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Chapter 1

Mac and Matt kno to throw a party for a kid's first birthday

Or rather, Macy kno to throw a party While thisday as their little boy, Aaron, is turning one, I' at is one-hundred percent due to Mac's best friend, Macy Carrington

I step out onto the backis upward of a twenty thousand square foot mansion in Water Mill--its use for Aaron's birthday party courtesy of Macy and her faet here fro better to do on this beautiful summer Saturday, and besides I'd never miss Aaron's birthday party

I'd neverone is about as iets

I take a randeur of wealth such as I have never known, never seen, and after today's party, will probably never see again, because even as a hot-shot lawyer, I don't run in circles like this The property is easily close to ten acres in size and backs right up to the shores of Mecox Bay, where a huge sailboat is docked along with a sreen lawn of the rass I've ever seen in , blue bay waters sparkling at the south end A huge, white tent is erected right in the center that easily holds two hundred partygoers, a mix of adults and children

Across the lawn, various tables with large, shady uon tiny crab cakes and little blue petit fours Children run around screa balloon animals Over to the left, near theup Clownssome of the kids Near the back of the party, just before the water's edge, is a little arena where pony rides are being given

Holy fuck!

Who throws a party like this for a one-year-old?

This isn't really Mac's style Definitely not Matt's style

This is absolutely, one-ton, and I bet Mac groaned in disbelief when she saw this setup, and Matt probably cursed under his breath

But Macy is Macy, and when you come from a family worth millions upon millions of dollars, this probably doesn't seeure that Mac and Macy are as thick as thieves, tighter than any toives Macy her over-the-top ways and even loves the efforts she put in tothis a special day for the Connover family

It's been two years since Mac beca Matt, and it's still weird to"a family" It's still beyond my belief that Matt actually took a risk and opened his heart up to a woman Of course, that woman is McKayla "Mac" Dawson Connover, who may be as close to perfect as anythat Matt tumbled hard for her

We have a very crazy and complex relationship--the three of us You see Matt used to be my best friend We've known each other for just over sixteen years We went to undergrad and law school together Shared secrets Stood against coed beers and lamented when our beloved Yankees didn't make the playoffs

The absolute best of friends

Until I slept with his first wife

It was stupid

I was drunk and didn't knohat I was doing

I stopped it before I could um you know finish

Didn't ood and lost so very important

Oddly, Matt has forgiven ression It only took hiood wouilt despite his absolution It's ret in life My deepest shame

Even though I have his forgiveness, I'll never again have that friendship Mac is the odd tie that still binds Matt and ether She is, in fact, probably my best friend now, and oh yeah she's also my law partner We fored to Carson and Connover after Mac and Matt got ether for two years now Because Mac and I share a business and have becoht Matt back into ain Mac and I actually rent office space froe I tend to see Matt al in the halls where we'll give a nod to each other in acknowledgment

Yup Pretty fucking complex

So, Mac is my best friend, but Macy is Mac's best friend, so that s a little more convoluted but not in a weird way While Mac is the tie that binds Matt and ether, as Macy and I are nothing more than casual acquaintances We see each other maybe once a month when Mac and Matt will have us all over to dinner, or when Macy will stop by the office to take Mac out to lunch

I don't know much about her and really don't want to She and I are like oil and water We don't mix at all

Or ar

It seems that she's a bit jealous of my friendship with Mac, and perhaps I'ardless, we usually butt heads e're in the sa that causes Mac enormous frustration, but otherwise amuses Matt

Macy is drop-dead gorgeous but past that, she's brash, opinionated, and overly confident, al way almost every time I'm around her, and over the years, we've developed a knack for trying to tear each other down Apparently, I rub her the wrong way too She thinks I've got a "holier than thou" complex with people, and I think she's pretty much amoral and unbalanced

She once told lorified saint on a pedestal of cracker crumbs I have no clue what the fuck that meant, but I didn't like it

Yeah, she's pretty fucking full of herself Just like this party she's thrown Ito impress? Certainly not Mac and Matt because, for some reason, they like her just fine despite all her y classes in undergrad, andthat perhaps she's trying to co

My eyes scan the back lawn, and I see several people I know through the legal co down several marbled steps from the terrace to the lawn, I'm immediately approached by a tuxedoed waiter with a tray of chanore him and brush past I' of beer, so I'll start searching for that

"Cal wait up," I hear fro down the sa as alith her black hair pulled up in a youthful ponytail and her green eyes sparkling in the sun She's wearing a pair of white capri pants and a light blue tank top Even though she'sthe sexiness she always seems to project

Matt's a fucking lucky, lucky man

I openback "Did you just get here?"

"Yeah got a little lost walking through thatover her shoulder at the Carrington mansion

"This party is crazy, isn't it?" She chuckles as she leans in toward me "Like Aaron will ever remember any of this"

"What did you expect?" I ask,with disapproval "This is Macy we're talking about She doesn't know theof sedate"

Mac swats ives me a stern look "Be nice, Cal She's my dearest friend, and I love her despite her quirks"

"You -ups," I ue-lashing she's going to hand ainst hers "Where's the birthday boy?"

"He's inside taking a nap Matt's mom is in there with him," she says as she jerks her thuet so to eat and drink"