"What the hell kind of name is Ollie? And what are your intentions with Jamie?"

I covered my face with my hands as my cheeks heated. I knew this wasn't a good idea. "Ryan, that really isn't—"

"Well?" Jackson pressed, arms crossed over his chest. "I think my brother asked you a question." 

Jesus...this was getting worse and worse. Maybe I should just take Ollie back to his apartment and forget this whole thing. I couldn't even believe I let my friends talk me into this. Nothing good would come of it. Lanie convinced me it was going to be a friendly barbecue and that we were all going to talk and get to know each other and have fun. Yeah, right. 

"Maybe he can't speak," Nate teased. "Are you mute or somethin'?"

I chanced a look at Ollie, curious if he was still there or if he ran away from these idiots. Not that I would blame him. Surprisingly, he was still here. And he was grinning. 

"Oh, I can speak. I could just tell that the three of you love to hear yourselves talk and I was just being hospitable." 

My eyes widened—as did Jackson's, Ryan's, and Nate's. I was definitely not expecting Ollie to call these guys on their shit. No one ever did. 

"Well, well, well." Jackson glanced from Ryan to Nate. "Looks like we got a smart ass here." After a moment of hesitation, Jackson extended his hand. "You'll fit right in." 

Ollie chuckled and shook the hand that was offered. "Glad to hear it." 

The boys introduced themselves to Ollie one at a time. There was some high-fiving and a sarcastic comment or two. The nervousness I was feeling started to melt away and I was just relieved my mother wasn't here. Lanie tried to pull a fast one and invite her, but I put my foot down. She wasn't seeing him until the wedding. 

Ryan clapped Ollie on the shoulder. "Why don't you come in and meet the girls? And fair warning, they are more lethal than we are." 

Jackson, Ryan, and Nate went into the house and Ollie turned towards me with a curious look. I shrugged a shoulder. 

"They're kinda right. My best friends are very protective of me." 

A corner of Ollie's mouth lifted. "I think I can handle it."

"Are you sure about this? Meeting my friends? I know we have an agreement and this wasn't apart of it. They just wouldn't stop insisting that you come over and they were afraid that—"

"Jamie?" he interjected. 

"Yes?"

"You're doing it again." 

Shit he was right. I tended to ramble when I was nervous or overwhelmed. Lately, I've been a combination of both. "I'm sorry, Ollie."

"It's okay. Besides, I told you I was cool with whatever you needed. That was the deal we made. So, if meeting your friends is something you need, then I'm happy to do it. It might be a good thing, actually."

"How's that?" 

He gestured to the house. "Well, those guys seem to be very protective of you, which is a good thing. But they clearly need to be taken down a peg or two. It's going to be fun."

I shook my head at him. "I hope you know what you're doing. And what you're in for." 

We stepped into Lanie's house and I led Ollie straight to the kitchen. There was a baseball game playing in the living room, even though no one was in there. Through the open back door I could see that all the men were outside in the back grilling burgers and hot dogs. That meant that the girls were most likely in the kitchen. 

Just as we made it inside, Lanie and Harper were arguing about the wine by the fridge, and Karma was sitting at the table cutting tomato, onion, and lettuce. Where was Danielle? 

"Hey, guys!" I said loudly to get their attention. They all looked in my direction. I cleared my throat and gestured to the man beside me. "This is Ollie. He's going to be my date to help me out for the wedding." 

Karma wiped her hands and got up from the table. She welcomed Ollie with a warm smile. "I'm Karma. It's nice to meet you." 

"You, too." 

Harper was next. She introduced herself and then grimaced when I mentioned the encounter with the boys. "I hope Jackson and the guys weren't too hard on you. They like to mess around a lot." 

Ollie smirked at her implied apology. "No worries. It was fun." 

"So, you're the creeper that convinced Jamie to go on a date with you."

My mouth dropped. "Lanie! I can't believe you just said that." 

