Free Sweet Little Thing: A Novella (Sweet Thing) by Renee Carlino

earthy…maybe Webb.” I laughed but she deadpanned, “What? I mean if you don’t like those, I also really like Stream or Haze.”
    Oh my God, she’s serious.
    She tilted her head to the side, smiled, and cackled like a witch. “Ha, ha, Will. Two can play this game.”
    “Thank God, I thought you were serious. Shit.”
    She socked me in the chest. “See, it’s not fun being messed with it, is it?”
    “You can mess with me anytime.” I grabbed myself.
    “Will!” She screamed and then jumped out of bed. As she exited the room, I heard her quietly mumble, “You’re a pig.”

 
     
     
    T he morning of our wedding, Mia slipped out and went to Jenny’s with her mom, Martha, and Sheil to get ready while I entertained the massive number of family members who’d come into town. Along with Mia’s step-dad, my parents, my brother, and six of my sisters and their families flew in for the ceremony. Our plan was to have the short-but-sweet ceremony at the pier and then everyone would go back to a local restaurant for a wedding dinner. We didn’t do the reception thing. I honestly didn’t think Mia would feel up to that much commotion, and it would have cost us a fortune. Since Mia didn’t want to go out of town after finding out she was pregnant, I reserved a suite at the Ritz-Carlton for our wedding night.
    Tyler and I dressed in simple black suits and skinny ties that Jenny picked out. I couldn’t resist the temptation—I had to hide a silly T-shirt under my dress shirt to give Mia a laugh. When I showed it to Tyler, he said she was going to kick me in the balls and then kill me. “You better not reveal that T-shirt in front of any of the family members.”
    “They’d get a laugh, but I’m not going to. I’ll save it for later for Mia.”
    “What did you get her for the wedding gift?”
    “Dude, I bought her a fucking Steinway.”
    “Are you kidding me?”
    “No, I had to. She saw it in a store and played it in the showroom. The entire staff gathered around to watch her. She kept her eyes closed and wept while she played “Isolde’s Love Death” from Tristan and Isolde . She played the whole fucking thing without any sheet music. The crowd clapped and whistled. I offered to buy it on the spot; I said we could write it off, but she said absolutely not. She wouldn’t let me.”
    “How much was it?”
    “A lot.”
    “Dude, tell me, how much?”
    “A hundred.”
    “A hundred what?” Tyler said in disbelief.
    “A hundred fucking shillings. A hundred thousand dollars, you moron.”
    “You bought her a hundred-thousand-dollar piano?”
    “Well, technically, Alchemy Sound Studios bought it for her, but yeah.”
    They’d delivered it late last night. I planned to take her there before we met everyone at the restaurant.
    “Maybe you guys can do some baby-making business on there while you’re at it.”
    I tightened my skinny tie in the long mirror nailed to our closet door, and then I turned toward Tyler. I put my hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been an awesome friend to me, man. I love you—that’s why I don’t want to lie to you.”
    “What?” he said, looking innocently at me.
    “Mia’s pregnant. We found out for sure a couple of days ago.”
    He gave me the biggest bear hug and lifted me off the ground in the process. “Oh, man, that’s awesome news, bro.”
    A bear hug from Tyler truly felt like a bear hug. Being six foot myself, I was rarely picked up and twirled around by others. I was surprised by his reaction. I thought it would be upsetting to him.
    “Tyler, Jen already knows. Mia told her.” I’m not positive, but I thought his eyes looked a little watery after I made that comment.
    He continued smiling. “Jenny will be okay. She’s tough as nails, man.”
    “Yeah, I know.”
    “Anyway, it’s about you guys today. I promise I won’t make a huge fool out of myself like you did at my wedding.”
    “Hey, I was heartbroken.”
    We trotted down the stairs from my loft