The Wedding Date Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  The Wedding Date

  Sean Ashcroft

  Copyright © 2016 by Sean Ashcroft

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Chapter One

  “Hey,” Ethan nudged Caleb as he set a beer down in front of him and started opening and setting out boxes of Chinese food on the coffee table. This was one of his favorite parts of the week, just getting to sit and be with his best friend without having to worry about anything else. Caleb was quiet tonight, though, running his hand through his hair more often than usual, a frown line stubbornly set between his brows.

  Ethan hated to see him upset, and he knew the signs well. “You’ve been quiet tonight. Wanna talk about it?”

  “No.” Caleb sighed. “Yes. Not really. I caught Matt cheating on me. Like, literally in the act. I’m processing.”

  Ethan saw red for a moment, a flash of rage that yet another deadbeat boyfriend had hurt Caleb. It wasn’t the first time—it was so far from the first time that Caleb didn’t even seem surprised—but it still made Ethan angry every time.

  Not at Caleb. Never at Caleb. Just at the awful partners he kept ending up with.

  “I have both ice cream and tissues,” Ethan offered, only half-joking. If Caleb needed to sit on the couch and cry and eat ice cream straight out of the container, Ethan wasn’t going to stop him. “And later, I can dig a baseball bat out of the closet and break his kneecaps for you.”

  Caleb laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. Ethan shifted in place, not sure what to do. They’d been here before, and Caleb eventually got over it, but Ethan always found himself muddling his way through, trying desperately to think of something that would make Caleb feel better and, as far as he knew, failing horribly.

  Maybe it was just that what Caleb needed was someone to listen to him, which Ethan was always happy to do. He just wished he could do something more practical. Ideally, something to solve the problem before it happened.

  “He’s not worth the trouble. I’m better off without him, I guess,” Caleb said, breaking his pair of disposable chopsticks apart. “I’m just… so tired of not being able to hold onto a man for more than a few months. There’s gotta be something wrong with me.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with you,” Ethan said. “Except for your taste in men.”

  Caleb snorted, plucking a piece of orange chicken from its container. Ethan envied his skill with chopsticks. He’d never seen Caleb drop anything with them.

  He, on the other hand, made a point of picking up the container first and holding it close, so he wouldn’t have to move his bite of food too far. Grace and elegance were not Ethan’s strong points. He was too stubborn to switch to a fork, though, and Caleb had stopped suggesting it long ago.

  “Maybe I’m destined to be alone forever. I should get a cat. I just wish he’d been able to keep it in his pants until after Olivia’s wedding. Now I have to face my family alone.”

  “Hey, if you go alone, you’ve got a way better chance of picking up a groomsman. Or whatever they’re called. A male bridesmaid.”

  “I think you were right the first time,” Caleb said, cracking open his beer and taking a mouthful, closing his eyes for a second as he swallowed. Some of the tension in his body seemed to have eased, but Ethan could see he was still stressed. “Payton’s friends are probably gross rich people.”

  “I hate to point this out, but your family isn’t exactly broke.”

  “My family are comfortably upper middle class. Payton’s family are disgustingly wealthy. The engagement party was on their private yacht. His dad cornered me and explained the pros and cons of different tax havens at length. It was... uncomfortable.”

  Ethan wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, okay. They’re gross. I guess not going to the wedding isn’t an option?”

  “It’s my sister’s wedding,” Caleb said. “And the whole thing’s booked and paid for, and I’ve already gotten the time off work. So no, I can’t really not go.”

  Caleb was right about that. He couldn’t skip out on one of his only sister’s big life events, and judging by what Ethan knew of his family, not having a social buffer with him would make it awkward.

  “Bummer. Maybe you’ll meet a hot Hawaiian guy and hit it off.”

  “I can’t hook up at my sister’s wedding. She’s got her life all figured out and I’m gonna show up having to tell my family that I broke up with the guy I was going to bring with me because he cheated on me, because apparently I’m just that unappealing as a romantic partner.”

  Ethan made a sympathetic noise, trying to think of something useful to say. He got where Caleb was coming from. He wouldn’t have wanted to explain his own love life to his family, and Caleb’s was way worse. At least Ethan’s only suffered from being practically non-existent.

  It wasn’t Caleb’s fault that the guys he picked were awful, but Ethan wished he’d pick someone who deserved him, just once.

  “It’s not your fault that asshole cheated on you, man. You know that.”

  Caleb sighed. “I know. It’s just hard to believe when you’ve had the relationship history I have. And my whole family knows all about it and I just wanted to show them one time that I could make a good choice, that I could find someone who loved me, too, and that there was some hope I’d be getting married someday.”

  A thought occurred to Ethan, but he pushed it aside as stupid. Caleb wouldn’t go for it, and it was bound to come back and bite them in the ass.

