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pretend he was paying attention.
    “Casa Loma? Hey, that would make a great place for the reception. They’ve got this awesome conservatory. Great for pictures too.” Ian stopped talking as the entire table stared at him.
    “Honey, I’m sure I told you already.” His mother’s concern deepened as she stared at him. “Dylan and Stephanie decided weeks ago to have the reception there. That’s why we’re talking about it.”
    Heat licked at his cheeks. Surely he hadn’t been that self-absorbed.
    “Sorry, Dylan, Steph.”
    “S’okay.” Dylan waved a fork at him in a gesture Ian had no trouble interpreting as obscene. “I’m sure you’ve been busy.”
    Stephanie gave her fiancé a mock glare and a nudge to the shoulder, but Dylan hardly looked abashed. His brother would have been more graphic and crude if he’d been on his own, Ian knew that for a fact.
    Ian hadn’t been as busy as his family assumed, but last night… yes… he’d been busy. With Rick. And that reminder had his cheeks flaring hotter, even as he recognized this might be the perfect opening.
    “You at least remember the date, right? You haven’t made plans?” Dylan’s teasing was a little gentler than Caitlyn’s earlier words, but the truth of them still stung. He’d been completely out of touch for too long.
    “Of course I remember the date. I’m supposed to be wearing a tux and everything.” He didn’t remember the date. At all. Hopefully he’d put it in his calendar but pulling his phone out now to check would only have the whole lot laughing at him. He glared at Kurt. If his brother loved him at all, he’d groan or something, take the attention off Ian’s preoccupation. Kurt merely snorted and tried to look invisible. Ian grimaced. After his injury, Kurt had probably got far more familial attention than he wanted.
    “Yes, but you did realize they’re going to be mustard yellow, right? It’s got a special meaning for Steph’s family.” Dylan smiled adoringly at his fiancée while Ian threw her a horrified look.
    He hadn’t actually agreed to wear a yellow tux, had he? Where would one even go to find such a travesty? The Tuxedo Junction he’d rented high school formal wear from would be unlikely to carry such nonsense.
    Heaven save him, he hadn’t agreed to buy it, had he? “Er…. Is it going to be specially made?”
    Everyone, except for his parents, started laughing, and Ian was pretty sure his father stuffed an extra-large forkful of potatoes in his mouth to prevent himself from doing just that.
    His mother’s eyes twinkled, just a bit. “Honey, you really should try to get home for dinner more.”
    “I’m sorry, Mom. But the tuxedo is a joke, right?” Because that needed to be confirmed.
    “Of course it is, idiot.” Dylan’s words were teasing enough that Ian didn’t take offense, although his fiancée, Stephanie, gave him a dirty look, and his mother cleared her throat warningly. He’d had two sibs call him an idiot in one day. That was a new record since they’d all graduated university.
    His father finally swallowed. “Although we’d prefer our children didn’t call each other names….” Dylan had the grace to look chastened. “Boyo, you’ve met our Stephanie, right? I don’t know fashion at all and I can tell she’d not pick something that wasn’t classy.”
    Well, that was certainly true. Dylan had picked a sophisticated, attractive woman who still knew how to have fun.
    Ian still needed to check his calendar. For all he knew, he had other wedding obligations that required his presence. The conversation moved on to the wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses, and the interlude for his confession passed. He’d have to pay more attention to the conversation; maybe another decent moment would arise naturally.
    The conversation made a turn from seating arrangements to his eldest sister, Erin, and her upcoming birthday party. At least he knew that was in his calendar, since it was practically a