by Olivia Evans
“Whose do you think? Hers, of course.” Josie tried not to shudder. Her mother was a hot mess. Josie wouldn’t be surprised to find male strippers and a tub of Jell-O on the agenda.
“I like your mom,” Walker said, his lips morphing into a salacious smile.
Josie’s face contorted with disgust as she stood from the lounge chair. “Did Anders tell you about all the guns my dad owns? I think it would be in your best interest to stick your dick in an electrified chain link fence before thinking about flirting with my mom.”
“I swear to God, if I hear you talking about one of my friend’s dicks again, I’m going to lose my shit.” Anders stepped behind Josie and wrapped his arms around her waist, glaring at the guys.
“All of you are ridiculous,” Inky muttered, sipping her drink.
“Those are some pretty badass tats you have,” Walker said, his eyes raking over Inky. “Maybe you can tell me about them later.”
“You can’t be serious,” Inky deadpanned.
“What’s going on?” Greer asked, a tightness to his voice that anyone with ears would have noticed. Josie pulled her lip between her teeth to keep from laughing. If this turned into a who has a bigger dick contest, Anders might murder someone.
“We’re talking about how many strippers Josie’s mom is going to rent tonight,” Inky said, her voice monotone as she flipped through her Rolling Stone magazine.
Anders narrowed his eyes at Inky before turning back to Josie. “I don’t know how I feel about this bachelorette party shit.”
Josie laughed. “Is that so? Do you want me to call it off? I’d be more than happy to.”
Anders sighed. “But if you cancel, that means your mom won’t have anything to do. Nothing good ever happens when she has free time.”
“Sure, it does. How do you think I got here?” Josie asked with a wink.
“No, Josie. Gross,” Holden said, his eyes screwed shut. “All of us shouldn’t have to suffer from you fucking with Anders.”
“So, what are you guys going to do while the rest of us are stuffing dollar bills in strippers’ G-strings?” Chloe asked, her eyes bright. Josie shook her head. Anders was going to Hulk smash something.
“Well, since we didn’t have the bonfire last night for reasons…” Holden cleared his throat and tried to keep his laughter in check. “I thought we could do that tonight while you girls are out. I heard Mom telling Dad something about breaking Abigail out of her shell. I’m terrified for us all.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “No one is breaking my mother out of her shell. That woman is stone-cold.”
“Not with me.”
Chloe smacked her hand against Reid’s chest. “Hush. No one likes a bragger.”
Inky let out a disbelieving laugh and looked around the group. “Chloe, this entire testosterone fest of man meat is nothing more than a bunch of egomaniacs. They’re all braggers. And yet, here you all sit…”
“We,” Josie corrected with a glint in her eye. “Here we all sit.”
Inky groaned and dropped the magazine on her face. “Why am I even here? You guys are terrible friends.”
“I feel like I’m missing something,” Reid said with a smile. “And I’m completely okay with that. Who wants another drink?”
A chorus of “Me” rang out, everyone clearly wanting the conversation to end. Anders, along with the rest of the guys, headed toward the drink table, while the girls settled back into their lounge chairs.
When the guys were out of earshot, Chloe turned to Inky, a sly smile turning up her lips. “I have a feeling things are going to get very interesting over the next few days.”
“Stop looking at me. Whatever reality show drama you’re expecting just isn’t going to happen. End of story.”
“I don’t know,” Josie chimed in, following Chloe’s lead. “Did y’all see the way Greer acted when Walker hit on Inky?”
Inky closed her magazine and sat up, her eyes narrowed as she looked from Madison to Josie before settling on Chloe. “There will be no drama. There is nothing going on between me and Greer. And as far as Walker goes, he’s worse than Greer. I’m already traumatized by that encounter. No way am I lowering the bar even more. At this point, I’d have to bury it!”
“You didn’t mind when Greer buried his bar in you,” Madison quipped.
“What did I bury?” Greer asked, a confused smile on his lips as he handed Inky a fresh drink.
Josie choked, her hand flying to her mouth to keep from spitting out her own drink. The image of Greer’s piercing caused her cheeks to burn. Anders really was going to commit murder if things kept going the way they were.
