by Amber Nation
I was now standing directly in front of Bentley and he shoved his hands in his pockets, still not showing any ounce of remorse or fear. Growing up with Baylor meant growing up with Bentley as well, he’s younger than us by four years so he was constantly a pest. We had beat him up for fun back in high school, but in the present day he was unaffected.
“Are you done yet?” he asked nonchalantly.
“Am I done?” I grabbed him by the lapels of his tux and jerked his body towards me. Being 6’5” had its advantages, but with Bentley’s size, he could’ve easily taken me. He wasn’t fighting back which made me wonder what the hell he was getting at. “I’m just beginning, you stupid prick.”
“You’re welcome,” he muttered, sounding pretty damn proud of himself and revealing just a hint of his habitual smirk.
I flinched, “I don’t recall thanking you.”
“If you would put me down, then I could explain things a bit easier.” I complied to his request, albeit a bit reluctantly.
“You better start talking, NOW!”
He readjusted the jacket of his tux, making sure all of the wrinkles were smoothed out before he started on his explanation. “You see, you should be thanking me. I made you realize your feelings for Julia even if you didn’t want to admit them to yourself.”
I curled my hands into a fist, ready to punch him in his smug face. “I already knew what my feelings were for Julia.”
“Well, then I helped you voice them out loud. I didn’t have sex with her, although I don’t know if I would exactly pass up the chance if it were to become available to me.”
That was the last straw, my rage was creeping its way to the surface. I took a step forward again in his direction, reared my arm back and punched him square in his face, knocking his ass back a few feet. “She isn’t a fucking object to be toyed with, she’s a human being!” He started laughing as he covered his face with his hands and the knuckles on my right hand throbbed as I shook them out.
Baylor had already stepped in front of me to stop this nonsense, but I looked around him and spat out, “What the fuck are you laughing for?”
His laughter didn’t subside for what seemed like minutes; he took his hand away from his nose only to see blood staining his hands. Then he pointed a finger in my direction as he looked up towards the ceiling, “I’ll give you that one, Dean, but next time I won’t just sit back and let it happen. You’re already deeper than you think you are, and this little exchange is proof.” On that note he turned on his heel and went in search of the nearest bathroom.
Shit!
I ran my hands through my unruly hair, trying to get a grip on the entire situation. What the hell just happened?
Chapter 10
Dean
Finally, I was able to get ahold of myself and settle my nerves and it was just in time for me to take my place next to Baylor at the altar. I knew I needed to apologize to the little Jenkins, but damn if it wouldn’t hurt my pride to do so. I followed Baylor through the side door to the chapel and sidled up in between the two brothers. Quickly glancing to my left, I jerked my chin in Bentley’s direction, silently conveying my inaudible apology. He nodded his head in return, acknowledging my plea.
The pianist began playing the wedding march and the doors to the back of the chapel opened. Two of Baylor’s cousin’s kids came forward, one with a basket overflowing with flower petals and the other with a satin pillow. Norah followed closely behind them, whispering instructions to make sure they stayed on course. Once her gaze reached mine, she beamed brightly while I winked in her direction.
I loved Norah as if she were my own and I was so thankful that she’d finally have the mother figure she deserved.
A moment later, my eyes focused on Julia like a beacon in the night. For a split second I actually forgot how to breathe. My palms began to sweat and my heartbeat sped up in rapid succession. She was utterly breathtaking in a crimson dress that stopped mid-thigh, with wine-stained lips. All the while she traveled down the aisle, she wouldn’t look in my direction. It seemed as if the smart aleck was back and she was turning the tables on me, ignoring me. I supposed that turnabout was fair play and all that, but I didn’t like not being on the receiving end of her gaze.
The ceremony went off without a hitch, Eden made a beautiful bride. Even after going through two weddings of my own, envy reared its ugly head. What I wouldn’t give to have a love as powerful and effortless as the two of them had. Neither one of my marriages made me feel as if I couldn’t go on without them. Being without Kate came close, but we wouldn’t dwell on that part of my past.
