Page 26 of Watcher
Atticus:Everything? **winking badly with both eyes**
Foster:Everything.
Atticus:I had a thought today while listening to a long spiel from my lawyers. We should get married?
Foster:You had a thought about us getting married while listening to lawyers?
Atticus:Yes. In my defense, I’ve been considering this for a while. I just hadn’t thought of a good way to bring up the topic. All their yammering gave me time to mull things over. So, what do you think?
Foster: Did you just ask me to marry you THROUGH A TEXT MESSAGE?
Atticus:Yes. I can ask you to your face too, if you’d like? I already have the ring.
Foster:God, this is so typically you.
Atticus:Was that a yes?
Foster:FFS. Yes.
Atticus:You’re so dramatic. I love you.
Foster:You’re such an asshole. I love you, too.
Atticus: Does that mean we can get married this weekend?
Foster:*sigh* Yes.
Atticus:That’s the spirit.
Watching Foster marry the man he loved had been a beautiful sight. He had a great time people-watching. Atticus had looked so earnest while saying his vows. Crisp never saw the guy serious about anything. With the actual wedding at its end, Crisp stole his chance to eye everyone surrounding him. Tidy sat on his left, and Field sat on his right. Foster hadn’t asked anyone to stand up with him. If he had, there wouldn’t be any guests. Plus, that was just Foster. He always stood alone. Foster was Crisp’s best friend. Well, Tidy and Foster kind of tied for that label. But even he didn’t know why Foster felt so alone in their family,sometimes. He was blood-related to some of their brothers. That hadn’t mattered much to Foster, as far as Crisp had seen. It was nice to see him stand so proudly with Atticus. He had to admit Atticus was very personable. Atticus was a chameleon, of sorts. He became whoever he needed to be minute to minute. It was fascinating to watch. They were lucky to have found each other.
“You look handsome in this suit.” The comment had Crisp’s gaze jumping to the pair seated in front of him. The chef, Fabrice, stared at Atticus’ longtime butler as if waiting for a response to his compliment.
Kirkland finally glanced Fabrice’s way when it became obvious Fabrice wouldn’t stop focusing on him until he answered. “I’m twice your age.”
A smile snapped to Crisp’s lips. The two were like watching a tennis match.
“You don’t know how old I am.”
Kirkland looked scandalized. “I know I’m at least old enough to be your father.”
Fabrice shrugged. “Maybe I have daddy issues. You don’t know.”
Crisp fought for his life to stop a loud cackle from bursting out. He loved listening in on other people’s drama. It gave him something to talk about later. Not to mention, he had grown pretty damn close to Fabrice since moving to Hawaii. Fabrice was in his “hoe phase” and Crisp loved that for him.
Fabrice turned in his seat and focused on Crisp. “You know what we talked about earlier? I have everything covered.”
Crisp dipped his chin. “Thanks for that.”
Fabrice winked and went straight back to tormenting Kirkland. “You should save me a dance later.”
Kirkland’s sigh was legendary.
Fabrice chuckled. It was low and wicked. Crisp had no idea why Fabrice enjoyed torturing the poor man, and that was all it was. There wasn’t much Fabrice hated more than dancing, even though he always got stuck having to do so at every event. The thing that really got Crisp was why Kirkland didn’t just walk away. Vows had been exchanged. Technically, everyone simply waited for the reception to start. Not to mention, he was pretty dang certain Kirkland had chosen the chair next to Fabrice. They didn’t have assigned seating. He wondered if anyone had started taking bets yet on how long it would take for them to end up together? Then again, maybe it was just being at a wedding. Watching people pledge to love each other forever made people look too closely at their lives. Either they landed on finding a hookup for the night or proposing to their other half. Of course, then there were people like him. When he looked too closely at this wedding, he just felt sad. Not because Foster married. Crisp genuinely wanted that life for Foster. It was just that everything had felt different for a long time now. This wedding was like the end of an era. The only people who still felt like family were Field, who he never saw; Foster, who had just gotten married and was completely focused on his marriage; and Tidy, who would never leave his side. The world had gotten a lot smaller forhim. The loss of his brothers sat heavily on his soul. It wasn’t like Crisp didn’t realize he was the one who changed with that DNA test. The thing was, though, he had already felt like an outsider before science proved his theory true. He was the cleanup crew. The afterthought. No one ever really noticed him. Crisp wasn’t special in any way. He’d been forced to focus on new things since those test results. Unfortunately, the new bits of his life were killing him too. Well, the secrets were.
Everyone stood and made their way to the reception area by the pool. Crisp made a beeline for Foster. He didn’t want Foster to think he didn’t care, but Crisp felt his mental health slipping after spending so much time with his brothers. Crisp needed to get away.
He pasted on a bright smile when he spotted Foster. “Congratulations!”
