Enjoying the Chase (59 page)

There was a commotion by the door; I could
hear heated talking and a couple of seconds later Seth walked in, being
escorted by two secret service agents. “I
’
m invited! I
’
m friends
with Ashton!” Seth grumbled.

I choked on my laughter as Ashton quickly
went over to sort it out.
That
’
ll teach the prick for hitting on my possible future mother-in-law!
I looked at DJ hopefully. “Think I could have one of those
stickers, Kid? I
’
ll buy you
another pack to make up for it,” I asked.

He nodded and handed me one. “I
’
ve gotted two of this one anyways,” he
answered, shrugging.

I smiled and peeled the back off it, before
quickly heading over to Ashton and Seth who were talking to the agents,
explaining that everything was fine. I slapped Seth on the back as I got over
to him.

“
You just can’
t help but cause a scene, can you? This is a church, Seth, show some
respect,” I teased, patting my hand on his back lightly. I grinned and turned
heading back to my group, leaving Seth with a Lotso Hugging Bear sticker on his
back.

Payback
’
s a bitch, my friend!

Chapter
Thirty-One

As I headed back to the group that I
arrived with, I heard Rosie doing the introductions between our parents. I had
no idea what George was going to think of my mother and all her craziness.

I stepped to Rosie’s side just as they all
finished shaking hands. Rosie turned to me and smiled. “You’re mean to him,”
she whispered, slipping her arm around my waist, nodding at Seth.

I laughed and shook my head. “
No I
’
m not. He hit on your
mom,” I replied. I looked back to my mom who was still crouched on the floor
next to DJ, looking at him like he was the best thing since sliced bread. “Don
’
t scare him with your weirdness, Mom.”

She beamed up at me happily. “I
’
m not scaring him, we
’
re doing stickers. Right, sweetpea?” She nudged DJ gently.

He grinned and nodded, pulling out more of
them. Ashton wandered back with Seth next to him. I stifled my laughter at Seth
’
s disgruntled face as he complained about the
security. “What was that about?” I asked, nodding back to the door.

Seth frowned, straightening his suit
jacket. “No freaking idea. I should put in a complaint. Did you see the death
grip they had on my arms? I
’
m an
invited guest, and they thought I was some sort of terrorist!”

“That might have something to do with your
friend telling them that you weren
’
t invited,” George chimed in, nodding in my direction.

What an asshole!

Seth
’
s accusing eyes snapped to mine. “What the fu-”

“
Fudge!
” Rosie interjected loudly, just as Seth was about to curse in front
of DJ.

Seth
’
s frown deepened as he looked at her like she was crazy, until she
motioned at DJ. Understanding crossed his face as he nodded slightly. “Okay, so
what the
fudge
did you do
that for? That wasn
’
t funny, dude!
You
’
re an ass…
teroid,
” he stated, frowning as he tried
to come up with an insult without cussing.

“An asteroid?” I repeated.

“You know what I
’
m trying to say, don
’
t
make me say it in front of the frog.” He laughed as DJ shot him a ‘I
’
m not a frog
’
face. His expression clearly said that he thought Seth was crazy.

 “I was just kidding around with the guys
outside, I didn
’
t realise they
would take me seriously,” I lied. I turned to Ashton, wanting to change the
subject. “You all set up? You
’
ll
tell me what I have to say, right? Do I have to make a speech or…” I trailed
off, wincing at the thought of it.

He laughed and shook his head. “No, the guy
will call us up to the front at some point. They
’
ll give you a card to read from. Then he
’
ll dunk Cameron
’
s head in
the water, we sing some hymn that Anna
’
s chosen, then we
’
re
done. You are then free to get wasted at the after party at the hotel,” he
answered.

Rosie looked at me, a small horrified
expression on her face. I frowned, slipping my arm around her waist to comfort
her. “What
’
s up, Stripes?
”

She winced. “You
’
re going to mime the hymn, aren
’
t you?”

“I
’
m an awesome singer,” I
protested jokingly
.

Ashton choked on his laughter. “Dude, you
sound like a bag of drowning cats when you sing,” he corrected, shaking his
head, still laughing. George laughed too and patted Ashton on the shoulder in
congratulations; he obviously liked me being insulted. Jerk.

DJ frowned. “What does a bag of drowning
cats sound like?” he asked, looking a little confused as he sorted through his
stickers again.

Ashton grinned at him. “Just listen to Nate
sing and then you
’
ll know,” he
answered, winking at him and slapping Seth a high five.

I groaned and closed my eyes. “Shall we go
find a seat before they
’
re all
taken?” I suggested, wanting to change the subject.

“I saved some seats for us, Poppet,” my mom
said, standing upright and then smiling at DJ. “You want to sit next to me,
sweetpea?” she offered
.

“Okay. Nanna Tracy can sit with us too; she
can help with the stickers. Right, Nanna?” he asked, smiling at Rosie
’
s mom lovingly. She nodded in agreement. “Did
you getted to see
Toy Story 3
, Nanna? I have it at my house; Nate
boughted it for me. We can watch it after the party if you want
.
”

George looked at me curiously, and I waited
to see if that made any difference to him accepting me. His jaw tightened, and
he looked away without saying anything. Again, apparently nothing is going to
help me win this guy over, I was doomed to be hated by him forever. Perfect.

“I
’
d love to watch it, DJ,” Tracy answered. “Maybe tomorrow though, we
won
’
t get back from the party
until around your bed time.”

He frowned and looked back to my mom. “Want
to watch it with us? We could get popcorn!” he enthused.  

