Page 6

My mother’s had six of them, each one ending worse than the last. Spending my career handling divorces hasn’t exactly improved my opinion of marriage.

“Come on, Teddy. Please. She’s my maid of honor!”

“It’s Theo,” I correct her, since there’s only one person in the world allowed to call me that nickname. “And I’d rather be waterboarded than sit through a wedding in flip-flops while sweat-soaked and miserable under the hundred-and fifty-degree sun.”

“Oh, Theodore, don’t be such a party pooper. Don’t you want to spend a fun-filled week on a beautiful island with Maggie? I’m going to be running around all over the place, and she’s going to need some serious hand-holding and moral support to make sure she doesn’t have too many margaritas that lead to bad decisions. I need my amazing, sweet, gorgeous best friend by my side when I get married and not in a depression spiral!”

“You could make it easier on her by just not inviting the asshole,” I mutter.

“Ha! I wish! Unfortunately, that asshole is Monty’s best friend and best man. It was nearly a deal-breaker when he broke Maggie’s heart, but nobody is perfect. If the love of my life’s only fault is being friends with a douchebag, well, I can forgive that. Even if I can’t forgive Wyatt for hurting Maggie.”

Closing my eyes, I rub my throbbing head as I imagine Maggie’s first reunion with Wyatt since their breakup. The hurt is still fresh. So fresh that my tiny best friend could become…violent.

Or way too forgiving.

“Did I mention that Wyatt doesn’t have a plus one?” Kendall adds, making me grind my back teeth together at the mention of his name. “Get a few drinks in Maggie and who knows what might happen…”

“She would never take him back,” I say with about seventy-five percent certainty.

“I didn’t say she would ever be crazy enough to take him back,” Kendall explains. “But if she’s alone, and he’s alone, and she ends up falling into his bed instead of her own one night, Maggie would absolutely hate herself.”

And I would have to go to prison for murder.

“What if Maggie and Wyatt are on the same flight?” Kendall adds. “I can’t be there to referee. If they get thrown off the plane, then my wedding day would be ruined, Teddy.”

I know from experience that it’s way too easy to fall back together with an ex in normal everyday life. On a romantic island the two of them can’t escape with all their history… Well, there’s no fighting that. Maggie’s been so sad these past few months. She misses the bastard, even though I have no idea why. She’s obviously better off without him.

“You are the biggest pain in my ass ever, Kendall,” I tell her as I continue massaging my temple. “I’m guessing Maggie doesn’t know about you calling me with this request.”

“No. But I did suggest that she invite you to come with her,” she says.

“She hasn’t.”

That bothers me for more reasons than I care to admit.

“Because she thinks you’re too anti-weddings and anti-vacations to ask you.”

She’s not wrong.

“So how exactly am I supposed to get her to invite me?” I ask.

“Oh, well, just mention that you need a vacation when you get home tonight, you know, to the house that you two currently share, and I’m sure she’ll beg you to come with her.”

“Where else was she supposed to go when they broke up?” I ask her.

Kendall makes a humming sound, then says, “She could’ve come and stayed with me since I live in the same city. Or went to Florida to stay with her parents. She didn’t have to drive across the state to you. How convenient that you live alone and had a spare room ready and waiting for her.”

That’s all true.

Maggie had options, but she came to me.

And I wanted a two-bedroom house for the extra space, and so Maggie would have her own room when she came to visit, even though her visits were way too rare after she and Wyatt got together.

“It’s crazy how your girlfriend broke up with you at the same time, isn’t it?” Kendall asks. “Is there some correlation to Maggie moving in and maybe the snobby model giving you an ultimatum to kick her out or else?”

“I don’t know what you’re insinuating,” I grit out. “But you'd better keep your opinions about that to yourself and not mention them to Maggie.”

Maggie would just blame herself and try to fix things between me and Natalie, or worse, think she needs to move out. It’s best if she doesn’t know the truth.