The Wedding Party (Hollywood & Vine #2.5)

by Olivia Evans

  ‘Yes,” Josie answered without hesitation. “She sent flowers to work to congratulate us on the upcoming wedding with her number included on the card. I threw it in the trash. Then a few days later, she called and pretended to be a supplier. As soon as I answered, she started crying and begging me to convince you to give them a chance. She said all they wanted was to be a part of your life. I told her you were a grown man and I didn’t make decisions for you, that you would do what was right for you, and I would support any decision you made. She said she understood and hoped that in the future you would be as compassionate as I was. I told her I’d prefer she not contact me again, and I ended the conversation.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Josie let out a sigh, the ringing in her ears slowly fading. “Because you had just gotten back from filming, and I hadn’t seen you in weeks. The last thing I wanted to talk about was your mother. Then we left for here a week later. I sure as hell didn’t want to bring her up here. Now, answer my question. What if she had sent something you didn’t recognize. Would you have accused me of going behind your back?”

  Anders scrubbed his hand down his face and let out a heavy sigh. “I have no doubt that I would have been angry, but I wouldn’t have left. I would have asked you about it.”

  “Why did you leave this time? Where did you go?”

  “Because I knew this wasn’t anything you did. My mother was causing trouble, so I went to talk to Nathan. I told him I wanted no-contact orders against them so they couldn’t bother you anymore. My parents are like a cancer, and you don’t deserve to have them in your life. I hate that you didn’t tell me about her contacting you, but I’m not mad. I understand why you didn’t. I’m not perfect, Ivy, and I’m going to say and do dumb shit for the rest of our lives, but I trust you. Completely. You’re the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

  Josie let out a soft cry and wiped under her eyes. “I’m too hungover for this shit.”

  Anders laughed and kissed her forehead before jumping from the bed and grabbing the bag and cup. “I got you a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, extra butter and bacon. And coffee, of course.”

  “I’m sorry for thinking the worst,” Josie whispered, feeling ashamed. “I should trust you as much as I expect you to trust me.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Ivy. We’ve got the rest of our lives to owe each other sexual favors.”

  Josie choked on her coffee, laughing. “Is that so?”

  “You bet your ass.”

  “And who owes whom now?” Josie asked, the air around them becoming playful, comfortable, perfect.

  “Well, it depends on where you want to start with the tally. If we go back to last night, I think I’m at least a blow job in the positive.”

  Josie took a bite of her sandwich, and her eyes rolled back. “Oh my God. This is amazing. This alone earns you a blow job.”

  “Ivy, you can’t say shit like that to me.” Anders reached down and adjusted himself, his erection straining against his shorts.

  “And this coffee,” Josie sighed, totally egging him on. “This might get you some of that wall sex you love so much.”

  “Woman,” Anders growled, his face spreading into a wide smile as he leaned forward, ready to pounce.

  “Don’t you dare,” Josie shrieked as she dashed around the bed and set down the coffee and sandwich. “I told you I’m too hungover for this!”

  “We’ve already established what to do about that.” Anders trapped her in his arms and pinned her to the bed before kissing her lips, jaw, chin, and nose.

  “I love you,” Josie sighed.

  “I’m sorry we had a non-fight fight the day before our wedding. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  Josie raked her hands through his hair and smiled softly. “You did say we’d have a lot of make-up sex this weekend.”

  Anders grinned and placed his lips against her neck. “I did, didn’t I?” Josie hummed as Anders moved his mouth to hers. “I love you too,” he said before showing her just how much for the second time that morning.

  Anders and Josie walked out of their villa toward the pool, the sound of cheering immediately greeting them as they came into view. Their friends lounged around the pool, their sunglasses snug on their faces and their drinks close by as they whistled, clapped, and catcalled.

  “It’s about time you two came out here,” Maddie said, her smile wide.

  “Probably because they came enough in their villa,” Inky said under her breath. Everyone heard her, of course. Anders chuckled as he went to join the guys.

