Chapter 21

Sylvain

W ith the meal finally done, the speeches began. Glen droned on for an eternity. Not that I listened, as my attention was solely on Vince.

He and Lexi had chatted most of the day, but I didn't mind, content to see him laugh and smile with his friend.

Coming here had definitely been the right choice and gave him a chance to catch up with her and revel in their mutual dislike of Theo's groom.

I talked with Robin about the baby and his job as a fireman. As the afternoon wore on, Vince moved closer, leaning against me, and put his hand on my thigh.

Theo occasionally glanced over, a scowl on his face. What was going on in his head? Had he finally realised what he'd let slip through his fingers?

Vince had changed, even in the short time I'd known him, and a newfound confidence gave him a glow he didn't have before.

I rested my hand on his shoulder, caressing his neck. He turned to me and smiled.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Do you need more water?"

"I'm fine. I might have another glass in a while. You seem to be having fun."

"I am, actually. It was good to come here, and I'm happy you came with me."

"So, what's next?" I asked.

"They'll cut the cake soon, and then we could go have a lie-down until the party starts. I didn't get much sleep last night, worrying about today."

"You worry too much, petite souris. A sleep sounds good, though." I yawned, as if proving a point.

"Well, considering your age, I'm not surprised you can't last all day." He laughed and kissed my cheek.

"You did not just say that. I have amazing staying power."

"That's yet to be established."

"Well, we could go find out." I nuzzled into his neck, and he squirmed and squealed.

"Vince, Lexi. Would you come and have a picture with me and Glen? Robin, you too."

"What about Sylvain?" Vince asked. "He's with me."

"Yes, but he's not really part of our little gang, is he?"

I took his hand and squeezed it. "It's okay, Vince. Have your picture taken. I'll wait here for you."

His shoulders tensed, and a vein throbbed in his neck. My little mouse was about to roar.

"If you don't want Sylvain in the picture, you don't need me in it either." He not only roared but also showed his claws.

"But you've been my friend for years. I hardly know this man." Theo waved his hand in my general direction.

"This man happens to be my boyfriend."

"Yes, but I don't know him," Theo said.

"We didn't know Glen, but you made sure he joined us at every opportunity. Why is it any different for Sylvain? If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here. You should be thanking him."

"Lexi, Robin, are you coming? Seems like Vince here is throwing a tantrum."

"You know what, Theo? I don't think we'll bother either." Lexi said, sitting back down.

Like the child he was, Theo stamped his foot, then flounced away towards his husband.

"My little mouse has balls," I whispered in his ear. "And boyfriend? When did we decide that?"

"About five seconds before I said it, but it doesn't make it any less true."

"Is that what you want?"

"Do you want that?"

I cradled his face in my hands and kissed his lips. "Is that proof enough, or do you want an answer?"

We sank into the kiss, ignoring everyone else. This moment was for us, and I cared not one bit who saw us.

"Aw, aren't they sweet?" Lexi sniffled, and Vince laughed, breaking the kiss.

"Do you ever shut up?" He wagged a finger at her.

"Not when it's so romantic, no. Aren't they just precious, Robin?"

Robin shook his head, clearly used to his wife's antics.

"Isn't it time for your nap?" Vince asked her. "Surely, you're tired of carrying around that little one all day long."

"He has a point." She winked at her husband. "Time we went for a ‘lie-down'."

"Yep, you need your beauty sleep, my love. Let's get you to bed." They hurried from the room, no doubt in my mind what their ‘lie-down' entailed.

"Shall we go too?" Vince held out his hand. "I'm not even sure I want to come back down later. Theo was an arse earlier."

"It's a big day for him. Give him some slack and see how you feel later."

Back in the room, we collapsed onto the bed.

"Urgh, my jacket's going to be so creased." Vince brushed the sleeve. "I suppose it doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"When will I ever need to wear such a fancy suit again? I don't know anyone else who's getting married. Do you?"

"A suit is always handy to have. Here, let me help you." I helped him out of his jacket. He took off his shoes, loosened his tie, and crawled onto the bed.

