Gavin, 9 a.m.

“Ash, you seem like you’ve already had enough coffee for ten people.”

Ash nodded as he strode into their favorite coffee shop on Freret. “I have.”

The young barista behind the counter said, “Oh goody. A Boudreaux and a shirtless dude.”

She seemed more sarcastic than overjoyed to see the shop’s most frequent customer and biggest tipper.

Gavin ordered himself a large black coffee with an extra shot of espresso.

The barista cocked her head. “Red eye?”

Gavin stared back at her. He did not know technical names for coffee. He knew technical things about tattooing and that was about it. “Sure,” he said. “That.”

The barista sighed audibly and got to fixing his beverage. He and Ash scanned the place and there was no sign of Bobby. “Hey, darlin’, you seen Bobby in here this morning?”

She stared. “No. And I told you to stop calling me that.”

Ash looked hurt. “Darlin’, all I did was call you darlin’, ’cause you are a darlin’!”

Gavin grunted. “Ash, come on, let’s go.” His friend may be a modern fellow, but his manners needed some work.

Ash persisted by opening up his phone and showing her a photo of Bobby. “You do remember him, don’t you? Reddish hair, tall? Boyish good looks.”

The barista sighed. “I heard you were getting married. Are you marrying Bobby, because you sound pretty sweet on him.”

Ash puffed up his chest. “And so what if I am?”

Gavin had half a mind to bolt and abandon his friend, but then he had a brain storm. His phone. Shit, of course!

He quickly took it out and opened the photo app. But no dice. No photographic evidence in his phone of last night’s girl whatsoever. Not a single selfie. On one hand, maybe that was a good thing, as it cut the chances by half that there might be compromising photos of himself out on social media without his knowledge. But who could say what last night’s partner was like?

Still, he had a good feeling about her, and believed she couldn’t be too far away. He ordered a coffee for her, whoever she was.

Then Gavin texted her as he waited and while Ash continued to banter with the unamused barista.

“I got you a coffee. I’m just guessing here, but I’m assuming you like lattes? I got you one with whole milk. I hope I guessed right. You seem like a whole milk kind of girl, I don’t know why.”

He finally dragged Ash out of there and left a large tip for the barista.

“Listen, man,” Gavin said when they were out on the street. “Bobby can take care of himself. Leave it alone. Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the brunch today at the mansion?”

Ash laughed. “Dude, I showered like two hours ago, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I do need to make sure Bobby’s at the brunch, and also Vann. We were all supposed to sleep at my place last night and go over to the mansion together. Including you, nitwit. I can make excuses for Vann. People will excuse celebrities for just about anything. But the rest of you are making it pretty damn hard to keep me in good graces with this family.”

Gavin looked offended. “What exactly is your problem with me now?”

“For one thing,” Ash said, “you smell like you had a very rousing bout of wild sex last night. I can’t have you showing up to my future mother-in-law’s house for brunch smelling like that. Let’s go back to your place so you can shower.”

Gavin shook his head and sipped his coffee as Ash drove the GTO down to Gavin’s place. “I wanted to come back here very first thing, but you had to go acting like a dick, trying to round us all up like a damn German shepherd. And I’ll tell you another thing. I ain’t showering until I find my girl.”

“Excuse me?”

Ash’s car screeched to a stop in the middle of an intersection.

Gavin took another sip and kept his eyes straight ahead. Alpha dogs don’t need to make eye contact when another dog is acting like a fool. “I suppose you have forgotten, Ash, how we use scents to help us locate people.”

Ash snorted. He was turning into a real groomzilla. What had happened to him?

“Are you for real? You’re gonna just show up at the DuChamps mansion smelling like some easy bachelor party pussy?”

This, of course, was the last straw. “Fuck you and your brunch, man.” Gavin got out of the car and slammed the door, almost forgetting to grab both coffees.

“Get back here, Gav,” Ash said.

“Fuck you, Ash.”

He turned and stomped back up the street toward his apartment to find his girl.

He texted her again. “If you’re at the apartment, stay there! I’m coming.”