  “Don’t be jealous of my healthy sex life, Inky,” Josie said, falling onto the lounge chair next to her and speaking low enough that the guys couldn’t hear. “You have a perfectly willing pierced dick waiting for you to say the word.”

  “Also,” Maddie added. “I have a vested interest in this. So, if you could just give it up, that would be great.”

  Josie let out a sharp laugh, her hand flying to cover her mouth, but it did nothing to muffle the sound. “Maddie.”

  “What? I’d rather she knows we’re all betting on whether or not she and Greer have sex. Makes me feel like less of an asshole.” Maddie said, making the girls laugh. Well, all except Inky. She was ready to throw the whole lot of them in the shrooms cave.

  “So, are you ready for tomorrow?” Lori asked, changing the subject.

  “Yeah,” Josie whispered, leaning in closer to the girls. “Do you guys remember that package I got?” When the girls nodded, Josie continued. “It was from Anders’s mom. She wrote a note trying to make it sound like she and I had been in contact and she believed I would help mend the relationship with Anders and his parents once we were married. She even sent this jewelry box Anders had given to his mom when he was a kid, telling me he’d never know it was from her.”

  “What the fuck?” Maddie spat, sitting up in her chair. “Is she out of her fucking mind?”

  Josie shrugged. “I’m not ruling it out. Anyway, Anders got super pissed and I thought he was mad at me, but he’d gone to talk to Nathan about getting a no-contact order against his parents, so they couldn’t bother me anymore. I feel so bad when I think about it now, because I automatically assumed he thought I was stabbing him in the back.”

  “Anders has a quick temper and a reflex to not trust,” Chloe said gently, her smile reassuring. “It doesn’t matter that you guys are about to get married. People are who they are. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you. I adore Reid, but he’s got a lot of baggage. We all do.”

  “But Anders isn’t that guy anymore,” Maddie said, shocking everyone, including Josie. She shrugged and took a pull from her drink. “He’s an asshole, but he would lie down and die for you, Josie. Even I can admit that.”

  “What did he do with the jewelry box?” Inky asked.

  Josie bit her lip and cut her eyes to Anders. “He threw it in the trash. He said the woman he bought it for and the one he knew today weren’t the same person. He said the woman she was today didn’t deserve the love he gave to the woman she once was. It was kind of heartbreaking, to be honest.”

  “His parents are scum,” Lori said, causing everyone in the group to look in her direction. “They’re so much like Owen’s.”

  Josie blinked and looked at the other girls, each of them wearing the same surprised, confused expression. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”

  Lori let out an uneasy laugh, her eyes darting to Owen before dropping to her lap. “He’s not who you guys think he is. That’s all.”

  Josie leaned forward and cupped Lori’s hand in hers. “Don’t let him get in your head. Owen is exactly who we think he is. He’s complicated. Just like Anders, Reid, Walker, and Greer. But if you give him the chance, he will eat you alive.”

  “It worked out okay for you,” Lori pointed out, her voice soft.

  Josie let out a low laugh. “Yes, it did, but you remember what it was like. It’s easy to forget all that now, sitting he
re on a beautiful island and preparing for my wedding. But my life was a nightmare. I wanted to give up so many times, but Anders was stubborn as hell. He nearly did to me what Owen might do to you.”

  Lori shuddered and looked at her hands. Josie knew the images going through her head. Images of Josie being mobbed by the paparazzi, nasty slurs all over the internet, and her picture splashed across the fronts of trash magazines over and over again. Even all these years later, people said awful things about her. People who had a hard time separating fiction from reality. Every time Anders did a movie alongside a female lead, internet trolls and crazy shippers would try to make photos of them seem like a new love interest. Josie would always be the bad guy in the eyes of the girls who wanted what she had.

  “Just be careful,” Josie added, patting Lori’s hand.

  “I can’t believe all of you are drinking already,” Abigail said, a huge pair of black sunglasses covering half her face. “We’re going to have to look up a group rehab for all of you when we get back.”

  “Says the woman who’s gotten a tattoo, pole danced, and shoved Anders’s face in between her breasts,” Chloe said, her brow raised in challenge.

