The Groom

  Who is going to be the one that kisses the groom?

  Treyton finds himself in an arranged marriage, with a girl that hates everything about him. Worse, the only person that he has ever been in love with is his best man. Treyton has to find a way to lose the girl and get the man of his dreams. The only issue is, if he picks Auctus he will lose everything. Is a chance of happiness with Auctus?

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Renee Matthews

  Copyright © 2017 The Groom

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-1116-9

  Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

  Look for us online at:

  www.eXtasybooks.com or www.devinedestinies.com

  The Groom

  By

  Renee Matthews

  Dedication

  To Landon and Cayden. Two of my favorite people.

  Chapter One

  “Why am I here again,” Treyton asked as he leaned back into the passenger’s seat, wishing more than he could explain to just fall asleep. A groan to the side made Treyton roll over to make sure he covered the smile that grew on his face.

  “Would you rather marry the woman,” Auctus hissed through clenched teeth.

  Treyton could feel the cold glare that could turn Hell into a winter wonderland. Moaning into the side of the seat, Treyton refused to look over at his best man. “Who knows?” He looked out the window at the cars that rushed by.

  Like Treyton expected, Auctus didn’t say a single word back. Treyton knew he wanted to yell at him but refused to start that fight. One day they had to have that fight that they had avoided for years. Treyton knew that more than anything else.

  A church with large stained glass windows came into view. The church looked almost out of place surrounded by large metal buildings on all sides. As Auctus turned into the parking lot, Treyton looked around to see that they were all alone with no bride-to-be around to ruin his mood. They parked in the back out of view. The two were very quiet as they looked up at the church that may be the location for a wedding in only a week.

  “You coming?” Treyton asked as he looked over at the larger man with his hands gripped tightly onto the steering wheel. He wished that he could cover up his nerves better than this.

  Walking up to the church with Auctus at his side to meet the woman that he was expected to marry after this one visit could not have been stranger than if a man walked in with a large banana for a head at that very moment. The large wooden doors opened to show an almost magical setting. Still, it felt bitter to have to stand there.

  “What’s wrong,” Auctus muttered as he walked closer to the stained glass windows. He was focused on them, as if this was the first time that he had ever been inside a church. All the hundreds of words that Treyton wanted to say came to mind. He had hoped to say it all before it was too late. All of it came to the very tip of his tongue, then the door behind them opened wide.

  A short red-haired woman walked forward, that had the appearance of a graceful actress. She whined over to the women that Treyton knew was his future wife, Erika, if all went his parents’ way. It was a pity. Erika was truly beautiful.

  She had a perfect body with curves in all the right places. Her eyes were a warm brown, and she had a soft smile. Treyton watched as she played with the ends of her long wild hair draped over her shoulders. There was an aura around her that caused Treyton to flash a smile. This woman would make a man happy one day, he fully believed that. Just Treyton did not believe it was or should have been him.

  “This is the groom, not me.”

  Those words snapped Treyton from his thoughts as he looked at the two women in front of him. The friend of his future wife looked Auctus over like he was a piece of dessert. She was making Treyton remember why he did not want to be here long.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you. This is Auctus, my best mate.” Was it wrong to call Auctus his mate, not man? They didn’t seem to mind, but his parents had thrown a fit at the very use of the word. Of course, if they had it their way, Auctus wouldn’t have been in his life at all.

  “A man like that gives off a bad image for our family. That means you as well.” They had said that more than once. If only they knew that their dislike toward Auctus had made the boys even better friends.

  Once again, Treyton had to snap himself out of his thoughts to focus back on the women who stared at him like he was the enemy. “Auctus, why don’t you show Lily around?” He never looked away from Erika, afraid to see how Auctus would take to someone being kicked him out of the room.

  The image of the little goblin red-haired lady pulling Auctus away had him almost reacting and pulling the man back to his side. Yet, he was there for a reason, and he had to do this alone for it to matter to anyone.

  “Your friend seems quite odd.” Treyton looked back at the stained glass window to try to get a grip on himself. He needed to be focused and not a hundred different places at once.

  As he turned, he noticed her desperately glancing around the room, to seem interested in everything else but him. A smile covered his face. She didn’t want this, either. There was no blush, no embarrassment at all on her face. She was only focused on him with resentment in her eyes. Never had this been easier than just then. Neither of the two of them wanted this to happen, and that was all that mattered in the end. Still, life would be easier for him if she was the one that called it off.

  “So, has this cleared up whatever ideas or theories that you had about me,” Treyton flashed a look over at the girl and saw her freeze up.

  “Wh-What do you mean,” the girl choked out, as if it was a terrible task to even speak to him.

