The Wedding Crashers

Chapter Eleven

Their group wound up at the end of the receiving line; Carlisle and Esme, being family, got to cut up front. Dean had mixed feelings about his spot in line. On the one hand, he had no qualms about putting off the unpleasant prospect of actually meeting Renesmee Carlie Cullen-Black for as long as possible. On the other hand, not only was the line inching along at an escargot's pace, but it was nowhere near the buffet table. Dean felt that was a serious flaw in this arrangement, in no small part because all of that prissy food he'd eaten had about as much substance as Chinese; tasted great, but he was already hungry again. He glanced longingly at the table, and he could see those spicy crab balls, and they were mocking him, dammit, so close and yet so far.

He snapped his head forward when he heard a voice call out, "Hey, Leah!" and immediately tensed when a tall, rangy guy who could only be a wolf came loping over, grinning merrily.

However, he relaxed when Leah just smiled and threw an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, Embry," she returned warmly. Embry released her from his half-embrace, and bounced his eyebrows appreciatively at her figure.

"Man, you look hot," he said. "Nice dress."

Leah laughed. "Thanks." She lightly punched his shoulder. "Turns out you clean up pretty nice, too."

Embry snorted. "I'd rather be in shorts. These suits are itchy and uncomfortable." He glanced over at Sam. "Hey again, Sam," he said, holding out his hand.

Sam accepted it. "Hi, Embry."

Embry then turned to Dean, giving him a half-smile. "You must be Dean. I'm Embry Call, Leah's packmate and arch nemesis on Xbox Live."

Leah rolled her eyes as Dean shook hands with the guy. "Try 'whipping boy'," she taunted.

"Oh, not for long," Embry said warningly. "I've been playing online with Claire lately since you haven't been around-I am now learning from a master."

"That I buy," Dean threw in. "She just kicked my ass at tic-tac-toe."

They all laughed. "Well, I tremble in fear," Leah giggled. She then spotted Embry giving sidelong looks at Cas as he laughed, and so she tugged him forward a little. "Embry, this is Cas, Cas, Embry."

"Heard of you, too," Embry said, extending his hand, though a tad hesitantly. Cas took it, and while he held on for longer than a second, it was still brief, and Embry wiggled his hand a little when he was done. "Reckon everyone's whispering about you almost as much as him." He jerked his head in Dean's direction. "Not that I can tell what the big deal is about," he said, turning to Dean with a glint in his eye. "All I smell is your aftershave." Then he smirked a little. "If you want, though, I could talk about how it's the best aftershave in the world."

"You do that and I'll neuter you, Wolfman," Dean growled, and he was only half-joking.

Embry snickered, but held up his hands. "Sorry, sorry-just trying to lighten the mood." He smiled at Dean again before turning to Leah. "Anyway, I came over 'cause I was wondering if you got an Xbox or a Playstation yet-I've got all my new headset equipment and everything, so I can play at long-distance now."

"No, I haven't gotten anything like that," Leah sighed. "My job-the hours are pretty funky, and a lot of the times, I'm just damn tired afterwards. Plus, money is still a bit tight, and I don't have a permanent home or anywhere to set it up." She smiled. "But I'll see what I can do-I do miss trashing you."

"Hey, you don't beat me that bad," Embry protested. "Besides, just because you beat me at first-person shooters doesn't mean you win at all video games. When's the last time you won a puzzle game against me?"

"Look, the fact that you whipped my ass at Bejeweled hardly counts-are there headshots in Bejeweled? I don't think so. So the game is clearly invalid," she said loftily.