I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer while breathing in his intoxicating scent. He reached around and grabbed me by the ass, squeezing firmly before picking me up and walking back toward the house.
He had my back pressed to the door with the keys in one hand while he tried getting the lock to open.
“Hey!” Dane yelled. He ran over to catch us before we made it inside. He grabbed Mason by his arms, directing him back toward the car.
Mason set me on my feet and took my hand in his. He walked me over to the Jeep and opened my door. I took my seat and pulled on my seatbelt before reaching around his neck to pull him in for one last kiss.
“Alright, enough you two,” Alissa said starting the car.
He pulled away but didn’t take his eyes off mine. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I smiled.
He closed the door but leaned in the open window. “Don’t forget to call me when you guys get to your hotel room.”
“I will,” I promised.
I watched as he walked to Dane’s car and climb in the passenger seat. Alissa backed up and took off. “Let’s get this party started!” she cheered as she turned out of the driveway.
She got us on the interstate and I played DJ while watching the road signs, trying to figure out where we were going.
After I had made at least a dozen wrong guesses, I gave up and turned in my seat to talk to Jessica. She had been quiet and I wanted to make her feel included with my friends.
“So how are things going with you and Jordan?”
A big smile stretched across her face. “Really good.” She leaned forward in her seat, clearly excited to talk about him. “We’ve gone on a few dates now and he is so sweet. He opens doors for me, takes me out to dinner, and treats me really well. I haven’t ever liked anyone this much before.”
“Wait, are you talking about Jordan, from the shop, Jordan?” Alissa asked.
She grinned just hearing his name. “Yeah, have you met him?”
Alissa shook her head. “Not officially. He is super cute though. The first thing I noticed was those dark brown eyes.”
I turned my attention toward her. “Okay, seriously. What is going on with you and Dane?”
She shrugged. “Nothing, why?”
“I don’t know. You two have just been acting weird since we went to California.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She kept her eyes trained on the road.
“Just fucking tell me already. I swear, getting any info from you is like pulling teeth.”
She took a long breath. “Okay, we have been having a few problems lately.”
I nodded, wanting her to continue.
“When Dane got a glimpse of how we lived in California, he somehow convinced himself that he isn’t good enough for me, that he can’t offer me enough.”
“Well that’s stupid.” I looked at her, her face showed no emotions.
“That’s what I told him.”
“And he doesn’t believe that he is enough for you?” I grabbed a piece of gum and offered some to Sarah and Jessica.
“I guess not. I’ve tried everything to convince him, but I think he is just waiting for me to leave him.”
“Have you given him that impression?”
“No, at least, I haven’t tried to. I mean, I feel a little lost right now. I don’t have my work keeping me busy since we’ve moved here. I just need to find something to occupy my time. I guess I’ve been a little on edge too.”
I rubbed her shoulder. “You guys will figure it out,” I promised.
Many hours later we drove into Florida and we didn’t stop until we got to Hollywood. Alissa parked the car at a nice hotel and casino and we all got out. I stretched my legs while looking over the hotel. The thick, warm air washed over me, making me feel sticky.
“Are you ready to get your bachelorette party started?” Jessica asked with a full blown grin.
I nodded. “Let’s do this!”
Chapter Eleven
Mason
When I got in Dane’s car, we followed after the girls. He followed them to town, but when they went left to get on the interstate, Dane went right. Soon after, we pulled up to his house.
“Please tell me we aren’t partying at your house.”
He let out a laugh. “No, I’m just stopping by to grab some music. How can we take a road trip and not jam out?” He looked at me like I was stupid.
Twenty minutes later, he was back. He climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled his seatbelt around him.
“What the fuck took you so long?”
“I was hungry so I grabbed something to eat. Then I had to use the bathroom because no way do I want to stop and take a dump at a gas station.”
“So where’s the music?”
“Oh, I remembered that Alissa transferred it over to my phone and it works on Bluetooth.” He grinned.
I turned toward him, ready to hit him with whatever I could grab. “Are you shitting me? You made us wait in the car for twenty minutes for nothing?”
He raised his brow. “I’m sorry, I forgot.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and started up Incubus before backing out of the driveway.
Trent had crashed out in the backseat while we were waiting for Dane to get back to the car so I finally reached back and smacked him on the leg about two hours into the drive. He jumped awake. “It’s not my turn, I did it last time,” Trent mumbled.
Dane and I both laughed at Trent talking in his sleep.
I shook his leg again and watched his eyes pop open. “What’s your problem?”
“Macy has been fighting sleep. We haven’t gotten a full night of sleep in weeks,” he groaned before pulling off his seatbelt and laying across the backseat.
I shook my head but turned around, deciding to let him sleep. I prayed to have the same problem one day.
Already I was picturing turning one of the spare bedrooms into a nursery. I thought about Lennox and how beautiful she would be carrying my child, getting up to do late night feedings, and having a little baby girl that looked just like her mama. I looked forward to all of it.
