At five minutes to eight, I knock on my sister and my best friend’s apartment door. I’ll never make the mistake of letting myself in and seeing things that shall not be repeated, ever a-fucking-gain.

The door swings open, revealing a smirking Archer. “Hey, man,” he greets as I step through.

I give him our standard man-hug, slap-on-the-back greeting as I pass him, even though we saw each other earlier today. “’Sup, bro?”

“Lenny got home late, so she’s just having a shower. I was going to order a pizza. You want?” Arch punches in his order on his cell.

I grin. “Sure. I ate, but I can always eat again.”

“Cool. You want a beer?” he asks as I drop down onto the couch.

I glance at him over my shoulder, giving him my what-the-fuck-do-you-think look. Arch chuckles and shakes his head before pulling two beers from the fridge. When you’ve been friends as long as we have, words aren’t always necessary.

“So, Tia, huh?” Arch says, handing me a cold bottle. “Who would have thought the eternal bachelor is getting hitched.”

“Yeah,” I murmur, my forehead crinkling in a frown. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that damn kiss all day. It’s been playing on a loop in my head, and I can’t for the life of me make it go away.

We didn’t even really do anything, yet my brain has latched onto every little detail about the few minutes we spent in my pool yesterday, from the way her dark hair stuck to her mocha skin, to how her lashes fanned over her cheek when she closed her eyes. My dick stirs, and I shift in my seat. This isn’t fucking normal.

“You alright, man?” Archer asks, his brows dipped in concern.

I lift my gaze to his and shrug. “This is just…” I’m struggling to find the right words for what I’m feeling, but before I can, there’s knock at the door.

She’s here.

I’m on my feet and halfway across the apartment to let her in before I know what I’m doing. What am I doing?

My fist curls around the handle as I yank the door open and come face to face with my future wife. Fuck, that sounds so weird. But I don’t hate it. And that thought has my words getting caught in my throat as I just stare at her like an idiot.

She quirks a brow and smiles at me. “Hey.”

I’ve always liked her smile, but this isn’t the usual one I’m greeted with.

I frown and tilt my head. “You okay?”

Her teeth sink into the corner of her plump bottom lip as she nods. “Yeah, I’m fine. You?”

I shrug. “I’m okay, I guess.” Fuck, this is weird. Why am I being so weird? Get your shit together, man.

I clear my throat and step back, allowing her to enter the apartment. When I close the door behind her and turn around, I’m not surprised to find Lennon and Archer watching me like I’m an escaped mental patient.

Tia hovers by me at the door, and I’m pretty sure she feels as out of sorts as I am right now. We’re both acting awkward as fuck, and I hate it. We’ve always been comfortable around each other. And now, I don’t even know what this is, but I don’t like it.

“Want a drink?” I ask in an attempt to ease the tension between us.

That fake smile lifts her lips again as she nods. “Please,” she murmurs.

I stride into the kitchen, open the fridge, then tell her, “There’s beer, OJ, or wine. What’s your poison?”

“I’m usually not much of a drinker, but I’ll go with wine. Something tells me I’m going to need it tonight.” She chuckles softly from behind me.

I grin as I grab the bottle of white from the door and turn to face her. “I know exactly what you mean. Just stay by me, and I’ll protect you,” I say, giving her a wink. “If Lenny gets to be too much, just give me a signal, and I’ll get us out of here.”

“A signal?” she asks. “Like what?”

“Umm… I don’t know. Like scratch your nose or something.”

She nods, an actual real smile curving her gorgeous lips this time. “Okay, deal. What will your signal to me be?”

I shrug then reach to grab a glass for her wine from the back of the cabinet. “Babe, I don’t need one. If I want out, I’m out. I’ll grab your hand, and we’ll bounce.”

“Okay,” she murmurs, a coy grin playing on her lips, and I want to kiss it right off her pretty face.

Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me? I shake it off then pour her drink.

“Yo, I’ll have one of those, too. Thanks,” Lennon says as she enters the open-plan living area.

I nod and go about getting another glass as Tia continues to linger in the kitchen with me. I like that she’s sticking by me, like she’s more comfortable with me than them.

“You ready for this?” I whisper to her as I hand over the wine.

The fake smile is back, then she nods. “Yeppers!”

My eyes widen. “Um, okay…” I have never, in the two-plus years I’ve known her, heard her say the word yeppers. But I let it slide. Nothing about any of this is normal for either of us. “Let’s get it over with then,” I mutter as I pick up Lennon’s drink and take it to her where she’s practically sitting on top of my bestie.

She accepts the drink from me and chirps, “Thanks.”

“Welcome,” I mumble then take a seat on the opposite end of the couch as Tia takes the armchair nearest me.

