Page 53 of The Attack Zone
Finally, she sends a laughing emoji. I’m not sure what that means though.
Stacey: Yes, Mitch. No other men.
Oh, thank god.
We arrive at our gate and see Caleb and Matti sitting in silence together. It was really nice of Caleb to invite Matti, but the two of them definitely need some help getting out of their shells. Good thing I’m excellent at that.
“Who’s ready to party it up in PR?” I ask with a little dance as I approach.
“Hell yeah,” says Thomas, offering his hand for a high-five. As soon as our hands collide, Caleb has a smile on his face and Matti seems more relaxed. It’ll be worth it to let go of my anger towards Thomas if it means this trip goes well, so I pull him into a hug. Toxic masculinity can suck my dick. He slaps my back weirdly like all men do and steps back. We share a knowing look and I guess this is what burying the hatchet feels like. I haven’t been historically great at it, but Thomas has been there for me when my own parents weren’t, so I have to try.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. It’s a photo message to our group chat from Stacey of the girls in her SUV driving up to the mountains. Cassie and Hazel are there too, along with Cassie’s new sparring partner for boxing, Sarah, but I just stare at Stacey. She has a big grin on her face, and it nearlytakes my breath away. Thomas and Caleb got the text too. It makes sense for Caleb to be checking out his future wife, but Thomas seems to be staring at it too. I wonder what that’s about?
“She’s married, dude,” Caleb says to Thomas.
“Who’s married?” he asks.
“Sarah, isn’t that who you’re staring at?” Caleb asks.
“I’m not staring at anyone,” King says, far too quickly to be convincing. I’ll definitely be asking him about this at our next breakfast together. But for now, I’ll let him off the hook.
“Does everyone want their first party favor?” I ask.
“Party favors?” Matti asks, a half-confused, half-concerned look on his face.
“Mitch doesn’t do anything halfway,” Caleb says.
I reach into my bag and pull out the custom fanny packs Stacey helped me order on Etsy. They sayCaleb’s Crew, except for Caleb’s, which just saysGroom. We might look like a bachelorette party, but I don’t care. These things are awesome.
“I am not using that,” says King.
“Yes, you are,” Caleb says defiantly.
We all stare at him. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him sound so self-assured in my life.
“What?” he asks. “It’s my party, right?”
Two Days Later
Traveling for work is one thing; I’m used to it. It’s basically part of my routine at this point. But vacations are something else entirely and as soon as we landed in Puerto Rico, I felt completely alive with energy zinging through my body at light speed. It feels amazing. We’re walking around Old San Juan when Thomas turns to me.
“Okay,” he says as he reaches inside his fanny pack. “This thing is actually really awesome. There’s so much space!”
“Yeah,” Matti says. “Now I understand why women carry purses.”
“Their clothes also don’t have real pockets,” Caleb says. “Cassie complains about it all the time.”
“That would drive me nuts,” Thomas says.
“Patriarchy, man,” I say. “It’s a bitch.”
Matti and Thomas both give me a weird look. “Has planning my wedding turned you into Stacey?” Caleb asks.
“Which one is Stacey again?” Matti asks.
“The sexy as fuck one,” I say without thinking. I do that a lot when I have this much energy. Thomas’ eyes go wide, and Caleb’s mouth falls open. “What?” I ask, looking for a quick recovery. “You can’t deny that she’s hot, guys.”
“Of course she is,” Thomas says, even though I know he’s not into her at all. At least he’s on my side about Caleb not finding out about Stacey. She would kill me. “Anyway ...”