Dane and I argued over the music for most of the trip. I didn’t bother paying attention to where we were going, instead I just trusted him to not kill me. It was a good thing I didn’t think about the time that he tied weights to my ankles and tossed me off the dock. I might not have been so trusting then.
Dane shook my arm, waking me up. I hadn’t even realized I fell asleep.
“Wake up, we’re here.”
I wiped the sleep from my eyes before stepping out of the car and looking up to a giant hotel and casino. The air was warm and thick, I took a deep breath and breathed in the smells of the ocean.
“Florida?” I squinted against the sun.
“Hollywood.” Dane smiled.
It seemed like as good of place as any. We grabbed our bags and walked in. While Dane checked us in, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had a text from Lennox. I opened it up to see a picture of her sitting at a pool with a drink in her hand.
I quickly sent back, “Have fun and be careful. Remember to call me when you guys are in for the night. I love you, baby.”
I put the phone back in my pocket and found Dane staring at me. “What?”
“You are not allowed to be on your phone all night,” he warned.
“I won’t be. Just check in and let’s grab some food.”
After stashing our bags away in our hotel room, we headed across town to a steak house.
“So, what’s on the agenda tonight?”
“Well,” Dane said around his steak. “I think we should hit up the strip club and get your ass a dance.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, a lap dance? That’s your big plan?”
He swallowed and washed it down with a drink of his beer. “No, that’s not everything. But fuck, Mase, you’re getting married. That is a lifetime full of only one woman. You might as well see some tits
before you take the plunge.”
I shoved a fry in my mouth. “You’re forgetting, I’m happy to be marrying Lennox. I’m not tied down, I’m,” I paused to think over how I felt, “I’m finally free, being with her.”
He shook his head and looked at Trent. “Do you even understand this shit?”
Trent shook his head. “It’s hard for me to understand anything when the most sleep I’ve had in a week was in the car on the drive down here.”
Dane brought his attention back to me. “Can you at least pretend to be a regular guy?”
I let out a laugh before taking my shot and washing it down with my beer. “And what would a normal guy do?”
“Well, first off,” he wiped his hands on his napkin and tossed it on his plate. “A normal guy would be offering to pay back his brother for putting this awesome bachelor party together.”
I laughed.
“Second, he would stop acting like a pussy and get a fucking lap dance!” he said a little too loudly.
The people around us looked in our direction with hate filled eyes. The three of us laughed at their dirty looks.
Dane got his way and we hit up the strip club after dinner. While I sat back and drank, Dane was front and center. Trent sat at the bar with me, but turned around backwards to watch the dancers.
“You and Sarah okay?” I asked, nudging him with my elbow.
Trent spun around. “Yeah, we’re great. Why?”
I shrugged. “Normally a guy in a relationship doesn’t sit and watch strippers, that’s all.”
Trent took a shot before letting out a loud puff of air. “We’re fine, Mase. Just stressed and tired. We both needed a break, I think. Sad thing is, I don’t even care about drinking and strippers, I just want to curl up in that bed and sleep all weekend.”
I laughed. “You’re funny.”
“I’m serious,” Trent said.
“No, I meant about curling up in bed. The bed is mine, you get the couch because I don’t think either one of us want to argue with Dane over the other one.”
“At this point, I could sleep in the bathtub.”
I laughed when Trent laid his head down on the bar and picked it up again when the half-naked bartender yelled at him.
“You heard the lady, no sleeping on the bar.” I popped him on the back, causing him to sit up a little straighter.
I saw Dane whisper something in the dancer’s ear before they looked at me. I knew what he was doing. She smiled before accepting his money. With her eyes locked on mine, she slowly walked up to me, in a sexy sort of way. I could tell she had perfected that walk, however, it didn’t faze me. If anything, I may have shrank a little.
When she was standing directly in front of me, only wearing red, lace panties and a matching bra, she trailed her fingers down my arm, grabbing my hand in hers. “I’m Lilly. Are you ready for your private dance?”
I gently pulled my hand away. “No, thank you. My brother was just fucking around.”
“He paid me a hundred dollars.” Her eyes grew in size. “I don’t think he was fucking around.”
Dane rushed over and pushed me off my barstool. “Stop being a bitch. Just go get your lap dance before your dick doesn’t belong to you anymore.” He shoved me in her direction.
I followed her back to shut him up.
She led me into a small room with black walls and black tiled floor. A red velvet chair sat against the wall with a pole directly in the center of the room. I took a few steps toward the chair to gain a little distance. When I turned to face her, she was right behind me and she pushed against my chest, causing me to fall back into the chair.
She stepped up on the platform and walked around the pole, keeping her eyes on me. I felt completely awkward. I had never been in that situation. I mean, I had been in strip clubs, but never went back for a private dance.
I moved my eyes to the titled floor. Not only was I embarrassed, but I felt like I was doing Lennox wrong.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“What?” My eyes jumped up to her.
