Money For Something

31 - Party Hard

**Ace**

"Stop looking so miserable. It's your stag night. You're supposed to party, not stare at your mobile all night you gloomy bastard."

Josh shoved another cocktail at me and gave a 'drink up' nod at the one already in my hand. I gulped it down not entirely begrudgingly, it was delicious after all, and set the empty glass down on the glass-topped rattan table in front of me.

I was simultaneously feeling the warm and fuzzies that my friends knew me well enough to bring me to a tiki bar and feeling miserable that Willow wasn't with us. She'd love the glorious kitsch and fruity beverages, not to mention the extravagantly gowned drag queens holding court in one corner of the room.

Scowling, I accepted the glass Josh thrust into my hand as I silently calculated the number of drinks he'd consumed. Had he drunk enough that I'd be able to overpower him and rescue my phone? He'd confiscated it and stashed it in his pocket. He gave me a knowing smirk as he took a seat beside Willow's uncle Greg. We knew each other well enough that it was more like mind reading than guessing for him to know what I was thinking.

The bastard was safe for now. It wasn't the presence of my in-laws that stopped me lunging across the table for him, it was the fact that slick Noel was sat beside me. It was one of my life ambitions for Noel to think I was cool, rockstar vulgarity was not the way to get there. He was already looking pained by the excessively fruity garnishes on our drinks, starting a brawl wasn't likely to improve his mood.

"Stop that!" Noel said with a pointed look at the hand I was using to beat out a rhythm on my knee. The foot that was tapping away under the table didn't escape his gaze either. "Do you ever sit still?"

"Sometimes?"

When I'm with Willow.

"Will having your phone in your hands stop your fidgeting?"

"Maybe?"

Probably not.

"Give him his phone back." Noel focused on Josh.

"No. He'll spend the entire night on the phone with his wife. It's supposed to be his last night out with his mates as a bachelor, next thing you know we'll be surrounded by women." Josh was pouting. His lips always had a bit of a pout about them, but his bottom lip was thrust forward in a way that I recognised as a sign of his displeasure.

"Mate, you're already surrounded by women," Noel scoffed.

It was true, we may have been occupying what was laughably referred to as the VIP area – literally one step up from the rest of the room surrounded by a railing – but our security had their work cut out for them keeping the hovering women, and some men, and even some men who looked like women at bay.

"You think I'll be the one to put out an SOS to my woman? What about him?" I pointed at Greg who was watching on with interest. Greg barked out a laugh.

"Son, when you've been married as long as I have, she wouldn't come even if I called. Deb does not appreciate any interruptions to girls' night."

Van, who sat beside him just shrugged and took a sip of his beer. Yeah, given half a chance he'd have Kim sitting on his knee. They hadn't been married so long that he didn't want to spend all his time with his wife. The bastard wasn't going to support me though, typical. My bandmates lived to torment me.

"I just want to know if Willow liked her surprise," I grumbled.

"Her surprise?" Noel prompted.

I couldn't help but puff up my chest a bit. I was pretty damn proud of the insanely brilliant surprise I'd organised for the hens party. "I arranged for her best friend to fly in from where she's been working in Europe for the hens and the wedding celebration."