Whatever It Takes

A Wrench

Nancy nudged me as I glared at Eddie. I glanced at her, taking another sip of my champagne. She leaned over to me.

"Can you please be nice to Ed? Just for a couple weeks?" she asked quietly. I furrowed my brows.

"'Ed'? You have a nickname for him now?" I asked incredulously. She rolled her eyes.

"He's one of my fiancé's best friends," she sighed. I scoffed and crossed my arms, annoyed with her. She elbowed me again. "Please, Dovey?"

"He's awful to me – why don't you talk to him about being nice to me?" I snapped. She rolled her eyes.

"Because you are my best friend," she sniped. I shook my head and took another gulp of my champagne. She nudged me again, making me look at her. I glared at her, and she smiled kindly. "I think Jonathan has told him to be nice to you. He was saying something about talking to Ed about you."

I rolled my eyes again and looked over at Eddie and Jonathan. They were chatting animatedly about something, and Jonathan looked exasperated as Eddie grilled him with questions. Eddie looked over at me, flashing a wolfish smile that made my heart flutter for some reason. I cleared my throat and looked back at Nancy.

"I will attempt to be cordial to him, only until the wedding, and only if he's not a raging asshole," I conceded. Nancy smiled brightly and set an arm around me, pulling me in for a hug.

"You are the best and you are such a good friend for setting aside your grudge for me!" she chirped. I rolled my eyes.

"Only for a couple of weeks. As soon as you're Nancy Byers, I'm right back to making sure Eddie Munson has no presence in my life," I insisted. 

She laughed and hugged me tighter, and I finally smiled, deciding to let go some of my ire. Jonathan turned to us, cutting Eddie off by clamping his hand down on his shoulder. 

"So, Nance, honey – what do you need everyone to help with today?" Jonathan asked, his voice strained, obviously annoyed with Eddie. I looked over and noticed Eddie watching me. I glared at him, and as soon as he realized I caught him, he snapped his head away. I furrowed my brows when I saw his cheeks flush. Nancy set her champagne down and clapped her hands.

"I want help in making centerpieces – two people can work on one at a time, and I need one person to bend the wire like this, and the other to wrap the ribbon like this," Nancy explained, performing a demonstration for us on the intricate design she was planning for her centerpieces.

I watched in awe, becoming more and more intimidated with each new step. Eddie leaned over to me, keeping his eyes on Nancy. 

"Your friend is an insane version of June Cleaver," he whispered. My mouth twisted into a smile, and I snorted. He looked at me, grinning wildly. He really had a nice smile when he wasn't smirking at his stupid jabs at me. It was bright and welcoming, and filled his whole face. His dark eyes crinkled, and he almost looked human. He shrugged. "You know I'm right."

"And that's all there is to it!" Nancy announced, gesturing at an intricate centerpiece. She clasped her hands together. "We'll put flowers in the the day of the wedding."

I raised my eyebrows and nodded my head, resigned to whatever my best friend wanted. Jonathan cleared his throat.

"Eddie and Dovey can work together!" he announced. My jaw dropped and I snapped my head to Nancy, about to explode. She raised her eyebrows, secretly begging me to play nice. I let out a loud huff, trying to temper my anger. My fury welled back up when Eddie set one of his large arms around my shoulders and pulled me close to him.