“Give me the phone! You’re scaring the poor girl!”
“Fine.”
There was rustling and then a bang, I’m guessing Seth’s phone had just been dropped, and someone was swearing.
“Hey, Claire. I’m Elise’s best friend, Jax,” he introduced himself sounding oddly calm.
“Hey. What’s going on?”
“Well, we have a little bit of an issue.”
“What sort of issue?”
“The sort of issue I’m told you can help with.”
“Okay…”
“The woman who was supposed to be doing Elise’s hair today had a car accident on the way over and has been taken to hospital with a broken leg. Apparently, she isn’t interested in doing it before her surgery, but whatever.”
“Oh, my god!”
“I know. It’s crazy. But it means, we’re fucked. Because unless you can come and do it, Elise will be on the cover of a magazine with her hair in a ponytail.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
Ponytails weren’t all bad. But I got his point.
“Oh, my god! Seth!” I heard him scream before the phone beeped in my ear. “This Claire chick. Is she for real?”
“Why? What happened?”
Obviously, I was on speaker.
“She said ponytails weren’t a bad thing? Like seriously. Is she just pulling my dick?”
I snorted just listening to his dramatics and imagining Seth’s face. He’d mentioned Jax in passing before, but he’d failed to mention how funny he was. I hadn’t had the good fortune of meeting him yet, but damn I wanted to.
“Boys! Focus!”
“Yes, Elise,” they answered in unison.
“So, Claire, can you please come and save me?” Seth begged.
“Save you? What the hell is going to happen to you if Bridezilla walks down the aisle with a ponytail?”
“Boys!” Now it was my turn to try and get them back under control, not that I really stood a chance. “I need fifteen minutes to shower and change and then I can head out. I’ll see if I can borrow Isaac’s car…” I added, remembering I still hadn’t replaced mine.
“I’ll order you an Uber, Claire. You’re going to have to meet us at the hotel. We’re heading there now.”
“Oh. Okay. But you don’t have to…”
“I’m ordering.”
Honestly, it was going to be easier. I had no idea how long I’d be, and I doubted Isaac wanted to give up his wheels on a Saturday afternoon. “Thank you. Jax?”
“Yeah, baby girl?”
“Baby girl?” I questioned. I’d never been someone’s baby girl before. It was weird, but surprisingly, I didn’t hate it.
“Moving along.” From the growl in his voice, I got the feeling that Seth wasn’t exactly a huge fan.
With my phone balanced on my shoulder, I started stripping, getting ready to jump in the shower. Thank God we weren’t on video chat. I’d probably scar him for life. “Do you have everything I’m going to need?”
“Tell me what you’re going to need and by the time you get there, I will.”
Five minutes of talking logistics and I was in the shower wondering what the hell I’d just agreed to. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t even qualified, and they were asking me to do the bride’s hair. Not just the bridesmaid or a guest, but the bloody bride. The one everyone stared at. The one they all oohed and aahed over. The one who was going to cherish today’s photos for the rest of her life. The one that was going to be on the front page of the magazines. This was madness.
Four weeks ago, I’d been curled up in a blanket fort with Seth teasing him about his weird belly button. Since then, we’d been inseparable. Well, basically inseparable. We trained together most mornings before going our separate ways. Then every Thursday he’d come home, and we’d eat junk while I consoled him while he sulked because he missed out again. I didn’t get it. He was good. He was damn good; he just couldn’t get a start. And as much as he was trying to put on a brave face, I could see how miserable he was. It didn’t matter how many times I let him beat me in Mario Kart or how many tricks I pulled out, nothing I did could put a real, genuine, no holding back smile on his face. It was breaking my damn heart. Thank God this weekend was a bye round so that meant no game. No game meant no team selection. No team selection meant no disappointment. I’d never been more grateful. I don’t know how much more I could fake.