Just taking in all the details and aspects of the reception hall, I could tell that Julia genuinely outdid herself in all of the preparations. Everything pulled together nicely and it had an elegant atmosphere. She made sure that everything was perfect for her best friend. Even though Julia didn’t let many people into her heavily guarded heart, I could tell that she would ultimately do anything for Eden.
Glancing around, I could tell that the Mr. and Mrs. had yet to make their debut appearance and while the space was quickly filling up, I continued to scan the area for Julia and Norah.
I didn’t expect to find them both sidled up next to each other taking residence at the candy bar. Pulling my hand from my pocket, I casually made my way just as Norah glanced back at me.
“Uncle Dean, look at all this candy.” I could tell she was barely able to wrap her brain around all the different varieties. “Julia let me set most of it up and put me in charge of refills.” The reflection in her eyes told me that she was thrilled to be given some level of responsibility for the evening. It made her feel important. She skipped off towards her friends on the other side of the room and I turned to face Julia, my features softening and a grin forming on my lips.
“Don’t you look at me like that,” she tried to sound offended, but there was a certain playfulness in her tone. “I do know how to act like a human being, contrary to popular belief.” She let a small grin slip; I had yet to see a full smile reach her eyes. I was afraid that if I were to ever be on the receiving end of one of her mega-watt smiles that I wouldn’t be able to live to tell about it. I’d die from her beauty. “And besides,” she shrugged a shoulder, “I had an ulterior motive. It kept her out of the way and hopefully I won’t be as tempted to come stuff my face with chocolate every time I’d have to come refill the dishes.” An even bigger playful smirk danced on her lips.
Something, or rather someone, caught her attention and she called Bentley over. He didn’t hesitate, in fact he smugly placed himself between us. Just as I was getting a moment of civility between Julia and myself, he had to ruin it by being alive. Fucking pest.
I cautiously watched as she motioned him to bend over towards her and she gently placed her hands on his cheeks. A burst of red hot anger radiated through my veins because the playboy was getting the softer side of Julia. Right then, I was torn between feeling remorse for punching him in the face, because of the aftercare he was receiving and wishing I had done something a helluva lot worse.
“I can’t believe someone slammed a door on your face.” She continued rubbing her finger alongside his nose. “You’re going to have a nice shiner come morning, but at least the makeup worked well for the pictures.” He pulled out of her embrace and turned towards me with a lifted brow. I couldn’t believe he actually lied to her on my account.
“You know, accidents happen.” He shrugged but not before adding emphasis to the word, accident.
I silently dared him to rat me out. I seemed to like it a little too much when Julia was a little hellcat.
She placed her hands on her hips bringing my attention to her tiny waist. “Are you sure it was an accident? It wasn’t some past conquest you pissed off? You know hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and all that jazz.”
“Nah, all my women know the deal upfront.” He gloated like a major asshole. Bentley raised his head and looked off into the distance and his signature grin i
lluminated his entire face. The grin he normally reserved for when he wanted a woman to drop her panties.
I followed in his line of sight and saw that the goofy grin was directed at his brother Baylor and his new bride, Eden.
They each looked so happy and a pang of jealousy hit me square in the chest. Would I ever get the chance to look that happy?
I married Sophie during our sophomore year of College on a whim. And five weeks later, I had that marriage annulled.
Giving the simplest of explanations, she was fucking crazy. After we were married by the justice of the peace, I eagerly moved her into my place. It was as if a switch flipped inside her and she became a completely different woman.
But I supposed I did owe my career choice to her. I changed from litigation law over to wanting to practice divorce law. The idea of helping defend all the people (male or female) who jumped into a marriage, like me, and were instantly railroaded with a different personality, appealed to me.
It was an insane reason to switch up what path of law I studied, but I loved my job and what was even better was that I was damn good at it.
