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“Oh, really?” He seemed genuinely surprised. “That’s cute.”
“It’s cute now, sure, but it wasn’t when we were growing up and every girl we liked had a crush on you,” Brayden noted.
Holden cleared his throat. “Not to interrupt all this love talk, but have you guys gone and gotten measured for your tuxes? We don’t have all that much time.”
Shit.Holden and Lala’s wedding was coming up, and I certainly hadn’t been thinking about my usher duties as of late.
“I’ll get on that soon, Groomzilla,” Colby said. “Lala told me you’ve been taking the reins on everything when it comes to the wedding planning. What’s gotten into you?”
“Somebody has to do it.” He shrugged. “My wife is the least-girly girl I know. She’s given me full control of all the details, which, as you know, can be quite dangerous in terms of what we might end up with.”
“Yeah, there’ll be strippers or some shit.” Brayden laughed.
“I’m glad you reminded me about getting fitted,” I said. “Because honestly my head’s been in my ass lately.”
“All of you suck,” Holden teased. “This is why Ryan would’ve been my best man if he were here. He was the only one of us on the ball with anything.”
I smiled sadly. “Ryan would’ve definitely had his tux measurements by now.”
“Oh, so you’re saying I was actuallysecondbest?” Colby joked. “That’s the only reason you asked me? This is news to me.” Then he turned my way. “Oh, by the way, lover boy, what’s the deal with the quotation-mark tattoo my wife inked on your wrist the other day?”
Crap. I was hoping to get away with not having to talk about that. “It’s a personal thing between Devyn and me. I did it as a statement.”
“Oh yeah. You’re not in love,” Brayden taunted.
Colby chuckled. “For a guy who said he would never get a tattoo, that’s very interesting.”
“It’s hardly a tattoo.” I rolled up my sleeve and displayed it. “It looks like four little moles.”
Holden held out his full sleeve. “That’s how it starts, man. Look at me now.”
Brayden leaned in to see my tattoo. “So, tell us what it means.”
I sighed. “For so long, she and I referred to each other as ‘just friends,’ but the ‘friends’ was in quotation marks. The quotation marks represent everythingelsegoing on with us that’s beyond friendship. Sort of our denial, I guess.”
The three of them were quiet until Holden finally said, “That’s clever…but corny.”
“Thanks for your opinion, jackass.”
Colby clapped his hands. “Okay, have we decided what the official advisory is on this love dilemma? I have to get back to my kids.”
I pointed my bottle toward him. “We’re not deciding anything, and Brayden should’ve never opened his big trap. You guys can go back to minding your business. That’s the official decision.”
“My one piece of advice before I get out of your hair…” Colby said, eyeing me. “Don’t pretend too hard not to care, because at some point she may believe you—especially if there’s another guy in the picture. I get that she seems to scare easily, but you need to let her know where you stand before she books it out of town and you lose the one girl who matters to you.”
My stomach felt unsettled at the prospect of Devyn leaving New York, though it seemed inevitable.
“For the record…” Holden said. “You and Brayden each have a plus-one option for the wedding, so maybe you should ask Devyn to be your date. It’s gonna be a fun time.”
I hadn’t thought about that, but I would love to take Devyn to Holden and Lala’s wedding, if only to have a fun night out.
I scratched my chin. “Yeah, that’s an idea.”
“If she’s not engaged to Paul Rudd by then.” Brayden winked.
After the guys left, I was no closer to understanding what was happening between Devyn and me, but I stopped myself from calling her. She’d indirectly made it clear she was looking for a breather.
I’d barely eaten today, so I decided to get some takeout from the Chinese restaurant down the street. I headed out, but froze when I got to the window of the place and saw her inside. Devyn stood at the busy counter, waiting for her order. She wiped her eyes as if she’d been crying. I stopped to watch her for a moment, while she didn’t know I was there. But with each second that passed, I became more confused.
