Nash

by Jay Crownover

  He really was good-looking. He could easily play the role of handsome physician on any prime-time TV show. I think the thing that took away from his appeal was that he totally knew he was good-looking and acted like that entitled him to things, and to people.

  “Well, hello, ladies. Sunny, I need you in room 313B. Saint, are you just leaving?”

  I opened my mouth and then closed it. I just blinked at him like an owl for a full minute before Sunny interjected, “It’s her day off. I keep telling her that she needs a break from this place. Don’t you agree?”

  He chuckled and it was deep and pleasing, but it made me wince. What was wrong with me? I cleared my throat.

  “I had a few errands to run and this was my last stop. It’s nice to see you, Dr. Bennet.”

  Awesome. That sounded pretty normal and socially acceptable. He laughed again and flashed superstraight, superwhite teeth at me. Everything about him was just blindingly perfect, so why wasn’t my heart tripping over itself the way it did when Nash’s odd-colored eyes landed on me?

  “Andrew, call me Andrew. I would be happy to keep you occupied on your next day off, Saint. When might that be?”

  I wanted to groan and go find a gurney or a counter to crawl under. Sunny didn’t let me waffle an excuse that I was always working, and it wasn’t fair that she was the one that did my schedule so she could tell him with confidence:

  “She’s off on New Year’s Eve since she’s working Christmas Day. Right, Saint?”

  I knew she was just trying to help, but I was going to strangle her.

  “I am, but if you already have something planned, I’m sure we can work out something later on.”

  I balked when he reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. I almost flinched but just barely contained the reaction. I really didn’t want this guy to put his hands on me. What was wrong with me?

  “I would love to take you out on New Year’s Eve. Some friends of my friends are having a party, and I would love it if you would be my date.”

  I was going to have an embolism. I barely had enough confidence that I was going to survive an evening with Nash and his friends, going to some swanky party on the arm of a doctor … I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I wanted to say no, wanted to tell him I wasn’t interested, but Sunny was watching me with undisguised glee. I shoved my fingers through my hair and reluctantly nodded.

  “Sure, Doctor … I mean Andrew. That sounds lovely.” Only if lovely meant torturous and nightmarish.

  His smile grew and he leaned over and gave me a buss on the cheek. This time I couldn’t help but cringe away. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything. He just handed me his card, much like Nash did, and told me to give him a call. When he walked away I had no desire to stare after him and there was an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I let out an oof when Sunny’s small frame slammed into mine as she gave me another one-armed hug.

  “Sooooo happy for you. You’re going to have the best time with him. I just know it.”

  I looked at the plain white card in my hand. It had the hospital logo on it, and Bennet’s name and contact information. It was boring. It was basic. It was exactly the opposite of the card Nash had handed me a few minutes earlier. One was tucked safely away in my pocket, I could feel it there almost like it was calling to me. The other I wanted to chuck in the trash. Too bad Sunny would never forgive me if I set the plain white one sailing.

  “We’ll see.” I didn’t have high hopes for either venture, but I would force myself to go through with both of them. One out of fear of spending the holidays alone and something more I didn’t want to delve into, the other just to keep my boss happy. Neither was a great reason to go on a date, but considering it was me, it would just have to suffice.

  CHAPTER 7

  Nash

  I think I was more nervous than Rule. Someone had brought a flask of Crown Royal to help him calm his nerves, but he kept waving it away and Rome wasn’t really drinking much anymore, so that left me, Asa, Rowdy, and Jet to do the damage. Rome and I were the best men. The big guy was taking Cora down the aisle, obviously, which left me with Ayden. I was teasing Jet mercilessly about it because I had seen her in one of the pretty, pale blue gowns Shaw had picked out and there was no question she looked beyond good. It was fun but left me wide open for him to poke at the fact that I had rolled into the venue with Saint. I wasn’t the type of guy who brought a date to an event like this, and considering the guest list for the wedding consisted of maybe fifty people at most, there was no missing her and the questioning looks coming from every direction.