Then there was Kate, my second train wreck. Things were different with her. I took my time getting to know her and made sure that we lived with each other before we ever said I do. I thought we were happy, thought she was my forever. If only she had felt the same way…
Dinner and cutting the cake went by smoothly, but after my little trip down memory lane, my mood majorly downshifted. Plastering on a fake smile was the best that I could do at this point.
The attention of everyone in the room was focused on the middle of the dance floor, where Eden and Baylor were clutched in an intimate embrace, swaying back and forth, dancing to their first song.
Julia came up from behind me and huffed as she sat down to my right. Her brow was wrinkled and she had a perturbed expression marring her face. She was cute as hell when she was agitated. I wanted to ruffle her feathers a bit more.
“What’s got your panties all in a bunch?”
Her gaze snapped to mine and she narrowed her eyes. I now knew all too well what the term ‘if looks could kill’ meant.
“Stuff it, asshole.” She took a moment to ponder something, then a smirk formed on her lips. “Oh, and for the record, I’m not wearing any panties.” She raised an eyebrow as if she was silently saying top that.
I could feel all of my blood hastily moving south, straight to my dick. Images of me jerking her to the nearest closet to challenge her on her admission ransacked my brain. I had to quickly think of something else to show that I wasn’t all that affected by her words. Throwing up my hands in a mock surrender, I wanted to laugh at how easy I could rile her up, but I suppressed it because she could just as easily fire back another image that would further cloud my mind. No more blood needed to be shed tonight, and if I continued to press the issue that’s exactly what would happen. “You’re the one who came over here in a tizzy.”
She began fiddling with one of the lit cream-colored votive candles that were sporadically placed on the navy blue tablecloths. She was running her finger across the tip of the flame, lost in the moment. Her mind was on something and it killed me to not know what it was. How could I help her if I didn’t know what she was obviously stressing about?
Bentley came up behind her and placed two shot glasses down before her along with a salt shaker and a plate of limes. I was thoroughly surprised that he hadn’t run off with some chick yet, but I guess it was still early in the evening.
I jerked up and quickly moved the candle out of her arms’ reach. Being so close to the highly flammable alcohol wasn’t the greatest idea.
“I thought you could use a drink, Jules. I could tell you were tense from all the way across the room.”
It utterly grated my nerves that Bentley could call her Jules. Or maybe it just pissed me off that she hadn’t offered me to use the nickname. Not that I could say that I would actually use it, her name is Julia. I didn’t see a more perfect name for a stunning woman, other than possibly, mine.
“I can’t believe she gave in to Baylor about their first song,” she grumbled before throwing her head back and letting the cool clear liquid slide down her throat.
The expanse of her neck was now in my direct line of vision and I wanted to travel along the base of her neck to the tip of her ear with my tongue.
I was salivating for a taste of her.
“So that’s what’s got you in an uproar? The fact that he wanted “God Gave Me You” by Blake Shelton?” I would never understand women and I didn’t even know why I bothered trying.
She slammed the empty glass upside down on the table and bit out between clenched teeth. “The first song is everything. Eden doesn’t like country music, she works for a radio station that plays today’s hit music for crying out loud. The first song should reflect both the bride and groom. So yeah, I’m in an uproar,” she mocked.
Tightening my lips into a thin line I wanted to probe into the subject but I also wanted to keep my balls intact. My curiosity ended up winning. “Never pictured you as a girl who would care all that much about a first dance song. You superstitious about it or something?”
The way her eyes widened made me believe that I hit the nail on the head. “What songs were playing at your wedding?” I pressed.
“For my first?” A fearful expression slipped over her face before she carefully arranged her mask back in place; if you weren’t directly looking at her right then, you might have missed it. Was there a possibility that she was afraid of her first husband? I desperately wanted to know. She began turning the empty shot glass around within her fingers, “Nothing played for our first song, but it should’ve been “Highway to Hell.” She released a drawn-out resigned sigh, “I was a stupid young girl who made stupid decisions back then.” With that statement I knew that there was some depth to the pain she felt but so desperately tried to hide.
