Less than forty guests were assembled in the tiny restaurant Paul had rented for the occasion: mostly close family and a few friends. All the members of the Eternal Bachelors Club, from which Paul had been officially kicked out, were in attendance.
Jay was sitting at the same table as Xavier, Michael, and Wade. He hadn’t seen his three friends since the night of the Gilberts’ party, and even then he hadn’t had much time to catch up with them. The party had ended too abruptly.
“What’s with the stubble, Wade?” Xavier asked, jabbing Wade in the side, grinning. “You finally had enough of the goatee?”
Wade grunted good-naturedly. “At least I can grow facial hair.” He gave Xavier, whose face was as smooth as a baby’s bottom, a pointed look.
“You call that facial hair?” Michael chimed in. “I call that a failed attempt at looking rugged.”
“You don’t think it looks rugged?” Wade pointed to his face. “It looks positively badass.”
Michael laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “The stubble look is currently out of fashion. Apparently the ladies don’t like getting a skin rash from kissing these days.”
“Not that you would know that,” Xavier added, addressing Wade. “Since clearly you haven’t gotten any action in a while.”
“Says who?” Wade protested. “Just because I don’t kiss and tell doesn’t mean I don’t kiss.”
Xavier and Michael exchanged a whatever-you-say look.
“And the stubble look is in. You’re just envious that you guys can’t carry it off, right Jay?”
Jay nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah, sure.”
“Besides, I don’t wanna be too handsome and get snatched up by some marriage-crazy woman.” Wade grinned.
“You should be so lucky,” Xavier teased and chuckled.
“Meaning what?”
Xavier motioned to Paul who was whispering something into Holly’s ear, making her smile.
“Look at Paul. He didn’t think it would happen to him either. And look at him now. And in a few months he’ll be a father. Way to flunk out of the club!”
Jay smiled wistfully. The way it looked right now, he was going to be the last member of the Eternal Bachelors Club and collect the sizeable bounty that was sitting in the club’s coffers. As if he needed any more money.
He rose from the table and walked to the bar.
“Bourbon, please,” he told the bartender and looked back at Paul and Holly.
Paul’s parents sat to one side of them, Daniel and Sabrina to the other. Even Paul’s mother seemed to have come around and accepted Holly, particularly now that she was carrying her grandchild. In the end, all that mattered was love, not what other people thought.
“Your bourbon, sir.”
“Thank you.”
Jay brought the glass to his lips and took a sip. He enjoyed the burning sensation as the liquid ran down his throat. It was numbing his senses for a moment. Still, he couldn’t look at Paul and Holly any longer. Seeing other people happy right now made him even more aware of what he’d lost with Tara.
He’d tried everything to get her to be reasonable: voice messages, text messages, emails. She’d responded to none of his attempts to make it up to her. He’d said sorry in so many different ways, but Tara had ignored him.
“Hey, who pissed in your drink?” Zach asked, slapping him on the shoulder and leaning against the bar.
“Who says anybody pissed in my drink?”
“Your sour face is kind of a dead giveaway.”
Jay shrugged. “We all have our off days.”
Zach lifted an eyebrow. “Okay.” Then he motioned to the bartender. “A glass of champagne, please.”
While the bartender poured a glass, Zach turned back to Jay. “How are things going with Tara?”
“They’re not.”
“Ahh, I see, hence the bad mood.”
“I’m not in a bad mood.”
“Could have fooled me.” Zach accepted the glass of champagne and took a sip. “What happened? Did dating a waiter finally lose its luster?”
Jay growled and kicked back the last of his bourbon, before slamming the glass onto the bar. A few heads turned in his direction. “You know what? Why don’t you stay out of my business and go play with the others?”
“That bad, huh?” Zach clicked his tongue. “Never thought the Ice Maiden could get under a man’s skin like that.”
“Don’t call her that! She’s not cold! She’s…” He stopped himself. Tara was hot blooded, passionate, wild. Not only their sexual encounters had taught him that, but also their fiery argument. Make-up sex would be scorching, but unfortunately, it didn’t look like there would be any make-up sex. Not until hell froze over.