I felt my body freeze and I looked at Bryce, whose whole demeanor just changed.
“Whoa, what just happened?” Jack asked.
“Is his name Charles?” Shay asked.
“Yeah, you know him?”
“Know him? He has a thing for Shay. We sabotaged her date with him on Monday,” Bryce said.
“Yeah, we aren’t too keen on him,” I said.
“He is kind of creepy, he thinks we have some kind of connection that I don’t feel at all. And he doesn’t approve of Dawson, Isha and the guys,” Shay said.
“Oh really? We did not know all that about him. I wonder if he knows about us?” Mac asked, and then leaned over and kissed Jack.
1/4
“Well, if he doesn’t he’ll know Sunday,” Jack said.
“I hate that he’s coming,” Shay said.
“Well, I can fix that. I have his number. I’ll just text him and tell him the barbecue was canceled.” We watched him send
the text.
“There all done.”
“Thanks guys, sorry about that,” Shay said.
“No problem, you’re our girl’s bff and part of our family, whoever you don’t like we don’t like,” Mac said.
“That’s what I call loyalty,” Shay said with a giggle, and we all chuckled. We talked a little longer. I texted the guys on my team while Bryce did the same to his, we told them to bring their family and suits.
“I texted Dawson about the additional people coming. He told me he told Isha, who is now telling the girls, to invite any single ladies. Dawson said there were 2 or three single guys in the group,” Jack said.
“Yeah, Malo, Trey and Dustin. Santiago and Rogers are together and Jim is married with two kids. Dustin was married, but she cheated on him while we were in Vegas. And they got divorced three months ago. Malo has been taking him and Trey out the last two nights since he’s been back to cheer the guy up.”
“Malo? Why does that name sound familiar,” Mac said out loud.
“Wasn’t that your brother’s best man at his wedding a few years ago? Big guy, right? Even bigger than me. He’s like Maori, right? Dark skin, tattoos on his chest, arms and back. Long black hair, wears it in a man bun or braid? There was a guy named Malo in Luke’s wedding,” Jack said to Mac.
“Right, he explained his tattoos to us when we were in the pool at the Venetian in Vegas the night of the bachelor party. That’s got to be the same guy, right? I mean how many Malo’s are out there in the world?” Mac asked.
That did sound like our Malo. I pulled up a picture on my phone and showed the guys.
“Yeah, that’s him. What a f*cking small world. Can’t wait to see him, he is a lot of fun,” Mac said.
“That is a small world, his hair isn’t long now, it’s short, but man, what a coincidence,” I said.
“Yeah, it is, Okay, well we’ll see you guys on Sunday. Thanks for the buys,” Jack said. We said goodbye and walked along.
“Bryson, look at this table man, this is a thing of beauty,” Bryce said, calling me over to another stall. Shay was looking at a cute small sculpture of two men and a woman embracing with a baby in the woman’s arms. They were all faceless and made out of wood that was stained and shining. I might have to buy that for her and give it to her when she becomes pregnant with our first child. I couldn’t wait for that day, and I wanted to talk to her about it. Was it too soon? Maybe to some, but I knew Shay was it for me and Bryce and I wanted to get started on that family for us.
The table was about hip height, and you could see the many rings of the wood on the table-top. It had a long thick middle stand that spread into three pieces to hold the table up. It was a gorgeous piece.
“Conner hey” Shay said. My head snapped up and all the breath went out of me. Bryce’s hand landed on my shoulder and I felt a squeeze of support. I watched as my girl smiled at him, and he smiled at her. She was pointing around the stall at the different furniture. He hadn’t noticed me yet. She waved towards us and that’s when his head turned. His eyes widened. I saw surprise, hope and then dread as his eyes shifted to Bryce.
“Bryson,” he whispered.
“You two know each other?” Shay asked.
“Yeah, that’s Conner, the Conner,” I wheezed out.
A shock
I saw the moment it dawned on her and her smile vanished. She stepped away from him and came to my side where she grabbed my hand, placed herself in front of me, and laid my hand across her front, so I was holding her against me and she was my shield. I fell completely in love right then and there.
“Bryson, it’s good to see you. I, um, have been wanting to find you and reach out,” Conner said. Looking at me, and then Shay. When his eyes glanced at Bryce, I saw major insecurity and some jealousy.
“How do you know my girlfriend?” I asked.
“I met him at the grocery store. He looked confused trying to pick out a cantaloupe, so I was just being thoughtful and helping him. But then we got to talking, and I found out he made furniture. This is his stuff apparently,” Shay said. “I even have his phone number, which I will be deleting right now,” Shay said. She brought up her phone and I noticed in her contacts she had put, ‘furniture guy possible present for the guys’ and deleted the number. My heart melted.
“That’s all true, but I knew she was your girlfriend when I walked into the grocery store and saw her,” Conner said.
Shay gasped, and Bryce growled low in his throat as all three of us stiffened.
“It’s not what you think. You see, that morning I was driving some furniture to my dad’s and I saw this scene on the sidewalk, and it was all of you and a bunch of other people. When I saw you, Bryson, I was flabbergasted. I’ve been wanting to apologize for so long. It would have happened sooner, but I’ve only been out of jail for three months.”
My mouth dropped, I had no idea. I was so d*mn curious. But I didn’t want to stay and talk. I needed to get out of there.
But he continued.
“I got in a car accident and was drinking. I was on my way back to your place to get you to listen to me and apologize my ass off, but I never made it. I was sentenced to two and a half years. I f*cked up, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I also ……..I miss you so much. You were my best friend,” he finally finished.
“Were being the operative word, he has a new best friend, actually he has a brother in me. Shay is our girl. You stay away from both of them. Nice furniture by the way,” Bryce said as he guided both me and Shay out of the stall and marched us
towards my car.
I was stunned. When we got to the car, Shay put her stuff in the trunk and turned to me. She jumped into my arms and wrapped her arms and legs around me and squeezed me with her whole body.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I took his number, because I thought I could check his stuff out the closer it got to Christmas
and order something for you and Bryce. I’m so sorry.”
“You didn’t know, baby. It’s okay. You have nothing to apologize for.”
“If I had known, I would have tricked him into picking out a rotten cantaloupe.”
I chuckled and held her tight, kissing her temple. When she pulled back, I kissed her properly.
“Let’s get home and start dinner,” I said.
She nodded. I let her down. She turned and kissed Bryce and walked to her car and got in.
Bryce grabbed me and hugged me. “I’m here for you, buddy. I know that was hard.”
“Yeah. Thanks.” He gave me one more good squeeze, and then we got into my car. We followed Shay home and by the time we got there, I had my emotions more under control. I was stunned Conner had been in jail this whole time.
I needed to stop thinking about him. As we got out of the car and brought all the groceries in, I pushed thoughts of him out of my head and enjoyed the rest of the night with my best friend and the woman I loved.
Three Words You Shouldn’t Say Right
+ Ponte)
