Wrong Turn: Road Tripping Series

by Samantha Chase

  “Listen, Jimmy,” Chelsea said, feeling the need to explain herself. “Don’t be mad at Drew. This is on me. I was the one who made him drive here.”

  He snorted with disbelief. “Oh, I know you’re the cause of all this, but I thought–as a friend–that Drew would have taken care of things like I asked him to. But judging by how chummy the two of you look, I guess I can see why he changed sides.”

  “Hey!” she cried indignantly.

  “Jimmy…” Drew warned.

  “No, I get it now,” Jimmy said with a mirthless laugh. “I asked you to basically throw yourself on the grenade, and instead, you literally threw yourself onto–and into–Chelsea. Good to see the bro code is still strong.”

  Chelsea gasped and Drew lunged.

  And security came and hauled them all outside.

  There was a lot of yelling, a lot of shoving, and when the hotel manager stepped outside to see what was going on, all Chelsea could do was shrug.

  Things had gone horribly, horribly wrong and she had no idea how to fix it. It was wrong to involve Drew in her battles and now she was going to be the reason he and his best friend stopped talking to each other. And as much as she wasn’t really a big fan of Jimmy’s, she kind of felt bad for him. Not only was he marrying a woman who was going to essentially ruin his life, but he was going to lose Drew too.

  Letting out a weary sigh, she put her fingers in her mouth and blew. The loud whistle did the trick and everyone froze and looked at her.

  Wow…wasn’t expecting 100% compliance. Now what?

  “So…um…I think we all need to calm down,” she said nervously. Then she turned to the manager and the security guards. “We’re very sorry for being so disruptive. Things escalated faster than they needed to. We promise to keep it down.”

  It took several minutes for them to leave and once it was down to just the three of them again, Chelsea looked around and spotted a gazebo over to the side of the resort that she thought would be perfect for them to go and hash things out.

  Both men begrudgingly–and silently–followed her. Once they stepped into the intricately-designed structure, she had to force herself to focus on Drew and Jimmy and not how completely adorable this gazebo was.

  “Okay, now that you’ve both gotten out some of your aggression, how about we try having a grown-up conversation?”

  “I’ve got nothing to say to you,” Jimmy snapped. “You ruined my wedding!”

  Chelsea wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or Drew, but figured it was safe to assume it was her. When Drew went to speak, she stopped him.

  “I wouldn’t say it was ruined…”

  He simply gave her the death glare.

  “Okay, you may not believe this, but…I was more concerned for you than for Bianca,” she blurted out.”

  “What?”

  She nodded. “I think we can all agree that I haven’t been particularly quiet in my dislike of you, but at the end of the day, I think it has more to do with who you are with Bianca than who you are as a person.”

  Jimmy blinked at her but looked a little less hostile. Chelsea looked at Drew and he gave her a small nod.

  “I don’t think it’s a crime not to like someone,” she went on. “Everyone’s different and personalities can clash. I think that’s the case with you and me. However…I see the way you are with Bianca, and the two of you are a train wreck just waiting to happen.”

  And he was back to looking hostile.

  “You don’t know her like I do,” she explained. “Bianca is manipulative and needy and will do anything to get her own way. And I watch you cater to her and she is just going to run right over you.”

  Okay, and less hostile again.

  “You’re a talented man with a successful business that’s only going to continue to grow. Eventually she’s going to resent you for not paying enough attention to her even as she’s going to be demanding more money for the things she wants. Is that really what you want for your life? Do you ever tell her no?”

  It took a minute, but Jimmy eventually shook his head.

  “That’s what I thought.” Looking over at Drew, she sighed sadly. “I…I don’t know what else to say. Maybe it’s your turn.”

  “I hate to say it,” Drew began carefully, “but Chelsea’s got a point.”

  Jimmy’s head snapped up. “You too?”