  But then he looked up and saw Caleb’s slumped shoulders, his tired face, and the general cloud of misery hanging over him. It had to be worth at least mentioning it. Caleb could tell him it was stupid, and at least he’d feel like he was trying to help.

  “So take me with you instead,” Ethan said. This was something he could do, something practical that would go some way to fixing the situation for Caleb. “I could use a break.”

  “I’m sorry, but that’s way more pathetic than not bringing anyone. I don’t want to have to explain to my family that I brought my best friend so I wouldn’t have to spend the weekend alone because I really can’t get a date.”

  “No, I mean, bring me as your date. As your boyfriend or whatever. I’d be the perfect doting boyfriend. And I’m hot.”

  Caleb raised an eyebrow. “Someone has a high opinion of himself.”

  Ethan opened his mouth to ask if Caleb was seriously suggesting that he didn’t think Ethan was attractive, but then thought better of it. Caleb was his best friend, he was better off not knowing.

  Besides, he’d been joking. He knew he wasn’t necessarily much to look at, and he didn’t need to hear that from Caleb, either.

  “I’m just saying. I’ve always wanted to see Hawaii. I can be a nice, sensible choice, and I’ll even wear a suit.
What could possibly go wrong?”

  “You’re straight,” Caleb said.

  “You say that like it’s a problem.” Ethan shrugged. “They’re not gonna want to watch us having sex, right? So that won’t make any difference. It’s only for what? A few days, and then you can tell your family stories about how awesome I am for a couple of months after and then quietly break up with me. Say we decided we were better off as friends.”

  The more Ethan thought about it, the better it sounded. He’d get a tropical vacation out of it, and Caleb wouldn’t have to face his family with another story of a relationship gone south. No one was going to figure it out, because in public, he could be a doting boyfriend. Speaking well of Caleb came as second nature to him. To Ethan, Caleb was one of the coolest people ever.

  Ethan was just one of the internal IT guys, keeping the network and all the computers safe from the idiots in the office. Boring stuff. Caleb was a user experience designer. He was the one who made websites, apps and physical products fun and easy to use. It was a way more creative, important job than Ethan’s. Caleb never treated him like he was less important, though.

  Besides, that was only the work stuff. Away from work, Caleb was fun to be around. He was the perfect wingman—even if Ethan never quite managed to close the deal—and he knew all the best bars. They had similar tastes in movies and comic books and video games, and they were still friends after maybe a thousand Mario Kart matches. If people had friendship soulmates, Caleb was Ethan’s. Pretending to be his boyfriend didn’t seem like a huge leap from there, though Caleb’s boyfriends usually weren’t people either of them would choose to be friends with.

  Ethan got that, sort of. He suspected his own insistence that he had something in common with the girls he dated was why he hadn’t gotten laid in over a year.

  “This is a bad idea,” Caleb said, swapping his takeout box with the one Ethan was holding. Ethan went with it, used to Caleb’s habit of stealing his food. He didn’t mind. Caleb was the one who brought him food when he was stuck doing overtime all week and no one else was around. Busy and stressful as they were, Ethan liked those times. He liked quiet hangouts with Caleb while he waited for two hundred computers to download and install an update so he could check them before anyone got in the next morning.

  Down time was boring, but at least they got to hang out away from the office and catch up on sleep. The wedding coming up was the perfect between-projects distraction. Ethan hadn’t taken a proper vacation in years.

  “I never have bad ideas,” Ethan said. “It’s perfect. We met at work and fell in love over late nights and weekends eating junk food. It’s an office romance. It’s boring and down to earth and the kind of story you can actually tell people.”

  “It’s nice of you to offer, but I think it’s time I told my family that I’m taking a vow of celibacy so I never have to deal with men again. At least that way they won’t try to pair me off with the one gay man in Payton’s family.”

  “What’s he like?” Ethan asked. Maybe it’d be good for Caleb to go alone, if it meant he’d have the chance to get to know someone he might have a future with.

  “I don’t know, he’s hypothetical.” Caleb swapped takeout containers again, going for one that was still on the coffee table this time. “But there will be one. And he’ll probably be boring and awful and grope me at the reception after two drinks. There’s always one. And I’m always introduced to him as though we’ll get along because we’re both gay, like that’s the single most important facet of my existence.”

  “Oh.” Ethan’s heart sank. “You sure you don’t wanna take me? Because I’d come in handy as a human shield. Anyone gropes my fake boyfriend, I’ll break their goddamn fingers.”

  “I appreciate the offer to be my knight in shining armor, but I think this is one of those times where I have to be a grownup about it and just deal. And I can break his fingers myself if it comes down to it.” Caleb paused, and then laughed to himself. “I’d probably just let him grope me. I’m starting to miss human contact.”

  “Do you need a hug?” Ethan asked.

  “Literally always,” Caleb said. He’d barely finished getting the words out before Ethan threw his arm around Caleb’s shoulders and pulled him close, squeezing him against his side. Caleb wasn’t a big guy by any means, and Ethan had a good four inches in height and shoulder width on him. He fit neatly against his side, and it was nice to have human contact. It had been a while for Ethan, too.