“I wouldn’t ever call you stupid, Jules,” Bentley said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Oh yeah,” she raised a brow, “Asshole and Dickhead are both a reflection of how stupid I could be.”
Wow, that escalated quickly.
This conversation was vastly morphing into dangerous territory. She threw back the second shot and I glanced at Bentley trying to silently convey that we needed to change the topic of conversation.
The bride and groom’s slow dance ended and an upbeat song was on queue immediately afterwards. Here was my chance to get close to Julia, hopefully without her biting my head off in the process.
“Would you like to dance with me?” I blurted out to Julia, the same exact moment Bentley did.
Fuck.
What were the odds?
“Gentlemen,” Julia responded in a giggly tone. If I didn’t know better I’d think she was walking a bit on the tipsy side. How many drinks had she consumed? “The line forms to my left.” She definitely was feeling it if she was openly flirting with me.
“Nonsense, Jules,” Bentley said while reaching for her arm and prying her from her seat. “We can all go out and have a good time, even Baylor and Eden are getting down on the dance floor.”
Julia perked up quite a bit after hearing that knowledge and seemed to snap out of her self-imposed pity party. She regained her composure and began walking towards her best friend and threw back over her shoulder, “You pussies coming or what?” Bentley looked to me with a quizzical raised brow, so I shrugged my shoulders, shoved my hands in my pockets, and followed along into the throngs of dancing bodies.
After a few songs I was in serious need of a break; it wasn’t everyday this old man got down on the dancefloor. But since Julia was laughing and smiling and seeming to enjoy herself, I was going to tough it out. Norah even came up beside us and started dancing with her friends. There were now women with discarded shoes, hiking up their dresses so they could move a bit more freely, and men with their ties now decorating their heads instead of around their necks. Beer bottles and p
lastic cups were thrust into the air as several people sang to the songs.
A song began playing, which I learned was “Nobody Love” by Tori Kelly, but basically all hell broke loose. The women were cackling and carrying on about how much they loved this song. Julia was mouthing the words and swinging her hips to the beat, she looked sexy as hell. Her hair was beginning to fall out of its holder, leaving loose tendrils around her face and her body was coated with a sheen of sweat. She kept chancing glances at me at the same time that I was with her, and the briefest hint of a smile would play on her lips. She was definitely into me. I couldn’t remember the last time that I enjoyed a wedding so much. This refresher was definitely welcomed to give me good memories of weddings and replace the bad of my own.
She glanced up again and looked directly behind me, “Be right back,” she said to no one in particular and brushed past me.
Several moments later she came back within our group, holding hands with a younger woman. I knew her to be Tillie’s other granddaughter, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember her name.
“Miri, this is Dean Parker,” she introduced us, and I gave her a slight smile. Then she spoke again, “Bentley, this is Miri Armstrong. Do you remember her from high school?” A faint pink blush rose on Miri’s cheeks and it took Bentley a moment before recognition appeared on his face.
“Miri?” He questioned, before putting in place his famous panty-dropping grin, raising a brow, “My how you’ve grown into a beautiful woman.” What was a faint pink staining her cheeks, now increased to ten different shades of red. Seemed as if even Miri Armstrong wasn’t immune to Bentley’s charms. She looked like a sweet girl, I hoped she knew what she was in for with him.
The songs changed up and now “Sugar” by Maroon 5 was playing. Our group seemed to have started filtering off in pairs: Eden and Baylor together, Bentley and Miri, which left Julia and me. She was paired with me whether she liked it or not. I was way past the point of exhaustion and I could barely stand up straight let alone dance right, so I was going through my repertoire of old dance moves. After I pulled out the sprinkler, Julia threw her head back and laughed. A genuine, straight from her gut laugh that left me tingling in all the right places.