  “Yeah. Me too.” Letting out a long breath, he raked a hand through his hair and watched as Chelsea took a few steps back. “I didn’t want to say anything because it’s your life. But after driving with Chelsea and talking with her, she voiced all the same concerns I had. It can’t be a coincidence, right?”

  Muttering a curse, Jimmy started to pace and Drew had no idea where this was going. Would anything they said make a difference? Was there going to be a wedding? He hated the thought of being the reason they called it off, but…maybe it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen.

  “Look,” he began, hoping he sounded diplomatic. “You know her better than I do. And I’m sure there are things that happen between the two of you that I’m not seeing. Hell, I hope I’m wrong, Jimmy. I really do. I just want you to think about this before you jump into a marriage.” Shaking his head, he let out a small laugh. “I still can’t believe you ran off to elope.”

  Jimmy’s laugh sounded the same as Drew’s. “Yeah, my folks are going to be so pissed.”

  “Then why are you doing this?”

  Leveling him with a look, he replied, “Why do you think? Bianca wanted a chance to get married at the same place Justin Bieber did.” He shuddered. “I thought she was kidding when she brought it up. I mean, who does that? Who runs off and gets married someplace just because some teen heartthrob got married there?” Another shudder. “The next thing I knew, we were on a plane and had an appointment with a wedding planner.” He groaned. “Why the hell would she think I want to emulate some guy’s wedding whose music I don’t even know?”

  Okay, so his friend wasn’t nearly as far gone as Drew had feared.

  And clearly not a fan of the Biebs.

  Thankfully.

  “And at the appointment? Bianca badgered the poor woman for details about Bieber’s wedding because she wanted our ceremony to be as close to it as possible! She was pulling out her phone and trying to pinpoint all the places she wanted us to be so her Instagram pictures would be similar.”

  “Why didn’t you stop her?” he demanded, unable to believe how crazed Bianca was.

  Or how much she must love Justin Bieber to basically want to clone his wedding.

  Jimmy guiltily glanced at Chelsea and that’s when Drew knew his answer–he never tells Bianca no.

  Wow.

  “You have to know that I’m sorry, Jimmy,” Drew said solemnly. “I never imagined things would go this way. But…maybe you need to go talk to Bianca before you do something you’re only going to regret.”

  “Yeah. Maybe.” He sighed wearily. “What about you? You staying or heading home?”

  He looked over at Chelsea and remembered the conversation they were having before his friend interrupted them. Turning back, he said, “We’ve been driving for days so the plan was to hang out tonight and then hit the road in the morning.”

  “Oh, okay. Cool.”

  They both stood there awkwardly. Drew slid his hands into his pockets and Jimmy did the same. “So…uh…what do you think is gonna happen?”

  “I think Bianca’s going to have a damn fit if we don’t get married here today,” he said miserably. “Part of me thinks she cares more about where she gets married than to who.”

  “Whom,” Chelsea murmured, and Drew shot her a look that said, “Really?”

  “Jimmy, I…I’m sorry. I really am.”

  And for a minute, he thought they were going to be okay–that maybe this trip had been the right thing to do. But then…

  Jimmy’s expression hardened again as he took a step toward Chelsea. “You,” he said, his voice a near growl. “You just couldn�
��t let this go. Everything would have been fine if we didn’t have to worry about you. And then you go and poison Drew’s mind against me, too? Like cutting Bianca down wasn’t enough?” He let out a snort of disgust. “I never understood why the two of you were friends, and I can guarantee after this, you won’t be. I hope you’re happy.” When he turned to walk away, Drew grabbed him and spun him around.

  “Don’t take this out on her!” he warned. “I told you, I was already feeling like you were making a mistake. Chelsea just happened to be brave enough to say something about it.”

  “Yeah, great. She trash talks her only friend and ruins her wedding while destroying our friendship.” He laughed. “Real brave.”

  This time when Jimmy tried to walk away, Drew let him.

