Stranded

by Chance Carter

  Val pulled back, blue eyes glistening. Her lips stretched into a broad grin and she nodded.

  “Of course we can hang out,” she said. “You’re my best friend.”

  My heart soared and I gathered her back in for a hug. “You’re my best friend too.”

  We must have looked crazy, sitting there hugging each other like that. We didn’t touch our pints again for several minutes, much too engrossed in our weird little love fest.

  I was sad about Levi, but at least I had Val in my life. It sucked that I would still run into Garrick’s brother from time to time if we were going to continue being friends, but without the wedding forcing us together, Levi and I should be able to steer clear of each other. I still longed for another taste of him, but it would get easier to ignore over time. I’d had my heart broken enough in life to know when to pull back.

  Val and I returned to our drinks and she moved the conversation to the wedding.

  “You know how we were going to arrive the night before?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Don’t tell me you want to drive up the morning of.”

  She chuckled. “Quite the opposite. I booked a block of rooms for us for the five days prior. I’m still cheesed that I never got to go skiing.”

  My heart sank like a stone. “Us? As in...?”

  “You, me, and the Wheelers.” Her expression grew pained. “Is that okay? There are a bunch of other guests vacationing up there at the same time. And Molly and Gerhart will be there. It won’t just be the four of us.”

  “Of course it’s okay,” I said, waving her off. “It’s your wedding, Val. I want to do whatever you want to do. Besides, I’m a grown woman. I can handle being in the same room as a guy I’ve slept with a couple times.”

  I followed this up with a hearty gulp of beer but Val seemed to accept it.

  In truth, I was stunned. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than being back in that hotel with Levi. Our snowy weekend seemed like a hundred years ago, but I remembered it like it was yesterday.

  I didn’t want to scourge those memories by spending nearly a week avoiding the best man and trying not to feel hurt when he inevitably found someone else to entertain him. My reluctance was wholly selfish, which was why I didn’t tell Val.

  “It’ll be fun, I promise,” she said. “We’re going to ski, sip hot chocolate and Baileys, and spend the nights cozied up next to the fire. I can bring up some board games too. Doesn’t that sound awesome?”

  “Sounds incredible,” I replied, managing to keep my tone from falling flat.

  As long as we didn’t get trapped up there, how bad could it be?

  Chapter 25

  Levi

  The gold winked in the dim light and I stared at it until my eyes grew unfocused. Next to me, Garrick and the sales assistant were still talking, but I hadn’t been listening to them for some time. I stared at the gold bands inside the case, picking out the minute details that differed between them.

  Garrick nudged my side.

  I jerked and looked over at him. “What?”

  The employee was no longer there. I hadn’t even noticed him walking away.

  “Are you listening?” Garrick asked.

  I offered an apologetic smile, and Garrick sighed. “We’re just waiting for him to come back with the rings. I was asking if you wanted to grab some lunch after this.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Garrick frowned and leaned against the glass case, studying me with a sour look on his face. “You’ve been distracted recently. That’s unusual for you.”

  “Is it?”

  “Yes, it is. Normally you’ve got the attention of a hawk. What gives?”

  What was I supposed to tell him? He didn’t even know I’d fucked Frankie, so it would come out of nowhere if I laid on him all of a sudden that she occupied my every waking thought.

  Okay, maybe not my every waking thought. But fuck if that girl hadn’t laid claim to some real estate in my head. I closed my eyes and there she would be, on her knees in front of me or laughing at some stupid joke with her hair falling in front of her eyes. When she left my bed on Christmas, I actually missed getting to fall asleep with her in my arms. I hadn’t heard from her since then and didn’t expect to, so why couldn’t I stop thinking about her?

  “I’m just stuck on my best man speech,” I said, pulling my focus away from curvy wedding planners.

  Garrick frowned. “I’m not sure I believe that.”

  The sales assistant came back, and I used his reentry as an opportunity to ignore my brother. He handed Garrick two velvet boxes and thanked us for our patronage. We left. No more wedding errands to run today, so hopefully no more reminders of Frankie either.