  “You walked in here already aware of what you want to do.” He couldn’t help but hope that it was true. Life would be a pain if he had to go against both families alone.

  Behind her eyes, there was a wild battle going on that was clear to him even across the room.

  “I want this.” The lie would have been clear to anyone. It was so sad. This situation was so sad. A laugh escaped his mouth as he looked at her, shaking his head.

  “Oh really, why do you want to marry me?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

  “You seem very charming, smart, handsome, and a perfect gentlemen.”

  Both of them realized how weak of an attempt that was. Treyton did not expect her to come up with such a lame answer. Not even Auctus would agree with half of the stuff that came out of her mouth, and he knew him better than anyone in the world. It was clear even she didn’t believe it, not really. Even the small part of her that did never would have wanted to marry him if it wasn’t for the arrangement that their parents had made.

  “I have stood women up just because I would rather stay inside and read. I hate the idea of sappy
romance, a quiet, perfect life, and the idea of seeing you hate every day of your life. We are two complete strangers that, in a week, will be married. You really want to marry a stranger?”

  He wanted her to admit it. It was written all over her face, loud and clear. Treyton noticed a slight change in her eyes. He hoped she would finally say she did not want to marry him, either.

  The hard slap froze him in place. He could feel blood slowly sliding down his face, but he remained frozen, focused on the woman before him. She looked hurt. Her eyes were locked on him, searching for something to happen. Treyton was not sure what, though. Just then, Treyton looked up to see Auctus walk through the doors and froze. He looked only at Treyton, with great intensity.

  “I get much worse than this, you know. Ask anyone who knows me. I have a tendency to piss people off. It is a talent really.” Treyton laughed almost bitterly.

  The little red-haired woman said words that he missed, but when he saw Auctus move toward him, it didn’t seem worth his time to listen. A handkerchief was stuffed into Treyton’s hand, by two hands that shook.

  “You managed to get slapped in under a minute. That’s a new record,” Auctus muttered.

  Treyton noticed how he had purposely not allowed himself to look over at the women behind them. Locked into those deep brown eyes, Treyton moved a fallen strand out of Auctus’ face.

  “I am just that good with the ladies.” He gave a half smile as he turned back toward the front door. Erika had left, leaving her red-haired friend with a smirk and lust in her eyes directed at Auctus and himself. She was hoping for something, judging by the smirk on her face and the twirl of her hair.

  “Shouldn’t you be with the bride?” Treyton asked as he brought the handkerchief up to the small cut across his face.

  With a shrug of her shoulders, the girl pushed up her breasts, or the little that she had. Auctus looked back at the girl, and Treyton wasn’t sure if this girl would count as his type or not. But he wasn’t one to stay around to find out. Even as Auctus’ eyes grew in shock, Treyton jerked the taller man back down, giving him a full on kiss. It lasted only a second but held more intent than just a friendly kiss.

  “That’s hot,” the girl moaned, leaving the two men to make a quick escape.

  Locking the doors, Treyton had stopped himself from laughing at the situation. Everything felt ridiculous. This whole situation was crazy, and Treyton was not sure how he got here. He never expected Erika to slap him or her friend to try for a threesome. He also never expected to kiss Auctus in jealousy over that girl trying to get some.

  “Hey, Treyton,” Auctus spoke in such a low mutter that Treyton almost didn’t hear it.

  “Yeah,” he wondered if they would finally have the talk that for five years had been pushed off. His answer was giving when Auctus just started the car while shaking his head. The question seemed to be pushed even farther away.

  Chapter Two

  Chimes woke Treyton up in the middle of the night in a panic. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed hold of his hated cell phone. “Yes.” He sounded like death, and most likely he looked the same. There was a long pause that was a classic action for his father to do with every phone call he made, a long dramatic pause that left people on the edge of their seats, and he loved it. Treyton, on the other hand, found it annoying as hell when his father did this.

  “Goodbye,” he groaned into the phone, ready to hang up on the man, even if it meant a lecture or a fight later. He had no patience with people, at least not before a large cup of coffee and seven hours of sleep.

  “Treyton Kevin Right.” The power in that voice only annoyed him at the moment.

  “Yes,” he groaned once again.

  “Erika has vanished. Her parents and your mother are extremely worried. They would like more than anything to get the police involved in this situation. But I guaranteed them that to have you find her would be the best plan of action. Right.” It wasn’t a question. The order was loud and clear.

  “Where is she?” Treyton pulled on a pair of jeans, an old t-shirt, and sneakers, not worried about how he looked at the moment.

  “She is on a train to Lansing, or so says the ticket she bought an hour ago.”

  If his father said a word after that, Treyton missed it. His car keys were in his hands, and his wallet, tucked into his back pocket.