  It took a solid minute before he felt like he was calm enough to face Chelsea, and when he did, he felt awful. She was sitting on one of the benches in the gazebo, bent over, and her face in her hands. Drew walked over and sat beside her. “You okay?”

  “Oh, yeah,” she mumbled. “Just freakin’ peachy.” When she groaned, he reached over and put his arm around her.

  “Okay, but to be fair, we kind of knew this was how it was going to go, right?”

  “I knew it wasn’t going to go well, but I wasn’t expecting quite so much…” She straightened. “They were both just so mean! Maybe they do deserve each other. Ugh…why didn’t I just stay home? I ruined everything!”

  It would be a big fat lie if he said she didn’t because…well…she did. But he still felt like he had to say something.

  Anything.

  ???

  How can my mind be completely blank?!

  Say something!

  Oh, God…this is getting awkward.

  “Um…you know what? It doesn’t matter what they think about you, Chels, the important thing is that you…you know…you love yourself.”

  She shoved his arm off of her as she straightened. “Are you seriously quoting Justin Bieber to me right now?”

  “Um…what? No! Sorry!”

  “Ugh…you just did it again!”

  Drew jumped to his feet. “Did what again? I have no idea what you’re talking about! I don’t even know any Justin Bieber songs!”

  She stood and started to walk away. “Right.”

  He had to go after her; that was a no brainer, but damn she was a fast walker. He jogged past her and blocked her path when he stopped. “Can we please just calm down and talk? I hate seeing you this upset.” She struck a defiant pose–much like Bianca had earlier–but he wasn’t deterred. “None of this is a surprise. We said we’d come and say what we had to say and let the chips fall where they may, remember?”

  Frowning, she mumbled, “Maybe.”

  “And,” he went on, “we were in the middle of making plans to stay for the night when we got interrupted. So why don’t we go see about a room and then figure out what there is to do around here and get a recommendation for dinner? Come on, what do you say?”

  He could tell she didn’t want to agree with him–that she wasn’t quite done feeling bad–but he was going to make sure she changed her mind. “We can even find out where the best ice cream place is and go there for dessert.”

  Sighing dramatically, she said, “Fine. But we are having a real dinner tonight. No dessert for dinner.”

  “Technically, it was a pre-dinner thing since we ordered food and eventually ate dinner. It was just technically the next day.”

  “Why are you like this?” she whined, but she was fighting a smile, he could tell.

  “Like what? Delightful? Charming?”

  “Full of yourself? Um, yeah.”

  They both laughed as they walked back into the hotel lobby. “You think they’re even going to let us get a room for the night?”

  “Judging by the stink eye the manager is giving us, I’m not so sure.”

  “I guess I’ll just have to be delightful and charming to him too.”

  She groaned. “Please don’t. We’ll definitely get thrown out then.”

  He stopped walking and stared at her. “Why would you even think that? What do you think I’m going to do?”

  “All I’m saying is that this is the South. They have manners here that are just a wee bit more…genteel than yours.”

  “Genteel? What the hell is that?”

  “Listen to how you speak,” she said calmly. “Do you hear anyone else talking like that?”

  “Like what? I don’t freaking get it. What the hell’s the matter with the way I talk? They don’t like it, they can fuhgeddaboudit it.” Her shocked expression instantly relaxed into a smile. Hugging her close, Drew kissed her soundly. “Got ya.”

  “You are so weird. Sometimes you are the sweetest man in the world. Other times, I swear you could be a reject from the cast of The Jersey Shore.”

  “I’m not even going to dignify that with a comeback. I’m classier than that.”

  “Says you.”

  “Watch it, Chels,” he teased softly in her ear. “I’ll make you pay for that when we get to the room.”

  She hummed in that throaty way he was beginning to love. “What room? We still don’t know if we’ll even get one.”

  “You think this is the only hotel in the area? If they turn us down, I promise to have us in another room within thirty minutes or else.”

  She laughed. “Or else what? Are we talking sex or pizza delivery?”