  The venue was dramatic and unique. It was set high over the city skyline, and you could see the lights and winter landscape of the Rocky Mountains for miles and miles. Shaw wanted everything to look pale and cool; she said she wanted it to feel like being in the center of a blizzard. Anyone who knew the soon-to-be-married couple knew that the bride had a serious infatuation with Rule’s superpale, icy-colored eyes. Clearly, it was what the entire wedding theme was built around. Rome and I had on matching black pants and button-up shirts, with ties that were the same color as Ayden and Cora’s dresses. Rule had the same thing on, only he was wearing a black jacket over his with a pinstripe pattern running through it. We looked badass, way better than typical wedding finery, and I couldn’t believe how steady my best friend seemed. I never thought he was going to settle down and now it seemed like the only thing in the world he wanted to do. I was a little envious, which surprised the hell out of me.

  “So the nurse?” Jet gave me a look and handed me the flask. I grunted at him and took a swig of the burning, amber liquid.

  “She doesn’t like me very much. I’m trying to change her mind about it.”

  Rome was fidgeting with his tie and texting Cora back and forth. The closer she got to the due date, the more paranoid he got about her well-being. I think he would’ve kept her glued to his side or tied to a bed if the little spitfire would’ve allowed it.

  “She showed up with you. She can’t dislike you that much.”

  Yeah, she had showed up, but she kinda looked like she was going to be sick or like she was sucking on a lemon the entire ride over. Not that she hadn’t looked gorgeous even with the unease clear on her pretty face. It was the first time I had seen her in anything other than her work wear, and man, could she rock a little black dress and sky-high heels like a pro. It was simple, understated, but with all that spectacular hair and flawless skin, she looked regal and elegant in a way a lot of young women couldn’t pull off nowadays. She was a classic. Kind of like my car, and I had a feeling her ride would be just as nice if she ever let me get that far.

  She wouldn’t let me pick her up, had insisted on meeting me at my place. I had almost had to literally twist her arm to get her to agree to actually ride downtown with me, and after I’d won that argument, she had spoken maybe five words to me since. I deposited her with Phil, who had just looked at me knowingly and given her a smile. He was holding up pretty well, all things considered, and there was no way he was going to miss seeing Rule tie the knot.

  Rule and Shaw were doing things really informal. There weren’t going to be any sappy speeches, no first dance, just a quick ceremony, dinner with everyone they loved, and then Rule was taking her to New Orleans for a week for their honeymoon so they could spend New Year’s Eve partying it up on Bourbon Street. That is, if they managed to leave the hotel room. Knowing my best friend, I doubted it. Personally I was stoked that they weren’t dragging it out. They didn’t need pomp and circumstance to make the love between them official.

  “She showed up with me under duress.” I grinned at him. “I don’t really get her.”

  Asa chuckled and flicked his golden hair out of his eyes. “But you want to? Get her, I mean.”

  I grunted again. “Did you see her? Of course I want to, but she’s throwing out some pretty strong ‘hell no’ signals. I’m not interested in pushing my luck.” That wasn’t entirely true. I wanted to push and push, not
that I thought it would get me anywhere. I kind of dug the mystery to all of it. She always had me guessing.

  I’m sure the conversation would have kept going, but Rule’s dad stuck his head in the room where we were all gathered and gave his son a nod and a grin.

  “The girls are ready to get this show on the road. I sure am proud of you boys.”

  Rule nodded and I saw his chest expand and release. The rest of the guys pounded him on the back, leaving just the three of us in the wedding party behind.

  “You good?”

  Rome clapped his brother on the shoulder.

  “I’m fucking great.”

  We all chuckled and I gave him a fist bump.

  “You are fucking great, and so is she, so this is gonna rule.”

  He lifted his pierced eyebrow at the pun and I grinned at him. We were tight for a reason.