  “I’ll get her.” He didn’t want her to throw her future away because of his mouth. All he needed was to know she wanted to leave for another reason than just running away. Of course, Treyton would run away if he was stuck married to someone, like himself. He had forgotten his own fiancée’s name until his father said it earlier.

  With his car started and ready to leave, Treyton took a deep breath before dialing the only man who would care enough about him to take a long trip with him. “Hey, Auctus, I have two favors to ask.” He knew that he was almost begging as he headed down the road toward the man’s place a few blocks away.

  “You can have one favor at two in the fucking morning.” The other man didn’t sound mad at all, but Treyton wasn’t about to risk it.

  “Erika ran off. I have to go get her since I kind of drove her away with the whole marrying-me-sucks thing from earlier.” He barely got those words out of his mouth before the other man started his lecture loudly into his ear.

  “You are fucking with me? One day, you have no desire to marry the woman, and now you are rushing to get her ass!” Auctus sounded fully disgusted for the first time.

  Treyton hit the gas harder as he reached the apartment complex where the pissed-off best mate of his lived. For once, he parked in the front just so he could get up there as fast as possible. “It not like that. I want to make this work out for everyone. Dude, come on. It’s two in the morning.” Treyton pounded on the door.

  A sight that had Treyton about to kiss Auctus once again stood behind that door. Half naked men with the body of an African god would have been what made most people weak. But it was a large cup of fresh coffee that had Treyton about to jump for joy.

  “I love you so much.” He had half of the coffee gone before Auctus spoke again.

  “When are you off to chase after the girl?” He crossed his arms over his bare chest, showing off his abs.

  A smile slipped onto his face. “Once you get a shirt on.”

  “Oh, you love it.” Auctus walked away as Treyton gulped down the last of his coffee.

  “Yes I do.” He smirked to himself as he set down the coffee mug on the small table.

  When Auctus reappeared with a tight black shirt on, making him look tanner than ever, Treyton was sure that being up at two in the morning was a great idea, supposing that was one of the joys of coffee and other things.

  “Stop daydreaming.”

  Auctus still smirked as Treyton watched him walk right by and headed down toward the car. He closed the door behind them, and they walked in pure silence down the stairs, neither ready to continue the argument that would surely wake all those in the apartment complex.

  Once in the car, all bets were off. “Why the hell am I doing this?” Auctus gripped onto the steering wheel as if it was going to break in his hands.

  Time paused for Treyton. For years they had avoided the talk, and now seemed like the best time to have it.

  “Why do you go through all of this with me,” Treyton looked over at his best mate.

  They were all ready to go, and he was leaning back into his seat.

  Auctus still appeared to be focused on anything but Treyton’s gaze. “Cause I’m the best man to this huge mess of a wedding. If I didn’t know any better, I would think she was pregnant... she isn’t pregnant, right?”

  Treyton punched Auctus in the arm harder than was needed for just a joke but it made him feel a little better about the situation.

  “If she is, it is not mine. I only just met her yesterday and you walked in just when it was getting to the rough part.”

  The steering wheel
was about to snap if Auctus kept with his tight grip on it, Treyton decided. Treyton pulled on Auctus’ braids to pull him closer, so their faces were inches apart. Neither moved or said a word.

  “She is heading to Lansing.” Treyton spun the braid between his fingers and give it his full attention. He was not about to look up at the big brown eyes that stared down at him.

  Chapter Three

  Auctus drove down the road, never looking anywhere else. For all he knew, there could be a two-headed elephant next to him, and he wouldn’t have noticed it. He was trying his hardest to not notice the man right next to him. It wasn’t easy when the other man switched to a different type of song every few moments. More often, he changed it to classical music that had Auctus wanting to throw the man out the window. The idea played through his head when it was shattered by a question.

  “Why do we do this?” Treyton appeared to be dazed as he looked out the window as the world flashed them by. Auctus didn’t plan to respond any time soon. So he let Treyton keep saying what he needed to say, to himself more than anything else.

  “Five years, we have danced around this conversation. Neither of us has dated anyone despite the many hot, horny people that have run our way. We have kissed more times than I can count, but neither of us have said a word about it. Yeah, we are friends, best friends. Both of us act like it is normal, but it’s not. Why do we do this?”

  Auctus wanted to ignore how Treyton’s voice had cracked at the end of that. Someone should just kill him now to stop the wave of emotions that kept trying to drown him.

  * * * *

  Not another word was said for miles. Treyton watched small towns with weird names fly by. He found that this trip would have been amazing if he had grabbed something to drink. Every time he saw a sign about the Bible, God, or Hell, he wanted to take a drink. Maybe then, Treyton could be able to ignore the now insane pain in his heart.