A horn honked, and I rushed around, swiping everything off my dresser into a bag before sliding my feet into my thongs and bolting out the door. Masking the yawn, I leaned back in the car and tried to convince myself I could pull this off. Damn, I hoped they had champagne. I had a feeling we were all going to need it.
Before I was ready, we pulled into the circular driveway of a beautiful hotel on the river. After thanking the driver, I grabbed my stuff and climbed out, only to find Seth leaning against one of the pillars, playing on his phone. For a moment, I just stood there watching him. I was surprised to see how calm and relaxed he looked; it was the complete opposite of how he sounded when he called.
Knowing time was getting away from us, and I was going to need every minute, I called out to him. “Seth?”
Spinning around, he spotted me, and a huge grin broke out across his face filling me with confidence. He believed in me. He wouldn’t have asked me to do this if he didn’t. Seth was frustrating and annoying and a perfectionist, but the last thing I could ever accuse him of being was cruel. He’d never set me up to fail.
Snatching the bag from my hand, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me inside. “You ready for this?” he asked, hitting the button for the elevator.
“Honestly?” Seth nodded, encouraging me to go on. “No.”
“You’ll be fine. Elise is…well, let’s just say for a bride she’s pretty chill. It’s Jax who’s…”
“Who’s?”
“Just wait till you meet him.”
The elevator arrived and we climbed in. Turning to face the door, I caught a quick glimpse of the foyer and wished I had more time to spend there. Especially in the oversized, velvet chairs I spied in the corner looking out the windows and probably over the river.
“Can’t wait,” I answered honestly.
Jax was everything I imagined and yet so much more. I don’t know if they’d slipped Elise a Xanax or she’d had just enough of the champagne her crazy friend Dana kept pouring, but she was the most chilled out bride I’d ever encountered. Once we figured out what the hell it was I would attempt to do, she’d closed her eyes, asked them to turn up the music, and relaxed. She barely asked questions. Jax, on the other hand, I threatened to stab with a bobby pin if he didn’t step back and give me some room. He’d lasted all of fifteen minutes before Seth whisked him off to join the guys in their suite to give me the space I needed to work.
With one final spray of hairspray, I stepped out from behind the chair and held my breath. It was time to face the music. I’ll admit it didn’t look exactly like the picture Elise had shown me, but it was pretty damn close. And not bad for an unplanned, untried hotel room rush job. Normally a style like this would involve some trimming, a fully equipped salon, and a lot more time.
“Well, what do you think?” I asked hesitantly, praying she didn’t hate it.
“Holy fuck!” Elise exclaimed, turning each and every way in the bathroom mirror trying to get a glimpse of every angle.
Looking over at Dana who had a wicked smile on her face as she sipped her champagne through a straw, so she didn’t ruin her makeup, she gave nothing away. I was seriously on the verge of passing out unless someone put me out of my misery soon. I could feel my heart pounding as I struggled to breathe.
“Is that a good holy fuck or a bad holy fuck?” I whisper yelled to Dana, stuffing my brushes back in my bag. If this all turned to shit, I needed to make a quick getaway.
“Claire!” Elise called, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Better get in there,” Dana
encouraged as I hesitated.
With heavy steps and an even heavier heart, I crossed the room and stopped in the bathroom doorway.
“Everything okay?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“Claire, this is perfect. Thank you.”
Phew!
I let out the biggest sigh of my life. I hadn’t completely fucked her wedding day. I could breathe again. “Oh, thank God!”
“Claire, it’s fucking amazing. And if I wasn’t wearing so much makeup and I wasn’t scared I’d wreck your masterpiece; I’d hug the shit out of you.”
“I’m so glad you’re happy with it,” I admitted, feeling more than a little proud of myself. Fuck it felt good to hear her praise. I might not have my fancy salon yet, or the certificate confirming I knew what I was doing, but hearing Elise tell me she loved it, made my heart soar and convinced me to push even harder to make my dreams come true. No one else was going to do it for me. It was all up to me. And seeing how happy Elise was with what I’d done gave me the final kick in the arse I needed to fight for it.