  “Thank you,” Caleb said softly after a moment. “I might take you up on that ice cream, later. And again, when I get back and I have to complain about literally every minute of what would otherwise be a fun vacation.”

  Ethan chuckled, letting Caleb go after another few moments so they could both go back to eating. “I’ll be here to listen. And you can text me as it happens if you want.”

  “I’ll probably take you up on that, too.” Caleb smiled wryly. “Why do we have families?”

  “We need them to feed us until we’re old enough to order takeout,” Ethan said. “After that… I dunno.”

  “You go home every Thanksgiving. You’re not fooling anyone.” Caleb sighed. “I’m glad you have a cool family.”

  “Having heard your horror stories, so am I,” Ethan said. Ethan wasn’t about to move home to be closer to his family or anything, but he liked seeing them when they were all together. Family Thanksgivings were nice, and the same was true when he went home for Christmas, too. “We’re not perfect or anything, but we love each other.”

  “I think my parents love me. I just think they wanted me to be very different.” Caleb sat back and sipped his beer. “I dunno.”

  “Just go and tell yourself you’re gonna have a good time. Drink brightly-colored cocktails by the pool. It’s good for the soul.”

  Caleb laughed at that. “It is. And there’ll be pool boys. It won’t be all bad.”

  “See? All you gotta do is think positive,” Ethan said, though he knew that was harder than it sounded. He just wanted Caleb to have a nice vacation. He deserved a break.

  It was a pity they weren’t both going. Ethan could have used the break, too, and he hated going away on his own. They could have had a lot of fun together, but he wasn’t going to push. This was family stuff, and he wouldn’t be doing Caleb any favors by interfering.

  Maybe they could go on a trip together some other time, the next time they had a gap between major projects. Head out into the wilderness and not have to look at a computer screen for a few days, or go to Vegas and do a ton of stuff they never talked about again except when they were drunk and feeling nostalgic a few years down the line. Or maybe they could just take an overnight trip to see a concert or something.

  The more he thought about it, the more Ethan liked the idea of going somewhere with Caleb. They could talk about it once he’d recovered from the wedding.

  Chapter Two

  Caleb read his sister’s email over again, feeling his stomach tighten just like it had the first four times. He hated that he felt like this about going to see her on what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, but there was so much crap around it. Family and relationships and feeling like a failure because his little sister had found someone and he still hadn’t managed to hold onto a guy long enough to bring him to a family event.

  None of that was Olivia’s fault, though, and he owed it to her to support her at her wedding. No matter how uncomfortable it was going to be.

  I need a name for the place cards at the reception and I don’t know what your boyfriend is called.

  He didn’t want to have to explain that he’d lost yet another boyfriend and would be attending yet another important family event alone, because his life was generally a failure. Because unlike her, he couldn’t get a man to stick with him for more than a few weeks before they either got tired of him or turned out to be an asshole.

  Like the one who’d stolen and crashed his car, or the one who’d moved into his apartment unann
ounced while he’d been sleeping in his office for a few days to get a project finished by the deadline. Or the one who’d used his phone to send an email to every contact in his address book announcing their engagement two dates in.

  Caleb still wasn’t sure if that had been intended as a prank, or if the guy had genuinely, for some reason, wanted to marry him. In either case, he had a passcode on his phone now, and the only other person who knew it was Ethan. It was meant to be for emergencies, but it had also ended in him having a photo of Ethan pulling a face as his lock screen.

  Caleb had left it, partially out of laziness, partially because if it was already like that, Ethan couldn’t do anything worse. Occasionally, the lock screen changed to Ethan pulling a different face in a different setting. Caleb had come to accept that this was part of his life. Even with him pulling the stupid face, it was comforting to see his friend every time he went to check his phone.

  While he was still thinking up a way to reply to his sister without sounding completely pathetic, a cup of takeout coffee appeared in front of him. A moment later, Ethan sat down on Caleb’s desk, in the spot he kept clear for exactly that purpose. Before he’d kept it clear, Ethan had just moved stuff to make room, which meant Caleb couldn’t find any of it later.

  Making room for Ethan was a better, more sensible option than leaving him to make his own room. Because he’d do it, and he wouldn’t be particularly careful about it, either.

  Caleb had never been able to bring himself to mind. He liked Ethan squeezing his way into his life, like a cat determined to fit into a box half its size. Caleb had let his life expand to make room for Ethan.

  He still wasn’t entirely sure why Ethan wanted to be a part of his life, even after three or four years of friendship, but he’d stopped fighting it. Ethan had become the most important person in the world to him, and now Caleb was glad he’d let him in.

  “So, you look like your computer just crashed and ate two days’ worth of work, which I assume isn’t what happened, because you believe in backups.”