"Lanie, huh?" Ollie tilted his head to the side. "Jamie told me about you." 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ollie shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Something about this being your idea because you are—" he glanced at me, "how did you say it? Oh, right! You were her best friend and would do anything for her." 

Lanie immediately ate up the compliment. "Aw, really? That's so sweet." She pulled me against her for a hug then turned and went back to what she was doing.

Harper whistled low. "Wow. How did you do that?"

"I'm good at reading people," Ollie answered just as Danielle entered the kitchen. His eyes shot to the bundle in her arms and he walked over to her. "Hey, there. I'm Ollie." He reached out and little Nate bashfully buried his face in Danielle's shoulder. Ollie looked over his shoulder to Lanie. "Do you mind?" 

"Not at all." 

Ollie took little Nate form Danielle smiled wide when he giggled. I was surprised that he took to Ollie like that. The baby tended to only go to those he saw frequently. I watched in awe as my future wedding date carried little Nate towards the back yard. 

The five us stared in the direction he disappeared—all of us mesmerized by what we just saw. 

"Wow," Danielle breathed. "That's Ollie? Jamie, you need to keep him." 

Karma agreed. "Seriously. He's hot and he stood up to the guys. You need to marry that guy." 

"I'm not marrying anyone. Besides, he's moving out of the country for work in a month. I don't even like him like that." 

"Maybe we should get your eyes checked," Lanie suggested. "Because he is fine." 

"Lanie..." I warned. 

She threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine! But don't blame us when Mr. Tall Drink leaves the country and you miss your chance."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry, I won't." 

The girls and I joined the men in the back yard. There was the usual mingling and chatting while Ayden finished grilling the food. When I introduced Ollie to Ayden, they seemed to hit it off immediately. 

"You're a painter?" Ayden asked as he flipped the burgers again. "That's pretty cool. I like to draw. Sketch, mostly. But nothing professional. You do it for a living?" 

"I've been trying to," Ollie answered. "I got offered my first big job. That's why I'm moving in a month."

"Nice. So, are you nervous about meeting Jamie's mom? She can be..." Ayden glanced at me. 

"Go ahead and tell him," I said with a laugh. 

Ayden cast a pitiful look at Ollie. "She's a handful for sure. But she's an amazing woman. She just tries to—what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Control," I finished for him. "She tries to control my life. That's the whole point of this wedding date thing." 

Ayden scoffed as he started putting the cooked burgers and hot dogs on a plate. "I'm just saying, be prepared for an interrogation. She's going to ask you everything." 

"Did she do that to you guys?" 

Ayden chuckled. "Hell yeah. You should have seen what happened when she met me for the first time. Lanie was already pregnant, so I got a very thorough interrogation."

Ollie found that amusing "Clearly it went well. You're still alive." 

"For now," Ayden said with worry on his face. "Let's just say that if I ever hurt Lanie, I'm going to be missing some very important appendages, ya feel me?" 

"I got it," Ollie laughed and glanced to me. "I think we'll be good. Jamie gave me some notecards to study so that I wasn't completely left in the dark." 

Ayden grabbed the plate of food. "Study up then, my man. You're going to need it." Then to everyone else he called, "Food's ready!" 

As we all sat around the large table in the backyard, I couldn't help but smile as everyone talked and laughed. Honestly, I though this was going to be a car wreck. I knew how my friends could be, and I was also nervous. Even though I've been texting and talking to Ollie off and on since we met, I still didn't know him that well. I didn't get a bad vibe from him. It was the opposite, actually. 

From what I knew so far, he was a nice guy that grew up here in the city. He's a painter, an only child, and his parents live in Vermont. He didn't go into many details about his job once he moved, but I figured it wasn't my business anyway. Right now, I only needed to focus on one thing: the wedding. Everything needed to go smoothly. Ollie didn't seem to be worried when it came to my mother, but I was terrified. 

Please, I begged to myself, let this wedding go smoothly. 

Thanks for reading! Just a reminder that the first chapter of my Christmas novella Tangled in Tinsel is up! 🖤🎄