“Happy? I’m fucking ecstatic. Not only did you save me at the last minute, but you’ve done such an incredible job. I can’t thank you enough, Claire.”
“My pleasure.”
With one final look in the mirror, Elise smiled at her reflection before turning back to me and putting her hands on her hips. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know this was her I-mean-business pose. “Now, you need to get out of here so I can get dressed and go and get your own dress on.”
“Huh?”
“Go get ready, Claire.”
“Ready for what?”
“Ready for my wedding, silly.”
“Oh, I’m not going. I’m just here to give you a hand,” I explained.
“I know, but since you saved the day, you deserve cake,” Elise confirmed.
“That’s very generous of you, Elise, but honestly, it’s completely unnecessary. I’ve had my fairy godmother moment. Now I need to let Cinderella go and get her prince charming.”
The door to the room was flung open, and the three of us froze where we stood. Dana wearing only her underwear.
Breezing through the door like he owned the place, Jax interrupted, “Excuse me, ladies, but there’s only one fairy in this fairy tale, and I already called dibs!”
34
Seth
“Oh, my god! Oh, my god!”
The ear-piercing shrill was not how I wanted to wake up this morning.
“Seth! Seth! Wake up! Look! Oh, my fucking God!”
The screeching wasn’t going to stop. When she shook my shoulder, jolting my body making me want to roll over and hurl, I cracked open my eyes, and after blinking away the dancing black spots, I saw a beaming Claire. Thank God the heavy block out blinds were drawn, I doubted I could handle her bright cheeriness this morning as well as the harsh sun.
“I’m awake. I’m awake,” I grumbled, rubbing my eyes and regretting the last round of shots. I don’t know who thought Sambuca shots at two o’clock was a good idea, but I hoped they were in pain wherever they passed out. I know I was.
“Look! Look!” a very excited Claire instructed, shoving her phone in my face.
Ignoring the drilling in my head and the gurgle of my stomach, I forced myself to sit up and lean against the headboard. “Okay, what am I looking at?”
“Elise and Luca’s wedding is the top story on the news headlines!”
Seriously, Claire, for the love of all that’s holy, turn it down a few hundred decibels. Please.
Looking down at her phone, sure enough on one of the gossip sites was a photo of Luca and Elise dancing. Someone had obviously snapped the picture, it wasn’t the greatest, but nevertheless, there it was. Their wedding photo was tabloid fodder. If I wasn’t so used to it with Bryce and his mates, I would’ve rolled my eyes. Now though, I was too cynical to even react.
“That’s great,” I offered not really understanding what all the excitement was about.
“You don’t get it, do you?” The way Claire asked had me wondering what I was missing.
“Honestly, no. It’s way too early, and I’m way too hungover…” I started to defend.
“My hairstyle. The hair I did is on the front page of the paper! Look.” She pointed at the screen with a chipped fingernail. “I did that. Sure, it looked better about three hours earlier before the photos and the dancing, but still…I did that.”
Ah! Now I got it.
“Yeah, you did.” I smiled genuinely, pulling her against me and kissing the top of her head.
“Yeah, I did.”
“You really love it, don’t you?”
“Love what?”
“Hairdressing.”
She paused for a minute, and I got the feeling she was weighing up her words. “Yeah, I do. I really do. I mean, I don’t love the hours or the fact I’m on my feet all day, but this here,” she poked the screen again, “and seeing Elise’s face when she saw what I’d done…that’s what I love.”
“Well then, we need to get you back in the salon,” I suggested, loving the way her face lit up. “But first…”
“Yes…” she replied warily.
“First, I need a few more hours sleep. My head’s killing me,” I admitted only to receive a giggle in return.
My phone woke us a couple of hours later, and even though I was feeling a million times better, I was craving a juicy, greasy burger with fries and an icy cold coke. Something to settle my stomach. Ignoring the phone, we took our time getting out of bed and showering before checking out and heading back to my place, but not before hitting up a drive-through on the way.