“Thanks.” Inky snatched the drink from Greer’s hand and downed it before passing the empty glass back to him, “Keep ’em coming. I have a feeling I’m going to need to be wasted to make it through the next three days.”
“Ms. Bane?” someone called from behind the group. “A package arrived for you at the front desk. We had it delivered to your villa.”
“Thank you.” Josie smiled. She wasn’t expecting any packages, but she was certain it was something for the wedding. Her wedding. She was going to marry Anders Ellis. She looked at him and smiled. They’d started off under the most impossible circumstances, and here they were, about to be married.
“Keep looking me like that, and we’re going back to the villa to check out another package.”
“Gross,” Inky groaned. “It’s bad enough with Reid and Chloe. Now you two? This is why I’m an alcoholic.”
Greer reached out and grabbed Inky’s hand, pulling her to her feet. “Come on, let’s sober you up.” Without giving Inky a chance to object, Greer swept her into his arms, her long red hair flying behind them as he raced to the pool and jumped in, submerging them in the cool water.
“What the fuck?” Inky spluttered, wiping water away from her face as the rest of the group laughed.
“She’s totally gonna hit that,” Chloe whispered.
Reid shook his head, a playful smile on his lips. “That’s it. I’m going to have to stop you and Greer from hanging out. You sound more and more like him every day.”
“Hi, everyone! Anders,” Sonya added with a wink.
Josie looked up, her eyes widening. “Mom! What the hell are you wearing?”
Josie’s mother looked down at her outfit and shrugged. “It’s a bathing suit.”
“That is not a bathing suit,” Holden said, standing to wrap a towel around her shoulders. The skimpy black bikini left nothing to the imagination, and the see-through cover-up somehow made it seem even more indecent.
“Damn, dude,” Owen said, clapping Anders on the shoulder. “You just got a preview of what Josie will look like in about twenty-five years. Congratulations, fucker.”
“I’m going to break your arm if you don’t take it off my shoulder right now. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Everyone here is certifiable,” Inky snapped, yanking a towel off the back of the lounge chair. “Oh shit, Chloe.”
“What?” Chloe didn’t get another word out before her mother came into view. “Sonya, what have you done?”
“I told you guys I was going to get Abigail to cut loose. Apparently, it just took a bikini wax to match that sexy little number she’s wearing. Well, that and a Valium. Tonight is going to be so much fun!”
“Holy shit,” Owen said, looking from Chloe to her mom. “This shit is getting ridiculously unfair.”
Reid narrowed his eyes. “Anders, how’s that whole hitting Owen thing going?”
“This is too much,” Holden whispered. “I can’t ever unsee any of this.”
“Mom,” Chloe whispered, her face frozen in shock. Abigail was wearing a minuscule red bikini, almost identical to Sonya’s black one. That, however, wasn’t what Chloe was looking at. Underneath her see-through cover-up were the very distinct markings of a tattoo. “Is that a tattoo?”
“Oh shit,” Holden said, moving next to Maddie.
Chloe set down
her drink—or dropped it, however you wanted to look at it—and moved closer. Josie stepped up beside her, unable to close her mouth. Abigail was the most uppity, proper person she’d ever met. She hounded Chloe constantly about her tattoos. There was no way it was real. It couldn’t be.
“Mom, please tell me you didn’t have anything to do with this,” Josie said, her eyes darting from Chloe to Abigail. Chloe reached for her mother’s cover-up and pulled it open.
“Oh my God. It’s real.”
“What is it?” Josie asked, moving closer. When she saw it, she gasped.
“Look, most of us aren’t comfortable getting any closer than we are now, so if one of you could please tell us what it is, that’d be great,” Holden said, keeping his eyes anywhere except on his mom’s and Chloe’s mom’s half-naked bodies.
“It’s a purple violin with my name under it,” Chloe answered, her words choked. “Mom, when did you do this?”
“Last night,” Sonya answered. “We might have had a little more to drink than we should have, and we wandered into a tattoo shop.”
