I Fell For My Nemesis

Christian felt better after their little talk. Avery's stress didn't seem to significantly go down but she was in an excellent mood during the rehearsal dinner laughing and talking with everyone around the table. 

She kissed him goodbye at the end so they could each go to their respective bachelor/bachelorette parties. Apparently, she and her bridesmaids would be going to a nail salon Maribel worked at and getting discounts before spending the night at Vanessa's watching girly movies and playing party games. 

With any luck that would help her relax too. He doubted anything happening at his party would be relaxing in the slightest since Liam was the one in charge of it. 

There weren't many people who were going since he never really had that many friends to begin with. Kind of hard to when he was so busy with hero stuff. The only people coming were Liam, Trevor and Eric, his cousins Kyle and Andrew, and Angelo and Jorge. 

The last two were only coming because his cousin Kristin wanted to get to know Avery and be a part of her party. She was open to it and thought that her cousins of sorts should go to his as well. 

So here they were. Christian was as boring a person as his brother always claimed. He had no desire to do traditional bachelor party things and sternly told Liam that if he tried to pull anything he would he dangled upside down later. 

That was a very real threat that had been followed through on more than once in their childhood so he obeyed. They were going to do an escape room then would be hanging around playing board games. He didn't want any alcohol involved so nobody was a hungover mess in the morning for the wedding. 

They were having a morning wedding with a luncheon then heading to the airport for an evening flight. They would be on the plane pretty much all night but he thought it was better not to waste a day of travel time for their trip and Avery agreed. 

When the parties split ways Liam clapped his hands together. "Alright! Who here doesn't know each other yet?"

A few people glanced around before Trevor spoke up. "I only know you and Eric." 

"Then this is a perfect time for introductions. We have me, brother of the groom and best man. Our cousins Kyle and Andrew. Law school friends Trevor and Eric. Cousins of the bride Angelo and Jorge. And last but certainly not least the man of the hour!" 

Liam emphasized his words by placing a plastic crown on top of Christian's head. "You're not allowed to take this off, by the way. Official rules."

"…whose rules are these?" 

"Mine as the party organizer! We're going to be going to the escape room first but does anyone have any questions?"

Angelo looked at him like he was stupid. "You didn't tell us your name." 

Liam blinked. "Oh. Right. I heard about you guys from Christian but we've never officially been introduced. Avery tells stories all the time too so I feel like I know you even though I don't. I'm Liam!" 

Angelo and Jorge exchanged a look. "What kind of stories?"

"Only the best ones."

"That's exactly what I'm concerned about."

Jorge clapped a hand on his cousin's shoulder in sympathy and that ended that conversation. They all headed to the escape room chattering excitedly on the subway, where Christian felt like an idiot for wearing the crown but didn't want to face his brother's wrath. He had already been bummed enough about not doing traditional bachelor party activities. 

The escape room was fun, ridiculous crown-wearing aside, and Christian thought he should do things like this more often. He had been to an escape room exactly once before on Liam's birthday a few years ago and enjoyed it. 

There were a lot of things he could do now that he didn't have hero work hanging over his head. Making more male friends was one of them. 

The only people he had been hanging out with since retiring were Avery's friends since he didn't have any of his own. At least not any that he was in contact with on more than social media. 

Christian should really find some guys he liked hanging out with. The problem was that he didn't even begin to know where to look. He had so little free time for most of his life that now that he had more he tended to read as a default whenever he wasn't doing something with his fiancée. 

Reading and watching movies and TV shows he hadn't had time for before. That was pretty much it. He truly was as boring as Liam claimed. 

Honestly, he didn't mind not having his own friends much. He never had them before so why would it matter now? But he couldn't deny that doing activities like this were fun. Did he need his own friends for that though or could he just use Avery's? 

He preferred spending most of his time with her. When she did her own thing he didn't need to be entertained by others. A good book had sufficed up until this point. What more did someone as antisocial as him need? 

It was funny how that worked. Christian was so used to having a public persona but he really wasn't all that social. Never had been. He would have been a total shut-in during law school if not for a few of his classmates (Trevor and Eric included) taking pity on him and going out to do stuff when schoolwork got to be too much. 

Used to being busy, he went along with it. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. 

He was always getting pulled along by someone. He even asked Avery out because Liam pressured him to. Then got into a relationship because she talked him into it when he felt like he couldn't due to his hero duties. 

He was SO grateful she did though. He would have missed out on the best thing in his life if she hadn't done that. If she hadn't pushed just a little he would have remained stupidly noble and single even though the person he liked had liked him back. 

And now they were getting married tomorrow and starting the rest of their lives together in a more official capacity. That was crazy to think about! So much had changed in less than a year. 

Christian was here surrounded by some of the only people he had any real connection with celebrating his upcoming marriage to the love of his life. He looked over at Liam squinting at a clue trying to work it out until Angelo peeked over his shoulder and told him what to do. 

Come to think of it, he had solved almost half of the clues all by himself. Avery frequently called him an idiot but that seemed to be how things were between the two of them. She admitted begrudgingly to him once that he was actually quite brilliant. Apparently, he held a master's degree in computer science and had a high-paying software development job for a rising tech company. 

He seemed to be enjoying himself despite coming here reluctantly. Avery must have made him…or Jorge. Or some combination of the two. 

Angelo had never apologized to him for what happened. The two of them had only interacted a handful of times since their argument and they both chose to act like nothing had happened rather than hash it out again. 

It wasn't like they had been on the best terms before. They were two people who happened to share a favorite person so they showed each other the basic sort of friendliness common for acquaintances. He hoped that it wasn't always like that though. 

Christian wanted Angelo to accept the fact that he intended to stay with Avery for the rest of their lives. He didn't want to feel like an acquaintance of someone so important to the woman he loved. 

They managed to solve the puzzle and get out in less than half of the allotted time thanks largely to Angelo. Trevor and Eric were impressed and asked him a whole bunch of get-to-know-you questions on the subway ride to Liam's new apartment currently being shared with three other guys. They had all cleared out or decided to hide in their rooms for the night knowing he was planning a little party. 

The first thing Liam did was pull a dramatic face. "My fine gentleman, before we get started we are duty-bound to embarrass Christian the night before his special day. I want everyone's most embarrassing stories about him. Angelo and Jorge can do it for Avery since they know her better."

Christian groaned, his cousins laughed, and Trevor and Eric looked thoughtful. He should have known putting Liam in charge of things would be a terrible idea. Maybe he did need more friends after all.