The Bad Things (Book 5)

Chapter 12. Engagement Party

The announcement of our engagement stunned Marlena and Sean. Chelsea seemed genuinely pleased by the news. Marlena didn't take it quite as bad as any of us expected. Marlena would be meeting my family for the first time tomorrow when she got into town. She would arrive early in the morning and intended to stay for a few days. Sean took it better than Marlena did. Marlena hadn't been able to get away from work before, so the ticket Angel bought her before went to waste. Mom and Andrea were already throwing themselves into wedding planning. Our wedding wouldn't take long to put together.

The cool night air did nothing to calm my nerves. I had no problem marrying Abigail, but I hated the attention I would receive. Tomorrow would be the engagement party and wouldn't be much easier than the actual wedding.

The bourbon burned my throat as it went down. The wind blew my hair into a disarray. I couldn't afford to be hungover, but between the wedding, Harold, Irena, and the Latin King situation, it started to take its toll.

Sean stepped out onto the back patio. He hopped up beside me on the concrete wall that wrapped around the patio. "Better slow down champ, you don't want to spend your engagement party hungover, do you? Weren't you the one who proposed?" Sean teased. He tipped his beer bottle back and took a swig.

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. "Yeah, I did."

"Don't get cold feet on my sister, man. She'll kick your ass. I won't have to."

I laughed and nodded in agreement. "I don't have cold feet. It's the whole center of attention thing that bothers me. I'm not used to it. All my life, people tended to avoid me. I'm still getting used to large crowds, you know?"

Sean nodded slowly. "Yeah. I get that. Men don't tend to enjoy being the center of attention anyway. At least, most don't."

"Yeah. Angel does pretty well at it, but he's been the boss for like twenty years of a huge mafia."

"That doesn't mean he enjoys it, hijo."

Sean and I looked up to see who interrupted us. My mother stepped out of the shadows and smiled at us.

"Hey, Mom."

"He just grew up around it. I wouldn't say any of us particularly like being the center of attention. We're just more experienced with it." Mom leaned up against the concrete wall beside me and smiled. "It'll go smoothly. All you have to do is show up. Everything else will be taken care of."

"Since I have both of you here. I want to say something," Sean said.

Mom and I looked at Sean and waited for him to speak.

Sean took another swig of his beer and swallowed hard. "Chelsea and I appreciate everything you guys have done, but we're both missing Florida a lot. Her dad offered me a good-paying job too. I've already spoken to Angel about it. We're going to come back for the wedding, but we're going to move out by the end of the month."

Mom smiled politely and nodded.

"Don't worry, man. No hard feelings. This was just a test it out and see if you like it type of situation. No strings attached. I hope the best for both of you. Just stay away from motorcycle clubs." I winked at him.

Sean and Mom chuckled.

Sean shook my hand. "Thanks, I appreciate it. We like it here, but Florida is just home for both of us, and we miss it. Take care of my sister and niece."