Family Ties

Sixteen - Darrin

When Hunter and Andie first mentioned a destination wedding, I'd been stoked. Sun, sand, and beach babes sounded like the best idea. Apparently, they were thinking about something a little different because I was currently freezing my nuts off as I traipsed through several feet of snow with my heavy suitcase, toward the cabin that would house us all for the wedding-week. I was fucking over it, and I'd barely arrived.

This was the first time that Swigging Shots would be closed for a week straight since we opened. As soon as we were back, I was moving to take over our newly purchased bar. I was sad to be moving, but also looking forward to it. The women of our hometown had stopped holding their appeal for some time now. I was banking on a new town to rekindle the fire inside me.

"Dare! You made it! You're the last to arrive." Hunter said, as he happily threw open the front door of the cabin.

I barely refrained from glaring at him. He was my best friend, I reminded myself. He was about to be my brother-in-law. I couldn't strangle him, or Andie would be pissed. Even so, I couldn't help but say, "A lake house or a hut by the beach really didn't appeal to you more than a cabin in the middle of a fucking blizzard?"

Hunter laughed, "Andie liked the idea of getting married surrounded by snow and this isn't a blizzard. That's scheduled for tomorrow."

"Great." I muttered and heaved my suitcase through the front door. We did the customary bro-hug and I asked, "Where is everyone else?"

"Sophie and Justin are getting the kids settled with the grandparents in the main cabin, then they'll join us. Andie and Roxy are painting each other's toes in front of the fireplace. They've already gotten into the wine, so the giggles have commenced. Come on in and get warmed up. We have plenty of booze and firewood."

That sounded like a plan to me, but first, "Where am I sleeping? I'll stow my shit and then join you for a drink."

"Uh...about that." Hunter said, rubbing the back of his neck like he did when he was nervous.

"What up, Roomie?" Roxy said, joining us, and my eyes shifted to her. She wore no make-up, her fire-engine-red hair was up in a messy ponytail, and she wore a baggy sweatshirt over a pair of leggings. She'd been friends with my sister for as long as I could remember, and I'd been attracted to her that entire time. If only she also wasn't the biggest pain in the ass I'd ever met.

"Roomie?" I repeated but directed the question to Hunter.

"Uh, yea. Here's the thing. When we booked this cabin for the bridal party, I thought they said it had four bedrooms, but there are only three. Oops."

"Oops? So that means..." I turned to glare at Roxy, who was grinning mischievously. Leave it to her to not care that she and I would be sharing a room. She probably liked the idea just because she knew I wouldn't like it. The girl lived to piss me off. She giggled and then headed back to wherever she'd come from.

Hunter clapped a hand to my shoulder, "Sorry, Bro. Uh, you should know that there is only one bed in the room. It's a queen size, so hopefully that'll give you both enough space. I'd say you could sleep on the couch down here, but you'd possibly freeze to death. They recommended we close the fireplace downstairs and just use the fireplaces in the bedrooms upstairs at night. Something about it being more efficient. Also, I already checked and there are no rooms available in the main cabin either. You're stuck with Rox."

This was a joke, right? I didn't know anything about fireplaces, but that didn't sound right and no rooms available, really? I studied my best friend, but he looked serious, so I sighed. I wanted to raise a fit like they'd never seen before, but I didn't want to ruin the wedding mood. So, I sucked it up and said, "It's fine. I promise I'll try my hardest not to kill her while she sleeps."

"Thanks, man. I was afraid you'd want to bail and that would break Andie's heart. She has so many things planned for us this week."

"And you'll do anything to make her happy. I get it. I wouldn't bail on you guys. I'll handle the little she-devil just fine. Now, where is my room and then point me in the direction of the hardest liquor under this roof."

"You bet!" Hunter said and headed up the stairs. I followed at a slower pace, lugging my suitcase up with me. I'd be sharing a bed for the next six nights with Roxanne Blankley. How on earth was I going to survive it? She'd probably slit my throat if I accidently rolled into her space.

Well, if I was going to die, I was going to do down drunk, I decided. I put my suitcase in the middle of the bedroom that Hunter indicated was mine and ignored how small the bed looked. I was used to a king size, but Roxy was small, so hopefully we wouldn't even know the other was there.

I didn't bother putting anything away and, instead, followed Hunter down to the small kitchen where a dozen bottles of booze littered the counter. I grinned. Now we were talking.