  “Why not both? Pizza in bed! How great would that be?”

  “Oh, no…”

  They started walking toward the front desk, his arm around her waist. “And this time, I will get you to eat naked. Trust me.”

  13

  He had found them a room.

  And they were currently naked and in bed.

  Eating pizza.

  And it wasn’t nearly as scandalous as she thought it would be.

  “What time do you want to get on the road in the morning?” she asked, reaching for her second slice.

  “I know I should say early, but…right now the thought of getting back in the car for the long drive is beyond unappealing.”

  Yeah, she knew what he meant. With her original plan, Chelsea would have been back at work tomorrow. While they were waiting for their pizza, she had called her cousin and told him she wouldn’t be in until Thursday.

  God, what an idiot she was. All this trip accomplished was killing her friendship with Bianca, losing money because she had to take so much time off of work, plus all the expenses for the road trip–even though Drew paid for that first night, they split the cost of the hotel and meals after that. It was all just so depressing. Why hadn’t she just kept her damn mouth shut? If Bianca wanted to make a mistake, why was it any of her concern? They had talked about this briefly and she had already known the chances of her changing her friend’s mind were slim to none.

  Sighing, she took a bite of her pizza.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Hmm?”

  “You just sighed,” Drew commented. “I know it’s not New York pizza, but it’s not that bad.”

  Once she finished chewing, she tossed her slice down and looked at him. “It’s not the food, it’s…everything. I have total remorse and there isn’t anything I can do about it.”

  “About everything?” he asked, and she heard the hurt there and was quick to clarify.

  Reaching for his hand, she squeezed it. “Not about this. Not about us.” She sighed again. “I don’t know what I was thinking coming here. There wasn’t going to be any scenario that was going to make everyone happy.”

  “Why does everyone have to be happy? I mean, sometimes what’s best isn’t the popular choice. Jimmy and Bianca could get married and be happy today and tomorrow and for the foreseeable future, but we all know this isn’t going to end well. If they don’t get married, we’ll be happy for now but…it’s going to be a damn shit show for a while. Feelings have been hurt, things have been said that can’t be taken back and we have to just deal
with it.”

  “Maybe.”

  Turning her hand over in his, he squeezed. “No maybes. You know you had to stand up to her. If anything, that was long overdue. She didn’t respect you and you deserve better.”

  She felt herself blushing. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  They ate for a few more minutes in silence before she asked, “What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “What’s going to happen with you and Jimmy?”

  He waved her off. “Please, that was nothing. He’ll be pissy for a while, but we’ve been through far worse. Guys tend to be way more forgiving. He’ll give me shit for a while and I’ll do the same, but this isn’t a deal-breaker for us.”

  “Wow. You’re lucky.”

  “It’s not luck, Chels. True friends–real friends–can have disagreements and still be friends. Even huge disagreements. Unfortunately for you, Bianca’s definitely the type to hold a grudge.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “The best way to handle someone like that is to just move on. She’s going to be expecting you to come groveling back because she thinks she improves the quality of your life. She’s a classic narcissist.”

  All she could do was nod because Drew was completely right.

  “What about Kendall and Shauna?” he asked.

  “What about them?”

  “Are they like her? Is she like…their leader? Are they like Skipper and Midge?”

  “Who?”

  He rolled his eyes dramatically. “You know, Malibu Barbie’s friends.”

  Unable to help herself, she laughed.

  Snorted actually.

  “Ah, that Skipper and Midge.” She paused and grinned. “Do I even want to know why you know who Barbie’s friends are?” she asked, still giggling.

  “I have a ton of girl cousins,” he admitted. “And I may or may not have had to play with them and be Ken when they came over.”

  “Oh my goodness! That is awesome! You played with Barbie dolls!” Falling back against the pillows, she laughed even harder. “And not even the manly ones like G.I. Joe! You were Ken!” More laughing.

  “They used to make me play dress-up with them too…”