Steam (Homecoming Hearts #4)(43)

“So, I’ll see you soon,” he said as he paused at their door. “You okay heading down alone?”

Ashby gave him a beaming smile. “Oh, no. I’m meeting Gabe and the others first. They’re being so kind in looking after me.”

Trent winked and touched Ashby’s elbow through his robe. “They probably just like you, man. You’re an easy guy to like.”

Ashby blinked owlishly at him and swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

Trent realized his words could be seen as maybe a little misleading. But only if he got awkward. So he grinned and shrugged. “Bet you I look the prettiest when we get down there,” he said.

Ashby scoffed, all tension gone. “I think not, sir,” he said, affronted. “I’ll be so pretty no one will even notice the grooms.”

“Is that so?” Trent asked, arching an eyebrow. “Okay, loser buys the other a drink.”

“Who’ll decide?” Ashby asked impishly.

“We’ll take a vote,” Trent promised.

It was the natural point at which to break off the conversation and head out the door. But a wild impulse took over Trent.

He wanted to lean over and kiss Ashby on the cheek.

Nothing ravishing. It just struck him as the obvious way to say goodbye. Instead, he cleared his throat and reached for the door, pulling it open. “I’ll, um, catch you down there, then,” he grunted.

He was out the door before he could gauge if Ashby had noticed him being so fucking weird. What the hell? He was taking advantage of Ashby’s crush and it needed to stop.

He muttered to himself the whole way to Blake’s room. He was a piece of shit friend who needed to keep his cock in check. He was too old to be a slave to his fucking hormones.

Blake’s room was a riot as soon as Trent stepped inside. Blake’s mom was already there, a slim, perfectly polished woman who was determined to inflict her beauty standards on everyone in the room. She was dressed head to toe in lavender and wore an enormous flowered hat on her blonde hair, even though the ceremony wasn’t due to start for another two hours. Wherever she moved, it became a risk to the eyes and throats of whoever was next to her.

As soon as Trent closed the door, Mrs. Jackson bustled over. Joey ducked to avoid the killer hat as he fussed with his cravat.

“TJ, there you are,” she cried breathlessly, like he was late. He was actually a few minutes early. “Quick, here’s your suit. We haven’t got much time.”

Trent met Blake’s gaze before Blake looked at the ceiling and muttered something under his breath.

As Trent moved his way further into the room, he greeted Joey and Raiden. The groomsbitches, Jodi and Devon, were getting ready in Devon’s room. Trent wouldn’t have been surprised if Jodi had locked the door on her mom so they could get some peace. Blake had no such luck. His mom was already attacking the blond hair he’d inherited from her with several different products.

“How do you feel about using straighteners, dear?” she asked.

“Mom,” he growled.

But she merely tutted. “There won’t be just our usual camera crew today, hon,” she said, like this was normal. “There are the people from Us Weekly and several blogs. You have to impress them!”

He batted her hand away but managed to accompany the action with a smile. “The only person I want to impress is Elion,” he said patiently.

His mom just hummed and started rolling a fruity-scented wax paste between her fingers.

Trent sighed and kicked off his sneakers. He’d been trying to forget that there would be camera crews capturing the whole ceremony on film. Blake had promised them they would be shooed away after the first dance, but knowing Blake’s mom, Trent wouldn’t be surprised if they stuck around until the bitter end, invited or not.

He was stuck wondering how much attention he should pay to Ashby. They were friends, and he was Trent’s plus one, so he wasn’t going to ignore him. But did he want to make it obvious to anyone watching that they were supposed to be more?

That was how Elion and Blake had gotten together, after all. Faking it for the cameras.

And now they were getting married.

No, no. Ashby was not Elion. Trent was not Blake. He would just be friendly, and if that shithead Kiefer saw and wasn’t convinced, Trent could calmly explain that Ashby was wary of public displays of affection. Not that it was any of Kiefer’s business. Ashby should just be able to say no because he wasn’t interested, not because he wasn’t available. Trent felt he wouldn’t need much prompting to explain that properly to Kiefer.

“So. How’s your not-boyfriend this morning?”

Trent looked over to see Raiden had slunk up next to him while he fiddled with his cufflinks. He looked from his wrists back over at Trent with an expression of pure innocence. He was almost as tall as Trent but about half the size. He knew full well that Trent could beat the crap out of him if he felt like it.

“If you’re talking about Ashby,” Trent said curtly, “he was a little worse for wear. He’s not a fucking ox like your partner. They could have encouraged him to drink some water.”

Raiden’s dark eyebrows rose under the black bangs that swept across his forehead. “Maybe he needed his big, bad not-boyfriend to come look after him?”

He had a devilish look in his eyes. Trent’s stomach dropped and he tried not to feel sick. He was glad there was music playing from a laptop, so at least the others couldn’t hear. “Did…did Ashby say I was his boyfriend?” he asked.