  “Where do you want to eat?” I asked as we strolled out into the blustery afternoon.

  “What’s going on with you and Frankie?”

  I forced myself not to hitch my stride even though he’d completely blindsided me. Garrick was like that. He wouldn’t drop something until he got the answer he wanted, so I should have known better than to think I could divert his attention for long. Still, I didn’t want to talk about it.

  “Nothing’s going on with Frankie and me,” I snapped. “Do you want to eat or not?”

  Garrick put his hands up in mock surrender. “Fine. Let’s go to that burger place around the corner.”

  I gestured for him to lead the way and shoved my hands into my pockets, trying to relax. Technically I wasn’t lying when I said nothing was going on between us, but it was only a matter of time before Garrick started asking the right questions. I just hoped he would forget about it for the rest of the day at least.

  The waitress at Stanich Burgers sat us at a booth by the window, bringing us two menus with a cheery smile. We each ordered a beer and a cheeseburger and sent her on her way. I deployed a diversion tactic on my brother.

  “Any pre-wedding jitters?” I asked. “You’ve got the rings now. It’s crazy to think how soon the big day is.”

  Garrick’s face lit up and his cheek dimpled with a grin. “I can’t even tell you how excited I am,” he said. “I love Val so much, and in only a month’s time, I’m going to get to call her my wife. I don’t know when I got so lucky.”

  “She’s the lucky one.”

  He shook his head, curls flinging wildly. It was a wonder Val wasn’t making him cut his hair for the wedding, but then again she never tried to change a single thing about him. Girlfriends in the past had criticized him about his style, his inherent messiness, how much time he spent with his family, but Val never had. If I hadn’t been so sure that there was something shady about her, maybe I would have seen that earlier.

  “She makes me a better man every day,” Garrick said. “I don’t know what I would do without her.”

  For the first time, I felt a little jealous of my brother’s happiness. It came without conditions and hung around with the slightest urging. I knew that even if our brewery failed this very second, he could still summon up a smile. I wasn’t a coveter by nature, but I wanted that.

  The waitress brought around our beers. They served Feisty Fox here, and Garrick had ordered one, as he always did when he couldn’t get a Black Mountain. I’d gone for a more neutral craft from a smaller brewery in the area.

  “You’re lucky,” I said, tapping his glass against mine. “I’m happy for you.”

  Garrick narrowed his eyes, a wry grin creeping up his face. “It’s not too late to make it a double wedding.”

  “A double wedding?”

  “You know, for you and a certain little wedding planner.” He winked and took a drink, and I had to resist the urge to smack the glass out of his hand.

  “I already told you, nothing is going on between Frankie and me,” I said coldly.

  Garrick didn’t believe me. His grin refused to abate, and he gave me a knowing look until I finally cracked, sighing.

  “We had a bit of a fling, but it’s over,” I grumbled. “Are you happy now?”

  “A f
ling?”

  “A brief one.”

  Garrick grunted thoughtfully, forehead wrinkling. “That’s odd.”

  “What’s odd?” I asked, grinding my teeth.

  He was starting to get on my nerves now, but then again Garrick knew that. He’d perfected the art of the annoying little brother a long time ago, and yet I still fell into his trap every time.

  “It’s just that you haven’t had anything more serious than a one night stand since Evelyn,” he said, measuring his words. “I think Frankie means more to you than you’re letting on.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  Garrick took a long, slow drink of his beer. He wiped the foam from his lip with the back of his hand before he spoke. “Why are you so determined to shoot yourself in the foot right on the brink of happiness?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Just because you’re getting married doesn’t mean you’re now an expert on relationships. Don’t start trying to shrink me.”

  “I’m just saying. Why not give it a shot?”

  I glanced at the table. A muscle ticked in my jaw. “Frankie was the one who called it quits. She was right to do so, too. I tried the relationship thing, and it didn’t work for me. Can we drop this?”