The food and drink got to me, and my eyes drooped as I lay down next to him.

He took my hand and held it to his chest.

"Was it awful?" He asked.

"No, it wasn't. I quite enjoyed myself, but I'm still confused by breakfast after a wedding."

I yawned again and closed my eyes. "Come snuggle. I need to sleep."

Tiredness hit me, and I drifted off to sleep, lulled by Vince's even breaths in my ear.

The shrill ring of a phone woke us both. Vince answered it.

"Yep, we're up. Oh, it's you." His voice was still thick from sleep. "We'll be right down."

"Who was it?" I asked, reluctant to open my eyes.

"Lexi. She said we're missing all the fun and we need to go downstairs. Now."

"Do we have to? Can't we stay here for the rest of the evening?"

"And have Lexi battering down the door? We'd best go."

Leaving our jackets behind, we hurried to the function room. A slice of wedding cake flew past our heads and hit the wall with a splat.

"What the fuck?" Vince took my hand and dragged me across the room to where Lexi and Robin took shelter beneath a table.

"What in god's name is going on?"

"I have no idea. We came back down and found Glen and Theo having a right old row about something. Next thing I know, food is flying everywhere."

"How could you?" Theo screeched. "On our wedding day of all days."

"Oh, come on, Theo. It was just a kiss." Glen protested.

"On our wedding day, and it wasn't with me."

Ah, seemed there was much trouble in paradise.

"The sly old dog," Lexi said. "I knew he was a wrong 'un. Why on earth did he bother getting married if he was playing away? I'm starting to feel a little sorry for Theo."

I wasn't, but then I hadn't known him for the best part of my life.

Guests in the room were taking cover while Theo took out his frustration on the wedding cake and his husband.

"That cake was expensive," Glen shouted.

"I don't give a fuck how expensive it was. You can shove it up your arse, right where the sun doesn't shine."

"Go, Theo." Vince stood up at the wrong moment, and a blob of icing landed on his cheek.

Lexi sniggered, her hand to her mouth. "Oh, now he's done it."

Vince wiped the icing from his glasses, and licked his fingers.

"Can't let good cake go to waste."

He picked up a cupcake from the table, took a bite, and threw it at Glen.

It hit him square on the chest.

"Yes. Great shot, Vince." Theo punched the air, laughing wildly.

"Do you think he's lost the plot?" I yanked Vince down before he was bombarded with more baked delights.

"I think he's finally realising what a wanker Glen really is," Vince said. "He should have listened to Lexi and me. He wasn't right for him, never in a million years. I mean, it would have been better to find out before they tied the knot."

"There's something to be said for living together. We should totally do that."

He gaped at me, not blinking.

"You want to run that by me again? I'm not sure I heard you right."

"No, you heard me right."

"But we hardly know each other." He knelt in front of me and clasped my hands in his.

"I know enough."

"You live in France. I live here. How would it work?"

"I don't know yet, but we can find a way. I'm not getting any younger. Not that I'm going to keel over anytime soon, but I found my unicorn."

"You mean me. I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything right now. We have time to work out the details, but why not?"

He sat back on his heels and averted his eyes, biting that damn lip again.

I cupped his cheeks and turned him to face me.

"I'm not asking you to marry me. I'm asking you to give us a chance. Yes, we've not known each other long, but I've found a man I can relate to. A man I could see myself settling down with."

"It's so soon, and as stupid as this sounds and how totally out of character this is for me, I want to say yes to it all."

"Then say it. You've already admitted I'm your boyfriend. How much more of a leap is it?"

"What do you think, Lexi? Should I give him a chance?"

She'd been watching our exchange, tears in her eyes and a napkin clutched to her chest.

"You'd be a fucking fool if you didn't. Look at Robin and me. One night was all we spent together, and now here we are, married with a baby on the way. True love can find us all. We just have to look in the right places."

"She talks sense, Vince. And she'd never lie to you."