“So, I’ve pulled together a few things I figured we’ll need,” Len says, reaching for a huge freaking folder on the coffee table.

“A few things?” Tia says, her brows lifted in surprise. “That looks like a little more than a few.”

“I may have gotten a little carried away,” Len admits. “But once I started looking at all the wedding stuff out there, I was like whoa… Who knew there was so much shit involved in planning a fake wedding?” Flicking to the front page of her monstrous file, she lifts her gaze to me then to Tia. “I honestly had no idea how much work goes into planning this kind of thing. But I’m willing to do it, so don’t you worry your pretty little head about a thing,” she assures Tia.

“What about me?” I interrupt. “What about the state of my head?”

My super understanding and supportive sister snorts. “You’ll be just fine,” she says, patting my hand with the most patronizing look on her face.

I roll my eyes and knock back half my beer. For a guy who never thought he’d be in a serious relationship, let alone get married, this whole thing has my head spinning. Add to that the fact I’m suddenly all too aware of every alluring detail about my now fiancée, and I’m all kinds of fucked up.

“Where do we start?” Tia asks, gripping her wine glass so tight her fingertips are turning white.

Before I know it, I’ve placed my hand on her thigh. I want her to know I get it. That I’m as freaked out about all this as she is. Her trippy eyes meet mine, and I shoot her a wink. Her lips rise, then she takes a deep breath, and her grip on the glass relaxes.

“Okay, so there are two ways we can do the wedding part of this. Either we go big and make this a big, flashy affair that will stick in everyone’s minds for years to come, or we go small and intimate,” she says, pausing to take a sip of her wine.

“Small,” Tia blurts. “I mean, if that’s okay with everyone. I feel like that would be the best option.”

Lennon grins. “I was hoping you’d say that. How small are you thinking?”

“Is eloping a possibility?” Hope shines in Tia’s blue-and-green gaze.

I give her thigh what I hope is a reassuring little squeeze, but ever the killjoy, my sister shuts that idea down real fast.

“Afraid not. I think that lends to the idea of this being a farce. We’re better off having an actual wedding.”

“Okay, so immediate family and close friends?” Tia hedges.

Len nods. “Can do. Now, I’m thinking we do this sooner rather than later. We’ll sell it to the media that you two have been in a relationship on the downlow for a few months already and only decided to make it public, and are officially engaged, now that the season is over.”

“Okay, well, given the season is over for us, does that mean we’ll announce it straight away or…?” I ask.

This year, there was no way we were going to make it to the World Series—not with the injuries the team sustained earlier in the season. Arch and I played our last game a little over a week ago.

“I had a meeting with your GM today and told them about your engagement and that the hobby horse incident was you getting a little out of control whilst celebrating,” Lenny says, pinning me with a glare. “Now listen good, Bates, you are on thin ice. Management is not happy; they were ready to drop you before today. All I’ve managed to do is buy you time to prove yourself. No more screw ups.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat as the heavy weight of dread settles in my stomach. I nod at my sister, my jaw too tight to speak. I cannot lose baseball. I just can’t.

A soft touch on the back of my hand has my gaze darting to where my palm sits on Tia’s thigh. Her delicate fingers simply rest over my big beefy ones, but it’s enough to calm me. Bringing my eyes to hers, I attempt a smile to show my gratitude for everything she’s doing for me.

She returns my smile then, leaving her hand atop mine, and shifts her focus to Len. “Alright, so we’re making the announcement, then what?”

“We plan. How do you feel about semi-joint bachelor and bachelorette weekend in Vegas?”

My eyes widen. She’s telling me I need to be on my very best behavior, then she goes and dangles Vegas in my face. What the hell?

Tia speaks up before I can, though. “Umm…I don’t know. Is Vegas really the best idea?”

“Yeah,” I throw in. “You expect me to, what, sit on my hands that whole weekend?”

“And I don’t gamble or drink much; I’m not exactly into the club scene,” Tia adds.

Lennon gives me a condescending smile. “We’ll do a spa weekend—massages, facials, get our hair and nails done. You know, all that girly shit. Maybe even a trip out to the Grand Canyon.”

“Oh, I could get on board with that,” Tia says, her eyes lighting at the suggestion. “I’ve always wanted to see the Canyon for myself. I can only imagine how incredible it would be.”

Lennon’s grin is huge as she says, “Oh, you’re going to love it. Okay, it’s set then. That’s what we’re doing.” She gives us a definitive nod.

“Umm, excuse me,” I interrupt. “But what the fuck am I supposed to do while you guys are off doing all your girly shit?”

“Don’t act like you’ve never had a mani-pedi before,” Len scoffs.

Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, who doesn’t like being pampered?