  “If you don’t stop drinking, you don’t have to deal with the hangover,” Greer said, handing Abigail a Bloody Mary.

  Abigail winced and mumbled under her breath something about killing Sonya. “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” Abigail lifted her glass in the air toward Greer and took a tentative sip.

  “Who are you?” Chloe asked, her eyes wide. “Clearly, you’ve been abducted by aliens and there is a pod person living inside you.”

  “The truth is, Sonya made me realize something. I have been alone for a long time, and as long as I am the way I am, that’s never going to change. Seeing all of you happy and in love—” Abigail cut her eyes to Inky and Lori. “Well, most of you happy and in love, made me realize my life is passing me by. I have enough regrets.” She looked at Chloe, her expression so full of remorse that it caused Josie’s eyes to sting.

  “Oh, Mom,” Chloe said, her voice breaking. “I love you.”

  “I love you too. I’m so proud of you.”

  “That being said,” Chloe added, pulling away. “Can you maybe dial back this new lease on life you’ve found until I’ve had a chance to adjust? Tattoos, I can handle, but seeing you pole dance and motorboat Anders Ellis was more than a little traumatizing.”

  Abigail, along with the rest of the girls, burst into laughter. “I’ll do my best.”

  “That’s all a girl can ask,” Chloe said with a wide smile.

  “So, what’s on the agenda for the day, girls?” Greer asked, sitting on the foot of Inky’s lounger and pulling her feet into his lap. She scowled, kicking his hand away when he rubbed his hand up her calf. He ignored her.

  Josie shrugged. “I have to check on the flowers, food, and a few other wedding things, but other than that, I just want to relax.”

  “How about we have that bonfire the guys still haven’t had? Reid can bring his guitar and play a few of his new songs,” Chloe suggested.

  “That sounds nice, and something Elizabeth can do as well.”

  Everyone grimaced. Elizabeth had been holed up in her room with a severe sunburn since the second day they’d been there. Although, missing the shitshow at the club the night before might have been a blessing in disguise. Josie and Anders had forked over enough money; they didn’t want to be responsible for therapy sessions too.

  “Well,” Abigail sighed as she stood. “I’m going to have a shot at the bar, then I’m going to find Sonya. If I can’t sleep off my hangover, she doesn’t get to either.” The group said goodbye before circling up together, drinks in hand. That was when Josie realized Greer was still running his hand over Inky’s leg, and she hadn’t done anything to stop him. Josie smirked. Inky saw.

  Jumping to her feet, Inky ripped her cover-up over her head, her wild red hair falling down her back and around her face. Her dark green bikini was nearly camouflaged by the endless colors of ink covering her skin. It was the first time she’d worn a bikini, and for a moment, everyone just gaped at her.

  “Jesus,” Maddie whispered. “Inky, that’s hot as fuck.”

  Inky rolled her eyes. “Apparently, I’m willing to do just about anything to distract you assholes from your bet.”

  Josie snickered before clearing her throat and cutting her eyes at Greer, who had stilled completely, his brown eyes wide. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to go the way you’d hoped.”

  “Looking good, Inky,” Owen said, tipping his beer to her in appreciation while leering at the skin just above her bikini bottom. “What kind of hidden ink do you have under there?”

  “All of you are pigs,” Inky spat before pushing past Greer, who was now staring daggers at Owen. “I’m going for a swim.”

  “A swim sounds like a good idea,” Walker commented, his eyes also following Inky. Greer muttered something about killing a motherfucker before Josie jumped to her feet.

  “Okay, I have wedding stuff to do. As official members of my bridal party, you two have to come with me.” Josie looked over at Lori and smiled. “See what you can do about keeping these clowns out of trouble.”

  Lori looked around with wide eyes. “Oh, you have got to be kidding.”

  “You’ve got this!”

  As soon as the girls were out of earshot, Chloe spoke. “Josie, you’re so going to lose this bet. No way they don’t end up ripping each other’s clothes off before this weekend is over.”

