“I don’t think my family would give it that much thought, they have other things to worry about besides why you wouldn’t have been here,” I tell her as I hear the sound of gunshots.
Jenna jumps up and then ducks down. “What the fuck was that?”
“Sounds like gunshots,” I say, trying to hide my laugh. “Do you want me to grab your bag or are you okay?”
“A gentleman never asks.” She glares at me.
I chuckle at her. “If I would grab one of my sisters’ or my cousins’ bags, they would kick me in the balls and then wait for me to bend over and then kick me straight in the ass,” I inform her. “I’ve seen it happen to many others.”
“Well, I’m not your sister or your cousin, I’m your girlfriend,” she declares, opening the back door of the car, “and I’m okay with you carrying my bag.”
I walk over to the back of the car, grabbing her bag before I see a golf cart zoom across the grass going toward the barn with a pink tractor in front of it. The woman’s long blond hair flies in the wind.
“Look who the cat dragged in.” I turn my head toward the voice of my cousin Stone. I dump my bag and Jenna’s bag on the ground, going over to him and hugging him. “Dad said you might not make it.”
“I would have called in every single favor I have to get here,” I tell him when we let each other go, my hand slapping his shoulder and I squeeze. “You look skinny.”
“Fuck you,” he retorts. “You look like you’ve been skipping the gym.” He taps me on the stomach but there is nothing there but muscle.
“Think again.” I give him the chin up. “Stone, this is Jenna,” I introduce her to Stone. “Jenna, this is one of my many cousins, Stone.”
“He forgot best cousin,” Stone says, going over to her and kissing her cheek. “Nice to meet you.”
“Do you know where we have to go?” I ask him, looking around and spotting my uncles Matthew and Max trying to talk to another guy. I stare a little more and see that they are holding shotguns, and I’m about to ask questions when Stone starts talking.
“The women are in there.” Stone points over to the barn. “And then the men are in there.” He points at a house that isn’t far away from the barn.
“There is also a changing whatever you call it, over there.” He points at the small house in the back of the big house.
“I’ll go over there and change,” Jenna says, “I’ll meet you later.” She comes to me and kisses me.
“I’ll be around,” I tell her as she grabs her bag and walks away from us.
“Bringing a girl to a wedding,” Stone grumbles as soon as she is far enough away. “What the hell are you even thinking?”
“What was I supposed to say to her, you can’t come?” I throw back, grabbing my bag.
“Um. Yeah,” he states and I laugh. “It’s been a week.”
“It’s a month,” I point out, which doesn’t make it any better. We met a month ago when I was working for the company she is employed with.
He slaps my shoulder. “Did you tell your parents you were bringing her?” he asks me.
“Did you tell Romeo you are hooking up with his sister?” I counter and he stops.
“I’m not hooking up with his sister.” He stops walking. “I’m trying to hook up with her, there is a difference.”
“The difference is, you aren’t used to people telling you no,” I point out to him as I walk up the steps to the house, and I can already hear the guys’ voices.
“Here we go,” Stone says, opening the door. “Look at what I found.” He walks in and all the heads turn toward the door.
“Stefano!” everyone shouts my name. I can’t help but smile when I look around the room at all my cousins. I mean, technically we aren’t blood related, but my mother, Vivienne, has been with the family from before I was even born. They are her second family and we have grown up together.
“Look who it is,” I say, seeing Matty, who is standing with a beer in his hand. I drop my bag and walk over to him.
“How you doing?” I ask him, giving him a hug. He slaps me on the back before letting me go.
“I feel so fucking great right now!” he exclaims, his chest puffing out. “What about you?”
“I’m good. Driving in was fun,” I say, chuckling. “I felt like I was going through security checks every five minutes.” He just looks at me. “There are cameras everywhere taking pictures. Did you guys not see?” I ask the room, and all of the guys just shake their heads.