  The words sounded mechanical even to me. Practiced. Words that I wasn’t sure if I meant anymore but planned to keep on saying as long as I needed to. Especially to myself.

  “Fine,” Garrick said. “In any case, you’ll have plenty of time to think about it on our pre-wedding retreat.”

  “Pre-wedding what now?”

  Garrick ran a hand through his hair, taking his damn time. He knew all the best ways to piss me off.

  “We’re going to stay up on Mount Hood for five days before the wedding,” he said finally. “The wedding party, Mom and Dad, a few other guests. It’s going to be fun.”

  “I’m not doing it,” I replied. “I’ve got too much work to do.”

  Garrick blew out a breath. “No, you don’t. It’s the quietest season of the year.” I opened my mouth to fight him, but he cut me off. “Besides, Dad already gave us both the week off work. He thinks it’ll be good for the family.”

  Garrick’s satisfied expression read, Checkmate. Mom was already annoyed at me for disappearing on Christmas, and if I tried to back out of a family bonding trip with no justifiable reason, she would lose her shit. I couldn’t blame her either.

  “Fine. Let’s go on a family bonding trip.”

  Garrick grinned. “That’s the spirit.”

  Our burgers finally came and we dug into them without speaking another word to one another. I wasn’t annoyed at Garrick. Not for the trip, at least. For trying to stick his nose where it didn’t belong, yes, but I couldn’t blame him for wanting to spend some time with his family before getting married and jetting off on his honeymoon.

  More than anything, I was worried. How the hell was I supposed to stay away from Frankie for nearly a week? It was hard enough ignoring the impulse to call her now when I had no reason to see her.

  I could do it. I could stay away from her. I’d nearly managed to do so on Christmas and would have if she hadn’t come to my room to give me the best blowjob of my life. All this would be over soon, and I could go back to my life as it was. No disruptions. No distractions.

  Garrick’s phone rang, drawing me out of my head. He smiled when he looked at the screen, and I realized it must be Val.

  “Hey gorgeous,” Garrick answered. “How’d things go at the fitting?”

  I stabbed a fry into some ketchup and chewed it. Garrick laughed at something Val said, and I finished the last of my beer.

  “Yep, we’ve got them,” Garrick said. “Yeah? Sure, we’re nearby. See you soon. Love you too.”

  He hung up and looked at me.

  I shook my head. “Nope.”

  “You didn’t even know what I was going to say.”

  “Fine. What were you going to say?”

  Garrick shifted and grasped his glass. “Val and Frankie are close by and they invited us to come meet them for a beer.”

  I smiled tightly. “Nope.”

  Garrick rolled his eyes. He’d been spending far too much time with me lately, and it was beginning to show.

  “You go right ahead,” I told him. “I’ve got stuff to do back at the office.”

  “Stuff.” His eyes glimmered. “Sounds important.”

  I dropped a couple of twenties on the table and stood, ignoring him. “See you at Mom and Dad’s tonight?”

  “Yeah. If you don’t have too much stuff to do.” He smirked.

  I rolled my eyes and ruffled his hair as I walked past.

  Chapter 26

  Frankie

  “Woah! We’re halfway there!” I screamed. “Wo-oah! Livin’ on a prayer!”

  My voice cracked and I giggled, which soon turned into a coughing fit. Val turned down the volume and patted my back, laughing uncontrollably.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “I found myself suddenly filled with the spirit of the Jovi,” I replied, wheezing. “It was the closest I’ve ever been to the divine.”

  “I wouldn’t mind getting filled with the Jovi,” she muttered, keeping her eyes on the road.

  I started to laugh again.

  Val returned her hand to the wheel and I soon recovered. Then I cranked up the volume again, skimming the playlist on my phone for our next tasty track.