  “Anders said the same thing,” Josie sighed. “He even bet me twenty bucks they’d bang. Now I’m gonna be out forty if I lose.”

  “Reid’s with you, Josie. He doesn’t think Greer has a shot in hell. I think he underestimates the effect Greer is having on Inky. I’ve never seen her so flustered.”

  “Also, Reid didn’t see Greer’s dick,” Maddie said under her breath.

  Chloe groaned. “I’d really like to forget I ever saw that. I’m way closer to him than you guys. I have to practically live with him on the tour bus. I just need that image vanquished from my memory.”

  Josie shook her head. “I know I put Lori in charge of holding down the fort, but I think that much testosterone might be too much for any one person to handle. So let's get this wedding stuff out of the way and get back to the group before all hell breaks loose.”

  “Let’s,” Chloe and Maddie agreed.

  Chapter Eight

  The smell of salt, sand, and smoke lingered on the breeze. Heat licked the air, the flames from the fire dancing and casting long shadows around the group. Anders settled back in his seat and pulled Josie down with him, hugging her close to his chest. He looked around the group, their friends and family, and felt a sense of peace wash over him. He didn’t care that he didn’t have any biological family to witness his wedding. The people around him, crazy though they might be, were all the family he needed.

  “What are you thinking about so hard?” Josie asked, turning in his lap so she could wrap her arms around his neck and press her lips to his cheek.

  “That I can’t wait for all these fuckers to go back home. I don’t want to see any of them for the rest of the year.”

  Josie threw her head back and laughed. “You’re such an asshole. You’re also full of shit.”

  Anders nodded. “I’m just happy, Ivy. I’m finally fucking happy, and it’s all because of you.”

  “As much as I’d like to take the credit, none of this would have been possible if you hadn’t been willing to try.”

  “You made it really fucking easy for me to make that decision…eventually,” he added with a chuckle. “God, you were such a pain in my ass.”

  “Says the asshole,” Josie said with a smile.

  “It was worth it, though. I’d do it all over again if it meant that I got to have you.”

  “Fuck that. I would have gone home and masturbated and just imagined having wall sex with you.” Josie’s eyes sparkled
with mischief as Anders pressed his lips into a thin line.

  “I’m trying to be romantic and shit, and you’re fucking it all up with that smart mouth of yours.”

  “Well, how about you shut me up?” she whispered, her lips stretched into a smile as she covered his mouth with hers.

  “That’s more like it,” Anders grumbled, his hands finding her hair and deepening the kiss. In the dark, lulled by the sounds of the ocean and the crackling of the wood on the fire, it was easy to forget they weren’t alone.

  “I hope you know everyone is picturing you two having sex,” Inky said, her voice breaking through the bubble they’d created around themselves.

  “The hell, everyone is,” Holden said, his expression full of horror.

  “Yeah,” Keith added, his voice flat as he took a sip of his beer. “That’s going to be a no for me.”

  Sonya shook her head. “Of course, I’m not thinking about Josie having sex!”

  “No one here missed that she said nothing about Anders, right?” Inky asked, the smile in her voice almost giddy.

  “I swear to God, woman, if you don’t stop hitting on Anders, I’m going to burn down your She-shed.”

  Sonya laughed and wrapped her hands around Keith’s arm. “You know I only have eyes for you.”

  “Your parents are fucking insane, Ivy. Certifiable.”

  “You know, a part of me wants to defend them, but a bigger part, the part that has been exposed to things I never ever want to think about again, has to agree with you.”

  “So, Reid, I hear you guys are getting close to putting out a new album,” Nathan said, thankfully steering the conversation away from the gutter. With this group, they were always just one step away from crossing into uncomfortable territory. Like talking about his friends’ dicks.

  “Soon,” Reid said, pulling Anders from his thoughts. “We’ve got a couple songs we want to mess with a bit, but it’s looking good. Adding Chloe to the band permanently really has been a game changer.”

  “It sure has. Now every other song on the album won’t make you want to slit your wrists,” Greer said, dodging Reid’s fist. “What? I’m just telling the truth! This album has been a lot of fun.”