerfully. “Nice to meet you, Emily.”

“You too, Lauren.”

Ian and his girlfriend, Winnie, are seated next to them.

“My better half, Winnie,” Ian says proudly after he greets me.

He is beaming when he looks at his girlfriend, who pats his knee affectionately. “You’re cute,” she tells him.