Someone to Hold

Thunderstruck

Johnny shot an admiring glance at Lacey. She looked gorgeous in a pale pink dress that seemed to glow against her tan.

"I'm sorry we didn't find Thor for you yesterday," he said trying to inject sincerity into his voice. He really did hate that she was disappointed.

"It's okay babe, I didn't really expect we would. We're not exactly the best stalkers." Lacey brushed bronzer across her cheeks.

They weren't any kind of stalkers. Not once had they made any kind of attempt to track down Thor. They'd driven down to Byron Bay, had lunch, gone up to the lighthouse where they'd seen dolphins frolicking in the waves off the Cape - Brian had very pointedly asked him if they were the killer variety – had ice-cream or smashed it into Johnny's face in Zacky's case, then stopped at a place called Hastings Point for a swim on the way home. Aaron had produced an array of inflatables and boogie boards and the entire group had soothed their hangovers by floating lazily in the crystal blue water. Even Brooks who was now limping on both feet. Steph, Brian, Mel, Michelle and Baby Haner had headed off before everyone else was finished saying they had errands to run.

Johnny had barely noticed because Aaron had tossed him a beer from the cooler in the back of the car. Hair of the dog and all that. An attempt at learning the game of beach cricket hadn't gone well when Johnny, who hadn't realised that you held on to the bat when you hit the ball and ran, flung his bat away clipping Brooks in the shins. For some reason the guy was a disaster magnet on this trip. Brooks had snatched up an inflatable raft and floated away well out of Johnny's reach. Not that he could blame him; he could only hope that Brooks would survive the surprise that was in store for him in a couple of days.

Matt and Caitie hadn't immediately disappeared for a honeymoon having decided that they'd prefer hanging out with their friends and then when the majority of the group left they were going to sneak away for a couple of days while the two sets of parents and Matt's sister watched Matt's boys. Not that Johnny was complaining about Matt and Caitie's lack of honeymoon. It filled him with a sense of unholy glee every time he watched Matt almost hulk out when he caught random guys checking out Caitie's legs in the little shorts she liked to wear.

"So where are we going tonight and why do I have to be so gorgeous?" he asked buttoning his shirt.

Lacey grinned and rolled her eyes. "Mel's cousins are holding a dinner for everyone up at their place."

"Why?"

"Because it's a beautiful spot."

"Yeah but why do we have to go? And more importantly why do we have to dress up?"

Lacey sighed, "Because we were invited and because Mel asked very nicely if we wouldn't mind dressing up. Apparently her cousins like to go all out and although they've known Caitie since she was a baby there wasn't enough space to invite them to the wedding so it's also partly to celebrate Matt and Caitie's wedding."

"This has become some kind of fucking destination wedding extravaganza. I thought it was going to be 'boom' beach wedding and then sun, sea, sand and cocktails for days," Johnny grumbled.

"Did I mention that there's free alcohol?"

"Should I wear a tie?"

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Brooks clambered out of the back of the mini-bus and tried not to wince when his feet made contact with the grass. Zacky had only been half joking when he'd asked him if he wanted a wheelchair. Kelly followed Brooks out of the vehicle and extended a helpful hand as Zacky assisted his own Kelly down. Johnny and Lacey were the next to exit. Matt and Caitie along with their parents, Matt's boys, Matt's sister and Val and Michele's parents followed after them. Johnny had dubbed the entire group in their bus as the G-Force in honour of the two Gary's. Another bus carried the rest of the group including to Brooks's never ending surprise Cathy and Matt, it wasn't often that Jeff allowed something like transportation to get in the way of his and Matt's bromance. After all it wasn't like the transfer company was offering SkyMiles, Jeff had asked.