  We were on our way up Mount Hood, and as we drove, I couldn’t help but draw parallels between this car ride and the one I took a couple of months before with Levi. The scenery was the same, but the vibe in the car couldn’t have been more different. We’d been jamming out to power ballads the entire way up, which probably wasn’t wise. We’d spend the next week drinking tea with honey to try and get back the voices we lost hitting the high notes in “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. I wasn’t sure Garrick would find it as funny as we would.

  Still, the energy was electric, and we kept on singing.

  It was a gorgeous sunny day, and only a couple of white, fluffy clouds dotted the otherwise endless blue sky. White light glittered from the snow bordering the road, which ran like a thick black snake around the side of the mountain. If it weren’t freezing out, I would have the window open so I could drink in the fresh alpine air. But it was freezing. Luckily, Val’s car had seat warmers.

  We didn’t turn down the music again until we reached the entrance to our hotel’s underground parking. Val’s face glowed.

  “I can’t believe we’re here,” she squealed. “I can’t believe that in a few days I’m going to be married!”

  “You’re damn right you are. Let’s get checked in and settled before we go too bonkers though.”

  She nodded solemnly. “Good point.”

  We parked and I went to grab our bags, careful not to damage the wedding dress as I extracted it from the trunk. Val came around to help me a moment later.

  “I texted Garrick but haven’t gotten a reply yet,” she said. “I guess we’re the first ones here.”

  “They left soon after us. They should be here soon.”

  She nodded. “They better be. I’ve got a full day of canoodling planned with that man before we have to start making the rounds with our families tonight.”

  That brought up a valid point. What was I going to do all day? I hadn’t thought about it up until now, and I guess I figured I’d spend it with Val. It made sense that she would want to spend time with her fiancé, so I didn’t mind going solo, but I still had to think of something to do that wasn’t seeking out Xavier at the bar to get plastered on my own.

  We headed up into the lobby, which was just as I remembered it. The receptionist at the stone check-in desk smiled warmly and found our reservations, congratulating Val on her upcoming nuptials. She gave us our room key and we started walking toward the elevator. We were about halfway across the lobby when Val lurched to a sudden stop, then dropped the handle of her suitcase and jetted off in the other direction.
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  “Josh!” she cried, flinging her arms around a tall, blonde man. She turned her head and waved enthusiastically at me. “Frankie! Come meet Josh!”

  I gently lay the dress over the handles of our bags and stepped over to the newcomer. The closer I got, the better he looked. He had inquisitive blue eyes that never left mine as I approached, a strong, confident chin, and cheekbones that could have cut glass. He had model style, too. His hair was short at the sides and combed over at the top, and I knew the sweater clinging to his lightly muscled frame would feel like a cloud if I touched it.

  “Hi,” I said with a lame wave of my hand when I reached them.

  “This is my cousin Josh,” Val said, stepping to the side.

  Josh smiled and his cheeks dimpled. Very cute.

  Val finished the introductions. “Josh, this is my amazing maid of honor, Frankie.”

  He stretched out his hand I shook it, noting how soft his skin was.

  “I’ve heard great things about you,” said Josh. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”

  “I’m at a disadvantage,” I said, chuckling. “I know nothing about you.”

  He let go of my hand but held my gaze. “We’ll have to fix that, won’t we?”

  “Did you just get here?” Val asked, saving me from whatever weird answer threatened to blubber out of me. I had never been good at flirting, especially with guys as hot as Josh. He was no Levi, sure, but he was already a helluva lot nicer than Levi.

  “I checked in half an hour ago or so but forgot my toothbrush,” Josh replied. “I just came down to grab one from reception.”

  He gave a dazzling smile that showcased his superb dental hygiene. His teeth were almost too white.

  Val looped her arm through mine and pulled me forward. “Josh is a lawyer. He does a lot of the corporate stuff for my parents.”

  “And you’re a wedding planner,” Josh said, fixing me with the full weight of his attention. “That is much more interesting.”

  I laughed. “It has its moments.”

  “Hopefully my cousin hasn’t been too much of a beast.” His lips quirked and he elbowed Val in the side.