Josie spun around to face her mother. “Did you get a tattoo?”
The smile that spread across Sonya’s face made Josie’s skin heat. “Not anywhere that I can show you.”
“Fuck this,” Holden said, grabbing a bottle of vodka off the table and tipping it back. “I need this entire conversation never to have happened.”
“Sucks, doesn’t it?” Anders cut in, his expression smug.
“Karama really is a bitch,” Holden conceded.
“So where is it?” Inky asked, clearly enjoying the opportunity of not being the one having her balls busted, so to speak.
Josie shook her head. “Oh no. We’re not doing this. It’s my wedding, and I get veto power over traumatizing conversation.”
Inky shrugged, a mischievous smile on her lips. “That’s cool. I have no doubt this is just the tip of the iceberg. I can wait.”
Josie scrubbed her hand over her face and moved next to Chloe, who was still quiet. “You okay?”
“I can’t believe my mom got a tattoo. I can’t believe my mom got a tattoo of my name and a violin. I also can’t believe she hasn’t done anything but grin since she walked out here.” Chloe snapped her fingers in front of her mother’s face. “Mom! What’s wrong with you?”
Abigail blinked and seemed to come out of whatever daze she’d been in. She looked from Chloe to Josie before leaning in. “Valium is awesome.”
“Okay,” Sonya laughed, swooping in next to Abigail. “We’re going to eat a little breakfast before we hit the beach. You kids have fun. We’ll be back later.”
Before anyone could protest, the two women disappeared around the corner, leaving the group stunned into silence. Madison was the first to speak.
“My liver is going to take a beating this weekend from all the alcohol I’m going to need to black out everything that’s happened so far.”
“Ain’t that the fucking truth,” Anders said, downing the rest of his drink.
“Your mom is out of control,” Chloe whispered, falling onto her lounge chair.
Josie gave her a wide, over-the-top, fake smile. “And she’s in charge of our plans tonight. Isn’t that awesome?”
“We’re going to drink so much booze,” Madison laughed.
“Say what y’all want. This is going to be a fucking riot,” Inky said, settling back in her chair and slipping her shades onto her face.
“Your mom is single, right?” Walker asked, his cheek dimpled from his wide smile.
“Don’t make me kill you,” Chloe said, her voice completely serious.
Reid and Anders laughed and pulled Walker back from Chloe’s death glare. “I didn’t think it was possible for you to be any more of an idiot,” Anders said. “Clearly, I was mistaken.”
Maddie looked at Chloe and Josie before bumping her fist against her chest. “Shoulders, shovels, and alibis.”
Josie let out a loud laugh, remembering the time Madison had said those exact words to her when Josie had debated if she could get away with burying Anders’s body in the desert. It was a story Chloe was familiar with, and after a beat, she joined Josie’s laughter.
“Any idea what the fuck they’re talking about?” Greer asked, moving next to Anders and Reid.
“Nope,” Reid answered. “But if it involves shovels and alibis, I’m pretty certain we don’t want to know.”
“Doesn’t Chloe watch all those crimes of passion shows?” Greer asked, his brow raised.
“We all do,” Inky said with a sweet smile. “You boys should remember that.”
“I’m too pretty to die,” Owen said, his eyes sweeping over the group. Josie didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered a second longer on Lori, or how Lori dropped her eyes immediately, her cheeks pink.
Josie cleared her throat, causing Lori to snap her eyes in Josie’s direction. Josie gave her a “Don’t think I don’t see that blush on your cheeks” look before turning toward Anders. “Do you know where my dad and Nathan are?”
“Yeah. They went to get some things for the bonfire tonight. I don’t know what you need to get that would require them to go this early. It’s wood. I’m pretty sure they’re up to no-good, but after yesterday, I just can’t be bothered to ask.”
“Oh?” Maddie asked. “What happened yesterday?” She cut her eyes to Owen, who looked around the group, his eyes wide.