“Can I borrow your laptop?” Claire asked, bouncing up off the couch.
Right now, I hated her. I wanted to pick up her overly energised arse and toss her over the balcony so I could take a nap right here on the couch. How the hell did she not have a hangover? Every time I saw her, which was pretty much all night since I didn’t take my eyes off her from the moment she appeared in a slinky black dress that was pretty much backless and showed off her incredible assets, she had a glass of champagne in her hand. Yet she was bouncing around like a three-year-old riding the sugar high of their life, while I was praying to whoever would listen to just end this now and put me out of my misery. I blamed Hunter and Sambuca.
“Go for it,” I answered, grabbing the remote and pulling the blanket over me.
I must’ve drifted off because when I woke again, there was notepaper balled up and scattered everywhere. Claire was sitting cross-legged at the coffee table, pen tangled in her hair, chewing on her lip, and staring intensely at the screen.
“What’s got you looking so serious?” I asked with a yawn, peeling back the blanket and sitting up. At least I was starting to feel slightly human again.
“Nothing. How was your nana nap? Have a nice snore?”
“I needed that.”
“Oh, is poor baby paying for his bad decisions?” Claire teased.
“Keep that up and you’ll be paying for my bad decisions,” I replied with a wink. “So, you going to tell me what’s got you studying so hard, nerd girl?”
“Nerd girl?”
“Seems fitting. Now, spill it.”
“If you must know…”
“I must…”
“Well, I’ve been researching salons and trying to find one that fits what I want not just be that pathetic, desperate woman knocking on doors begging for a job.” Claire’s cheeks turned pink as she spoke. I hope she wasn’t embarrassed. She had absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. Seeing her so determined to do this was hot as hell.
“I think it’s a great idea.”
“You do?”
“Absolutely. Now talk to me. What have you found?”
For forty-five minutes I listened to her gush and fangirl over various salons trying to keep my face neutral. Some of them, most of them weren’t anywhere around here. In fact, some were in completely other towns and cities. While I wante
d Claire to get her dream, I was kinda hoping it was a lot closer than her searches were leading.
“Well, tell me how I can help? I’m all yours,” I offered genuinely, swallowing the lump of unease that was building inside me. I wasn’t ready to let her go yet. I’d only just found her.
“Enough about me, what about you? What are we going to do about getting you that starting jersey?”
“We don’t need to talk about me,” I dodged maybe a little too harshly.
At first, Claire recoiled at my words before straightening her spine and pushing on. I never knew determination was so fucking sexy. I had a feeling whatever it was that came out of her mouth next, whatever she suggested, I was going to be agreeing with immediately.
“We do, and we’re going to. I’m sick of putting up with your sour puss attitude you have each week. What’s it going to take to get you there?”
Scrubbing my hand over my face, feeling the stubble on my jaw, I grimaced and rose from the couch, heading straight for the fridge. “Want a drink?” I offered, grabbing a can of Coke.
“Seth!”
I stood there with the door open waiting for her answer. I know it wasn’t what she wanted to hear, and I was stalling, but I was also thirsty. At least that was my story, and I was sticking to it.
Yanking the pen out of her hair, it fell about her face like a curtain. “I’m fine.”
Heading back over, I flopped into the couch and cracked open my can with a hiss.
“Finished avoiding yet?” Claire eyed me. Damn, this woman was going to make a kick-arse mother one day. She was giving me that look. The one that Mum gave me when she wanted to kick my arse but knew I was twice her size and it’d probably hurt her foot more than my butt.
“No.”
“Come on, Seth. I want to help you. I just don’t know how.”
She was telling the truth. It was written all over her beautiful face. “I know, but honestly there’s nothing you can do. I don’t even know what more I can do.” Those words hurt to say. They tasted horrible on my tongue, but they were the truth. Every painful word.
Rookie (Playing The Field Book 2) Page 20