“Christ, Brooke. Don’t be so f**king rude,” Joey says as Juls turns her back away from the table and continues her phone call. She’s in blissful bride mode and I don’t blame her for avoiding this conversation.

“What? I’m just saying, I would feel awkward if I had to play nice with my ex. You should just hook up with someone else in the wedding party.”

“Jesus Christ, like that’s the answer to all the world’s problems. Just hook up with someone in the wedding party. For your information, the only two other men in the wedding party are g*y or married and even if they weren’t, no. I’m not hooking up with anyone at the rehearsal dinner and definitely not at the wedding. That’s how this whole f**ked up situation got started in the first place.” I glance over at Joey who is staring at me, wide-mouthed and stunned. “You remember right, Joey? ‘Go ahead Dylan. You know you want to slip off into some dark corner and do something else in that lap of his.’ This is all your fault.”

His eyebrows raise and he leans across the table towards me. “My fault? How is this my fault? I didn’t push you into his lap. I didn’t make you run off to the bathroom with him and tell him to f**k you. And I sure as hell didn’t put a gun to your head to continue being his casual f**k buddy.” His finger darts across the table and points directly at me. “That was all you, cupcake.”

Juls spins around and glares at both of us, phone still up to her ear. “Jesus Christ, you two. Keep it down before we get thrown out of here.”

I reach over and grab his finger, bending it a bit as he screeches and pulls it away from me. “All me? Are you f**king serious? You were the one that said to be his sexy little mistress when we thought he was married. And you were the one that kept trying to convince me that it was more than just casual sex. ‘Oh Dylan, the man sends you love letters and he’s so romantic.’ Remember that bullshit?” I point right back at him and he jerks back in his stool. “Don’t you dare tell me you didn’t have a part in this. I had you yapping in my ear all day about how what we were doing meant more to both of us when clearly, it only meant more to me.” I slam my hand down on the table and grab my drink, downing it quickly. My sparing partner’s face softens and he shakes his head.

“Fuck, Dylan. You’re right.” He throws his hands up in the air dramatically. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I really hate fighting with you. You scare the shit out of me.” We both burst out laughing and I feel a pair of eyes on me as I turn quickly to Brooke who looks confused.

“You two are f**king weird. And I don’t care if the other two groomsmen are g*y, married, or prefemale to male transformation; I’m getting laid by someone.”

“Bitch, you better stay the hell away from Billy,” Joey says sternly. Juls quickly spins around and all arguments come to a halt at the sight of her beaming face. We all regain our composure and she’s none the wiser.

“Okay, baby, I love you too. Have fun.” She hangs up her phone and hops off her stool. “Alright, bitches, I believe it’s time for me to show your sorry asses up on the dance floor.” She does a quick spin and her black dress fans out around her knees.

“Ha!” I yell playfully as I get down and run over to her, putting her hand in mine. A clumsy Brooke follows while Joey quickly downs his beer.

“Let’s do this!” he yells.

We danced all night into the early morning hours, finally leaving Clancy’s at 2:00a.m. and all piling into the same cab. None of us drove which was a good thing because we are all rightly smashed and in zero condition to do anything but go to bed. We’re giggling like idiots in the back seat of the cab, throwing out our addresses and confusing the hell out of the driver.

“Christ, already. Who am I taking home first? I can’t understand four directions at once,” the driver yells back as we all fall into a fit of tearful chuckles.

“Brooke, oh my f**king God. That guy you were dancing with looked like Mr. T.” I laugh and she searches her brain for the image. “He even had all the gold chains.”

“But he could move. Whew.”

“Yeah he could. I’m pretty sure he had better moves than me which says a whole f**king lot,” Joey adds as Juls wipes the tears under her eyes.

The driver spins around to face us. “Ladies. Oh, and gentleman, sorry. Where the hell am I going?”

“I’m closest. Dylan’s Sweet Tooth on Fayette please.” I fall back against Joey. “Oh man, this was so fun. Juls, seriously, thanks for this.”

She winks at me as we pull away from the club. “So fun. I love you three. AND I’M GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW!” We all laugh and cheer as we drive off down the road, the petty arguments of the night left behind along with Brooke’s vomit that came shortly after we started out onto the dance floor. I called it though. The girl should really not be around hard liquor.

I’m dropped off a mere fifteen minutes later and say my quick goodbyes before I stumble inside and lock up behind me. After peeling out of my dress and removing my makeup, I open my dresser drawer and spot the University of Chicago T-shirt that I had stuffed into my duffle bag when I was packing up my stuff the day I ended things with Reese. I should have sent it back to him through Ian when I realized that I took it, but a part of me, a part of me that nobody knows about, likes wearing it to bed some nights when I want to smell him. I don’t wear it often for fear that my scent will overpower his. But I do decide on wearing it tonight. I slip it on and climb into bed, grabbing my phone and opening up my internet search.