  “Let’s do this. Let’s get you married.” I was surprised that there was some pretty thick emotion working in my voice.

  Rome fiddled with his tie some more. I guess when you had a neck like a fullback, ties weren’t very comfortable.

  He looked at Rule and asked, “Did Shaw’s mom show?”

  Rule shook his head. “Nope. I called her and told her what I thought about the entire situation and promptly got told to go to hell. Shaw seems okay with it. Her dad is here with a chick that looks like she’s maybe eighteen at the most. He wanted to walk Casper down the aisle, but she told him no. She’s having Dad do it.”

  That made sense to me. The Archers had always been Shaw’s real family. Like Rome had told Rule when he was thinking about proposing, giving her his last name was just a formality.

  We lingered at the back of the room while Rule took his waiting mom’s arm and made his way to where the ordained officiant waited. Fittingly enough, Brite Walker, Rome’s mentor and an ex-marine, was an ordained minister. He looked like a member of a biker gang, but was one of the most centered, thoughtful men any of us had ever met. He had played a big part in bringing Rome back to the land of the living, and neither Rule nor Shaw could think of a better person to guide them into a life as man and wife. Just like he had offered Rome a new start, their thinking was he was the best person to give them a new start on a life as a married couple.

  The girls came out of the elevator and both Rome and I lost our breath. Cora looked like a fairy princess from a Disney cartoon—granted, with a full sleeve of tattoos and a round baby belly. Rome bent down and kissed her until it was almost awkward for the rest of us. Ayden was a knockout even on a bad day. The blue made her dark hair pop and the silly grin on her face made me smile back at her just as goofy.

  “Jet is so jealous of me right now.”

  She scoffed at me and put her hand in the curve of my elbow.

  “It’s good for him. He was out of town all last week. That means he won’t be able to resist me later.”

  “Does he ever? Resist you? Because if he does, maybe I need to tell him he’s doing being married wrong.”

  She made a face at me and dug her nails into my forearm, which made me laugh. I knew that her and Jet couldn’t keep their hands off each other, so I was only teasing her.

  When my gaze landed on Shaw as she came out of the dressing room she had been in, I was surprised at the wealth of sentiment I felt at looking at her. She was beautiful. Like something out of a fantasy or anyone’s vision of “this is the perfect bride.” Her white-blond-and-black hair was twisted all up. Her dress was poufy and long, like a ballerina’s, and tied with a pale blue sash in the middle. She was holding on to the senior Archer’s arm, and Dale looked like any proud papa should. Rome maneuvered around his dad and bent down and gave the beautiful bride to be a kiss on the cheek. It was a good day for all the Archers … and the rest of us as well.

  I told her honestly, “You look perfect.”

  She blushed prettily and glanced at Rome.

  He lifted the eyebrow under his scarred forehead and told her bluntly, “What he said. Rule is a lucky bastard for sure.”

  Shaw just giggled and looked impatient.

  “Let’s do this.”

  We all faced the front, the clock face behind Rule and Brite showing the beautiful Denver skyline and making the most memorable Christmas Eve ever. Jet and his band started to play “Silver Mountains” by the Deadstring Brothers and I don’t think anyone in the room had dry eyes by the end of the song. Jet was in a metal band, could scream his ass off with the best of them, but when he used those pipes to really, really sing, it just did something magical to the people lucky enough to hear it.

  We made our way down the aisle. I saw Ayden turn her head so that she could watch Jet. He blew her a kiss that made her sigh, and I shifted my eyes around until I found the storm-colored gaze I was searching for. Saint was watching me. She had her full bottom lip clamped between her teeth, and she had her hands clasped tightly together on her lap. Her eyes were shiny and bright. She had pink in her pale cheeks, and even from this distance I could see her pulse fluttering in her throat. If I didn’t know better, I would say she was looking at me the way Cora was looking at Rome, the way Ayden was looking at Jet. I couldn’t get my head around it, around her, but man, did I want to. She was fascinating. I wondered if I’d ever really know what made the pretty redhead tick.