“Nothing happened yesterday,” he said, his voice bordering on panicked. “Not a motherfucking thing happened yesterday.” His eyes flew to Lori, and before anyone could say anything else, he reached for her hand and hauled her to her feet. “Come for a swim with me,” was all he said before hauling ass to the beach, Lori stumbling behind him. Everyone laughed at Owen’s quick escape. Well, everyone who hadn’t been drugged laughed. Anders and Reid were staring daggers at Greer. He clearly didn’t remember sending the pictures to Inky. Which was awesome. For Josie.
Josie stood and slipped her hand inside Anders’s. “Let’s go for a walk,” she whispered, tugging him away from the group. He cast a final angry glance at Greer before following Josie to the beach. Josie was quiet for a second before looking toward the water and watching as Owen tossed Lori over his shoulder and carried her into the waves.
“He better not fuck with her,” Josie said, knowing it was a pointless statement but feeling the need to say it anyway. Lori had developed a crush on Owen when they’d met at a barbecue Josie and Anders had thrown. Owen had flirted, and Lori was completely smitten. Then Josie ended up working on a film with Owen, and he somehow managed to have Lori at his beck and call. It was eerily similar to the situation Josie had found herself in with Anders. Except for the one-night stand, fighting, fake girlfriend, shady reporters, and loads of baggage. Totally the same.
“Lori can handle herself. She sure doesn’t take any of my shit,” Anders said, bringing Josie’s hand to his mouth and placing a soft kiss below her engagement ring.
“She likes him. Owen will never settle down. I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
Anders pulled them to a stop and turned Josie so he could wrap his arms around her, a sardonic smile playing on his lips. “People used to say the same thing about me too, you know?”
Josie huffed. “That’s different.”
Anders nodded, his expression mocking. “You’re right. Owen and I are nothing alike.”
Josie groaned and dropped her head to his chest. “Listen, not everyone gets their happily ever after. What happened to Chloe and me with you and Reid doesn’t always turn out that way for everyone.” That’s like lightning striking in the same place ten times!”
Anders chuckled and pressed his lips to the top of Josie’s head. “Do you want me to talk to him? I don’t know if it will do a single bit of fucking good, and if he tells me to fuck off, I’m not going to press. But for you, I will at least attempt to keep things from turning into a complete clusterfuck.”
“Aww,” Josie said with a sigh, battin
g her lashes. “My knight in shining armor.”
“Don’t be a smartass, Ivy,” Anders chided. “Guys don’t have those touchy-feely conversations you women have. And don’t think I don’t have questions about shovels and alibis. Y’all can be scary as fuck when you want to be.”
Josie laughed and rocked up on the balls of her feet to plant a kiss on Anders’s lips. “And don’t you forget it.”
“Like you would ever let me.” Anders looked around, his gaze focusing on a small inlet. “Let’s go fuck in the ocean.”
Josie turned her head, seeing the hidden cove Anders was staring at. Her pulse quickened when she realized all their friends had scattered. “Okay.”
Anders’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
When Josie nodded, her world flipped upside down as Anders tossed her over his shoulder and ran to the water. In the beautiful seclusion of a rocky oasis, they melted into each other, the rest of the world fading away.
Chapter Five
“You’re killing me,” Anders groaned, his eyes traveling over Josie’s body. She smiled and did a small curtsy.
“It could have been worse,” she teased. “Maddie tried to pick out my outfit, but I vetoed. You’ve been tortured enough the last couple of days.”
“You’re lucky I’m letting you leave here in that dress. I have a feeling I would have locked you in the bathroom if it was worse than the one you’re wearing.”
Josie looked down at her dress and rolled her eyes. Sure, it was short, but it wasn’t tight. The bottom flared out, the fabric swaying when she moved. Of course, Anders hadn’t seen the back, so there was still a possibility of her being locked in the bathroom. Not that she would mind; the different scenarios of what her mom had planned for the night were far more terrifying.
“Are you guys planning on going out anywhere or just hanging at the beach?” Josie asked, wanting to change the direction of her thoughts.
“I’m never going anywhere with those fuckers again.” Anders narrowed his eyes, his lips pursed when Josie laughed.
“You can’t stay mad forever. It’s unhealthy.” Josie turned when there was a knock at the door.