"Then the answer is yes. I will live with you, Sylvain. I have a few things to take care of first, though. There's Mum of course."

"Hey, all in good time. We can work towards it. Let's celebrate with more drinks."

Trying to make our way to the bar without getting hit was nigh on impossible. Strawberries, cream, more cake flew by, and Vince and Lexi threw their fair share, their aim being Glen.

God, what a mess, but it wasn't our cost to bear other than a dry cleaning bill.

I snagged a bottle of champagne and glasses from a nearby table and poured a glass for us all.

"To new beginnings." I took a drink, my eyes never leaving Vince's.

"To new beginnings," he whispered.

It'd take a lot of organising, but I was confident we could sort it out. My gut feeling told me this was the right decision.

We sipped the champagne as the food fight finally came to an end. Glen stormed from the room, cream dripping from his face.

Surprisingly, Theo joined us, and I poured him a glass.

"What are we celebrating?" he asked and took a huge gulp.

"Sylvain and I are moving in together."

"But…but…you hardly know him."

I threw my arm around Vince and drew him into my side.

"We know each other enough."

"I thought I knew that twat." Theo hiccupped. "But look what he did to me. Seven months I wasted on him, and in that time, he turned me against my real friends. Can you ever forgive me?"

He looked pleadingly at Lexi and Vince.

"You have been an arse these past months, but I guess I can forgive you." Lexi hadn't suffered at his hands the way Vince had, and I wondered what his response would be. No, actually, I didn't wonder. I knew that deep down, Vince missed his friend.

"I hurt you more than anyone," Theo said to Vince, who wiped a tear. "Glen would say things to me, saying how jealous you were. I should never have listened to him."

"Actually, you were right. I was jealous. For years, I watched you fall in and out of love so many times and every time, I hoped you'd turn to me and notice me."

"I'm so sorry." Theo took Vince's hand.

"It's okay that you didn't because when you said yes to Glen, I realised I needed to move on from you and find my own Prince Charming. And because you said yes to Glen, I found Sylvain. More importantly, I found myself, and that is the most joyous thing I've ever experienced."

I was so damned proud of him. Tears blurred my vision. He'd finally stood up for himself.

"So, are we still friends?" Theo asked, his hands clasped in front of him.

"We are, but it's going to take some time for the wounds to heal. Your words were like barbs, Theo. I'm not going to lie. And honestly, if it weren't for Sylvain, I'd be sitting somewhere else right now, toasting you from afar but still wishing you well. I'm a nice person."

Earlier he'd said he hated being called nice, but it was exactly what he was. He was the nicest, gentlest person I'd ever met, and I was so, so happy he'd agreed to move in with me.

"You boys are so sappy." Lexi grabbed them both by the neck. "Group hug."

I stood to the side while they reconnected, warmth fluttering in my chest. And at the end of the day, Vince would be coming home to me.

They broke apart, and for the rest of the evening, they reminisced about old times, remembering fifteen years of friendship.

Vince laughed, but every so often, his gaze would land on me, and he'd smile.

I ordered more champagne until Lexi announced she really was tired and needed to go to bed.

I felt sorry for Theo. He'd pinned his hopes and dreams on a man who couldn't keep it in his trousers, and now here he was, climbing the stairs to the honeymoon suite alone, his husband having abandoned him.

Vince hugged his friend tight and whispered something in his ear.

A sob caught in his throat. What had Vince said for Theo to have that reaction?

We watched them leave and drained our glasses. Time we called it a night too.

As we lay naked in bed after I'd taught him how good a blow job felt, I asked what he'd told Theo.

"You don't have to tell me, petite souris. I understand if it's private between you two."

"It's okay. I feel like I can tell you everything." He rested his head on my chest, where I preferred him to be. "I told him there was someone for everyone and I hoped one day, he'd find the one for him, just as I had found my someone."

I took a deep breath, letting his words sink in.

How could you fall in love in a month? How did you know from the first time you saw someone that they were your person?

I had no answer. I just knew that in Vince, I'd found the one for me, and I wasn't giving him up for anything.