  I didn’t have any more time to ponder it because we reached the front of the aisle. I kissed Ayden on the cheek, did the same to Cora, which earned me a hard look from Rome. Rule and I shared a chuckle, and I took my place next to the Archer brothers. It was a proud place to be.

  Jet and the band switched to “Everybody Needs Love,” the Drive-By Truckers version, which was Shaw’s favorite, and she and Dale appeared at the back of the elegantly decorated room. I heard a couple of gasps, saw some jaws drop, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Rule physically jolt.

  “Damn.”

  The word was barely a breath of sound, and before either Rome or I could react, Rule was walking down the aisle in the direction of his future bride and his dad, who had stopped at his approach. Rome and I exchanged a knowing look and just shrugged when the girls looked at us questioningly.

  Rule grabbed Shaw’s face in both of his hands and kissed her like he was supposed to do at the end of the ceremony. Dale stepped out of the way and Margot, the Archer matriarch, called her son’s name in frustration. It was totally a Rule thing to do. He was impulsive, a little wild, but there was nothing in the world that would keep him from that girl, so of course he was the one who walked her down the aisle and to their spot in front of Brite. I couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot, and the one time I caught sight of Saint, I was happy to see she was smiling as well. That kind of love was hard not to appreciate.

  Brite was grinning as well, his smile barely visible through his long, gray beard. Looking like a jolly, friendly Hell’s Angel, Brite proceeded to marry my best friend to the girl of his dreams. It was awesome, touching, everything it was supposed to be, and so were their vows.

  Shaw vowed to love Rule just as he was, to never ask him to be anything other than the man he was. She promised to wait out his bad temper and the hissy fits that he was prone to and to never question what color his hair was for the week. She vowed to love him like she had since the first time she had seen him, and vowed that he would always be her one and only. She told him that he was everything she had ever wanted. It was all true and it made me happy to hear her promise that for an eternity to my very difficult and complicated friend.

  Rule was choked up, so it took him a minute to recite his vows, but when he did I knew the impact of his heartfelt words stunned all of us. He wasn’t a dude that was good with emotion on the best day, even though Shaw had helped him with that, but today he was putting his heart out there for everyone to see.

  He told her that he never thought anyone would be able to fill the void in his life that Remy had left when he died, but somehow she had gotten inside of him and there was no more room for anything else. She just filled his
heart and his life so full there were no more empty spots and he knew that ultimately Remy would be thrilled for them. That, of course, had everyone misty-eyed and clearing their throats.

  He promised to always take care of her, to make everyone treat her with the love and kindness she deserved. He told her he would love her even when she was a doctor and making three times the money he did, and vowed to do his best to give her anything and everything she ever wanted and needed from this point on. He whispered so that only those of us standing up at the front could hear, “You are everything to me, Casper.”

  A collective sigh went up from the group when Shaw smiled up at him through the tears running down her face and said simply, “All I want and need is you.”

  Brite called it good enough, they exchanged rings, we all cheered and offered hugs and high fives, and just like that, Rule and Shaw were man and wife.

  We had all gathered in the back of the clock tower, took forty-five minutes for fussing, congratulations, and photos, when Phil slid up next to me and muttered in my ear, “You better work some magic or your date is going to bolt. She’s a sweet little thing, but she’s as skittish as a newborn filly.”

  I swore and maneuvered my way through the crowd, waved Rowdy off when he tried to stop me, and eventually had to ride the elevator twenty stories down to the lobby in order to find her. She had her cell phone in her hand and seemed like she was having an argument with herself.

  “Saint?”

  She jolted and looked up at me. There was no way to describe the look on her face other than guilty. Like I had just caught her in the midst of doing something wrong.

  She held her phone out like it was a shield between us.

  “I’m just going to call a cab to take me back to my car. You go back to your friends.” Her voice was high and breathy. I frowned because I didn’t have a clue as to what was going on.