She looked like her insides melted into a
puddle as she put her hand over her heart, looking like a proper woman in love
with her grandchild. “I
’
d love to,
sweetpea, but Evan and I live a little way away so we
’
ll be going home after the party. Maybe you could bring it to my
house when you come for a visit,” she suggested.

He nodded enthusiastically and let her lead
him off to the pew that she had saved for us. Rosie and I sat on the end
because we would be getting out to go up the front during the service anyway.
My parents and Rosie
’
s both
scooted down the pew, talking easily amongst themselves, chatting about where
they were from and the ride into LA.

The ceremony went without a hitch. We
stood up the front with the little candle and made the vows to look after
Cameron and guide him through life. I held Rosie’s hand tightly as we did our
thing. It was nice. I felt immensely proud to be included in such an important
thing in my best friend’s life. I, of course, mimed the song as I always did at
things like this. Very few people got to hear me actually sing; friends and
family only.

When it was over, we all split up into our
respective cars and headed to the posh hotel that had been booked for the after
celebration. Again, I ignored George nit-picking about my driving on the way
there. He was seriously getting on my last nerve. When we got there, we headed
into the function room at the back. Both sets of our parents decided it would
be fun to get a table together so I reluctantly sat down, trying to ignore
George who was still regarding me as if I
’
d stepped in something awful. I silently wished that I wasn
’
t driving so that I could just get drunk and
block him out.

I glanced at the bar longingly. “Anyone
want a drink?” I offered, standing up, wanting to be away from here already.
After they reeled off their orders, I headed to the bar, leaning on it heavily
as I frowned down at the counter.

A hand touched my back. I tilted my head up,
seeing Anna smiling at me sympathetically. “He
’
s a nice guy. Don
’
t
write him off, okay. He
’
s just
being hard on you because of Josh, just push past it,” she advised, rubbing my
back affectionately.

“He hates me,” I whined. Other people were
now coming up to the bar, so I
leaned in
closer so we
could talk privately.

She smiled. “Just give him time to know
you. You
’
ll win him over. You
’
re Nate Peters for goodness
’
sake. Name me one person who you couldn
’t charm,
” she replied, smiling at me
confidently.

“George York, apparently,” I grumbled.
Glancing back at the table, I saw my mom producing gift after gift for DJ.
There looked to be everything on the table, everything was
Toy Story
or
Disney, it looked like she
’
d been
on a shopping spree and kept Toys R Us in profit for this year. DJ was
practically bouncing with excitement as he looked at them all.

Ashton walked over then. “Is it pep talk
time?” he asked Anna. She nodded sadly. “I
’
ll take over,” he told her, winking at her.

She patted my back. “I
’
m leaving you in expert hands, Ashton is a professional at charming
the parents,” she teased, slapping his ass as she walked off.

Ashton gripped my shoulder, squeezing
supportively. “
I don’
t have any
advice for you. Just be yourself, and if he hates you then that
’
s his loss,” he instructed, shrugging.

“Wow, you
’
re helpful! At least your wife was trying to make me feel better
about myself,” I grumbled, waving for the barman to come over.

He laughed. “Okay, so I
’
ll tell you what I know about him and you
might be able to use something.”

I nodded eagerly.

“He
’
s very family orientated. When Josh left Rosie, he became really
overprotective of her, so you need to convince him you
’
re not going to hurt her.” He looked at me sternly, obviously
checking I was listening. “He
’
s a
huge
Cubs fan, so don
’
t say anything
bad about them. He works as a plumber, so maybe you could use that somehow, I
mean, your dad
’
s a builder so…” he
trailed off and frowned. “Not sure how you
’
d use that to help, but anyway, whatever. That
’
s about all I got really.”

“I got more than that from Rosie. You
’
re useless. Some best friend you are!” I
complained. I nodded back to the table where they were all laughing and setting
up board games with DJ. “Go big me up to him, tell him I
’
m a nice guy and stuff,” I instructed.

Ashton laughed and nodded. “Order me a
beer, will ya?” He didn
’
t wait for
an answer, just headed off to the table to, hopefully, help me out with the
possible future father-in-law problem that I had. I sighed and resumed scowling
at the countertop, willing the weekend to be over with already.

A couple of hours later and the
celebrations were slowly dwindling down. Rosie and I were off talking to Anna
and Ashton.

Seth walked up and shook his head, sipping
on his beer. “Why in the hell is everyone laughing at me today?” he asked,
frowning and glancing at some lady from Anna
’
s family, who pointed at his back and giggled.

I shrugged, trying to look innocent as
Ashton smirked at him. “
No idea, buddy,
” I lied, knowing it was because of the sticker that he still had on
his back.

Suddenly, he elbowed me in the arm a lot
harder than necessary to gain my attention.  I frowned and rubbed my stinging
arm, looking at him like he was crazy. “Hotties, four o
’
clock,” he stated, nodding off to my right.

I laughed and shook my head. “
Hottie, twelve o
’
clock,” I
replied, nodding at Rosie, who was standing in front of me, cuddling with
Cameron.

He sighed dramatically. “Fine! Jeez, you
’
re no fun any
more, you two are both bitched off and I
’
m the only one that
’
s
still using the right head to think with!” he scoffed, nodding at me and
Ashton.

“Bitched off?” Ashton repeated, shaking his
head. “Seth, seriously, what
’
s
wrong with you? You not been laid for a while or something?” he asked
incredulously.

Seth
’
s mouth dropped open in shock as if he
’
d just been insulted. “Of course I have. Don
’t
question my manhood! I’
m just saying that you two are
no fun to go out with anymore, where
’
s a wing man when I need one?”