Work Wife

Groom Games

All of us fill in around the long rectangular table and tonight, they gave us a private room in the back, surrounded by walls of expensive wine. It's cozy back here and I make it a point to sit on the opposite end of Chase and Ainslee. Logan drops in next to me and places his hand on my knee after we settle in and my heart swells a bit. 

I already feel comfortable with Logan, which is... unsettling. I'm never this at ease with a man after just one date. It feels easy - too easy, and relationships for me are rarely anything but. Usually, I'm the one who sabotages them, always because of Chase.

But tonight, I don't want to think about Chase. I want to enjoy the way Logan's hands feel on me, the way his presence quiets the noise in my head. Whatever this is, I want to go with the flow and see where it leads. I take a deep breath, shaking off the flicker of frustration still lingering, and focus instead on the far more pressing question: what I'll be drinking tonight.

We are quick to order and tequila seems to be the drink of choice tonight. The guys aren't supposed to come with us to the club after, so we'll see how well these girls handle their alcohol later.

"You're going to have to go to the club after this, aren't you?" Logan leans in and asks me and I give him a dramatic frown while nodding.

"As much as I would rather do anything else, I am a bridesmaid which means I need to do bridesmaid activities to not piss off the bride." Bread baskets are dropped around the table and as Logan hands me a chunk of sourdough, I add, "And I'm pretty sure Chase wants to do an all-guys thing tonight, which includes you."

"We hung out at the pool all afternoon together. We need more quality time with the groom? Eleven years isn't enough?"

I'm not able to answer because Tory is suddenly standing at the end of the table with pens and small sheets of paper in her hand. Kaitlyn is clanking her water glass with a knife, and everyone eventually turns to give her our attention.

"Okay so," Tory starts after all eyes are on her, "We are obviously here because Chase and Ainslee are getting marrrrrriiedddd..." All the girls start cheering, but the guys sit there wondering what she's going on about. "So, we already played this game at Ainslee's shower and we thought it would be fun to do with everyone, but about Chase this time since all his closest friends are here! Do some fun wedding stuff while we are waiting for our appetizers." She hands the stack of papers to Kaitlyn to pass around and sends the pens in the opposite direction. I notice it's the How Well Do You Know the Bride? game and I was terrible at this at her shower since I had only known her for three months. I randomly guessed almost every answer.

I glance at Logan as I say, "You've known Chase for eleven years, you should know all of these." He scans the list and then replies, "I actually do know what Chase's favorite ice cream flavor is..." I watch as he takes his pen and scribbles in "Penis." I can tell he's going to take this seriously.

"Oh, and the winner gets a shot of 1942," Tory announces when we all have our sheets. High-end tequila seems to motivate the guys to pick up their pens.

I'm surprised how many I think I know and I notice I am done before a lot of the others. Callum is snickering the whole time and I don't think Logan took the answers seriously at all either. Chase hands his sheet to Tory and once we are all done, we look at her to continue.

She reads the first question aloud: "What is the groom's middle name?" Almost everyone confidently answers Michael- except Maddie, Lauren, and Kaitlyn. 

The next question is easier: "What color are the groom's eyes?" Callum grins and says, "Poop brown." His laughter is short-lived, though, because everyone quickly points out he has the exact same eye color as his brother.