Her shoulders slumped. “You really aren’t wanting this, are you?”
I sat up in a rush. “I’m really not,” I said shaking my head.
Her face fell just a bit.
“Look, it has nothing to do with you. You’re very nice looking.” I cleared my throat. “I just mean, this is my bachelor party and my dumbass brother has it in his head that this is what I am supposed to do.”
“But you don’t want to?” She pushed her long red hair away from her face.
“No, I mean, I’m getting married to the girl of my dreams and no offense, but I don’t really care to see anyone but her dance for me.”
She took a step down off the platform. “You know, I’ve worked here for awhile now and I’ve seen many bachelors. Most of them aren’t like you.”
I sat back. “I guess most men aren’t as lucky as I am.”
“Okay, here’s the deal.” She sat down on the platform she just stepped off of and looked at me. “We will stay in here for a few minutes and we can talk. When we walk out, just grin and look embarrassed. They will never know.”
A laugh escaped me. “That would be perfect. Thank you.”
I walked out of the room a little while later. I did as I was told and grinned while I made my way back to Dane and Trent. Trent still didn’t look amused but Dane couldn’t contain his smile.
“I can’t believe you actually did it. I was sure that she would’ve chased your ass out of there before she even lost her top.”
“Yeah, yeah. Can we move on to the next activity?”
Dane swallowed down the rest of his beer. “Let’s go.”
We walked down the street and found a casino. “Let’s win some money.”
“If we were going to gamble, why didn’t we just go back to the hotel were staying at?”
He looked at me like I was stupid. “Because then Trent would have went up to bed. That bed is mine.” He pointed at his chest.
While Dane went to grab us a few beers, I pulled my phone from my pocket to check the time. It was only going on ten P.M. I wanted to text Lennox, but I didn’t want to ruin her good time.
“Okay, give me the fucking phone.” Dane sat our beers down and held out his hand.
“What? No.”
He sat down in the chair across from me. “This is your party. Stop stressing about what Lennox is doing and give me your phone.”
“What if she needs me?” I looked at the phone in my hand.
“I will answer it. Don’t worry.” He motioned for the phone.
I slapped it into his hand, thinking that maybe he was right. It was our time to celebrate with our friends. To have one last blowout before we got married. We each needed our own time.
I killed it at Blackjack and doubled my money. I should have stopped there, instead I played the slots and lost every bit of my winnings. Dane stuck with Blackjack even though he didn’t win anything. Trent, on the other hand, wouldn’t gamble at all. He sat in a chair at a slot machine dozing off.
Two hours later, Dane found me at the bar and slapped me on the back. “Time to go.”
I didn’t bother asking where we were going. I knew I wouldn’t have a say in it anyway.
We walked back in the direction we came from. Dane stopped in front of our hotel. “We’re here.” He nodded toward the door.
“You mean, we’re calling it a night?” I was almost excited. My bachelor party wasn’t exactly the good time it was supposed to be. My best friend kept falling asleep and was too tired to carry on a conversation when he was awake. Dane just wanted to tell me how a bachelor party should be done.
“Hell no, I’ve arranged to meet up with some girls. The party is just getting started.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want to meet up with some girls. I think I’m just going to call it a night.” I took a step toward the elevator, but Dane grabbed me by the back of my shirt and pulled me back.
�
��Nope, this is the last thing on the list. We have dates waiting at the bar for us now.”
“I’m getting married, I don’t want a date.” I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t get it through his head.
“Just come to the bar and have one last drink. Then I will let you go,” Dane promised.
“Fine.” Whatever it took to get him off my back.
We all sat at the bar, sipping on our beer. Dane’s girls never showed up, but he kept checking his watch.
“What are you doing? I hope you didn’t pay these girls because I think they stood you up.”
Dane’s face was void of all emotion. “I guess they lost track of time.” He pulled out his phone and called three different times.
“Who the fuck are you calling? Just give up, they aren’t coming and it’s just as well.”
“The girls are supposed to meet us here at midnight,” he finally said.
“What girls?”
“The girls, our girls,” he said losing his cool.
“Lennox?” I questioned.
“Yeah, they are staying in the same hotel, that’s why I had to make something up and give them a head start. They are staying here and Alissa was supposed to make sure they were here by midnight.”
At first I was a little excited that I would get to see Lennox after all, but the fact that they were twenty minutes late, made me worry.
“Give me my phone,” I told Dane.
He pulled it from his pocket and handed it over. I dialed Lennox quickly.
She didn’t answer.
It went straight to voicemail
Chapter Twelve
Lennox
As soon as we made it to our room, we all changed into our bathing suits to hit the pool. The sun was high in the sky and the heat of the day was scorching. I sat in a lounge chair under a big umbrella sipping my frozen strawberry daiquiri. Alissa and Sarah were swimming and splashing while Jessica hung out with me.
“Are you getting nervous yet?” she asked before taking a sip of her drink.
“About what?” I questioned, glancing over to her.
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