The Bridal Squad

by Samantha Chase

  She could almost hear his angry voice as she read them.

  With a sigh, she turned off the phone and placed it on Kayla’s bed.

  And simply sat there and wondered what she was supposed to do now.

  ****

  “She’s been in there a really long time.”

  “Should we check on her?”

  “Maybe she needs a little time to process it all.”

  “I didn’t hear her talking so I’m guessing she didn’t call him.”

  “Is he still at your place, Jules?” Harper asked. “Any updates from Gavin?”

  “I’m trying to be patient and not call but…I can’t imagine Jayce is still there. It’s been…what…an hour? More?”

  “A little more,” Kayla said warily. “Maybe just text him and see if he responds with anything.”

  “One step ahead of you,” Julianne said as she typed out a message. Then she put her phone down and looked at them. “And now we wait.”

  They all sat on Kayla’s sofa, unsure of what to do with themselves. Should they be knocking on the door? Was it okay to let Natalie be? Could they talk about something else other than this situation?

  “So here’s a question,” Kayla began. “What do we do now? I mean…is she going to stay here with me? Go home with you, Jules? I mean…how do I bring that up with her?”

  “If you don’t want her here, I can take her home with me. If Jayce has been at my house all this time and sees she’s not there, I doubt he’d bother her.”

  “Mmm…I don’t know. I just hate thinking of her sleeping on the couch like she was this morning. That had to suck,” Kayla said and stopped when her phone beeped with an incoming text. She walked over to her phone and saw it was from Adam. “I’ll be right back,” she said and stepped into the kitchen. It took her a minute to comprehend what she was reading. “Oh, shit…”

  Inside, she could hear Harper and Julianne talking and decided to hang back for a minute and contemplate how she would respond to Adam.

  “How long are we going to let Gavin deal with this on his own?” Harper asked.

  “I have no idea. I wish he’d just respond – a thumbs up, an angry emoji or an SOS…something.”

  “Do you want to go home and see what’s going on? If Jayce sees that you’re there and Natalie’s not with you…”

  “I hate to leave her. I mean…I would feel like I’m deserting her to go and check on Jayce.”

  “Oh, please…that’s not what you’re doing. It’s not like you’re choosing him over her; you’re just trying to make sure Gavin’s all right.”

  “Maybe…” Julianne sighed.

  Harper rested her head on the back of the couch. “Is it wrong that I’m thinking about my date tonight?” She turned her head and looked at her sister. “Does this seal my fate as the world’s crappiest friend?”

  “Not at all,” Julianne said with a smile. “So where are you two going tonight? You’ve been doing a lot of different things every time you’ve gone out.”

  “I don’t know about that. We’ve done dinner, movies, home doing the Netflix and chill thing…nothing overly exciting.”

  “And tonight?”

  “Tonight we are going to that Irish pub downtown and then to an art gallery that Penny from Enchanted Bridal told me about.”

  “When was this?”

  “At Zumba the other morning,” Harper replied and then chuckled. “I think you created a monster there. If she goes to any more classes, Fitness Frenzy may have to hire her to teach!”

  “I know! She’s got more enthusiasm than I do and that’s saying something. But I love that she’s coming to the classes. She’s a sweetheart.”

  “Agreed.”

  “So what’s the deal with the gallery?”

  “Oh, it’s a friend of hers who has some paintings on display. I’ve always wanted to go to a gallery but never felt like I had a reason to. When I mentioned it to Brady, he said he’d be willing to check it out with me.”

  “That’s kind of sweet.”

  Harper smiled. “It really is.” Then she sighed happily. “Is it crazy how he’s so opposite of everything I said I wanted…”

  “I believe you said everything about him was a deal breaker,” Julianne said with a sarcasm.

  “Clearly I was wrong.”

  “So what does he do other than work at the gym? Anything?”

  “He’s at Fitness Frenzy part-time doing classes and personal training and he’s also into gaming.”

  “Gaming? What the hell is that? Like video games?”

  Harper nodded. “Uh-huh. He does some consultation stuff, he said. I was never interested in video games and he tried to describe it to me, but…I don’t know…it all kind of went over my head. Either way, he makes decent money at it, I guess. He’s got a fabulous house in North Raleigh and he drives a decent car so…”

  “Yeah, but…that doesn’t seem very…settled. Does it?”

  Harper shrugged. “He seems like he’s doing okay.”

  “Just…just be careful. Don’t jump into anything. I’d hate to see you…”

  “See me what?” Harper asked defensively as she sat straight up.

  That was Kayla’s cue to go back inside. She stood in front of the two of them and sighed.

  “What? What’s the matter?” Harper asked.

  “I got an assignment…”

  “And?” Julianne asked. “Where? When do you have to leave?”

  “Tomorrow,” she replied and then looked toward her closed bedroom door. “What do I do?”

  “Where are you going?” Harper asked.

  “California. There’s some massive flooding going on up in the Sierra Nevada. Adam said that from the news footage he’s seen, it’s fairly wild right now and he’d like to get some footage if I can get close to it.”

  “You have to go, Kayla,” Julianne said firmly. “This is what you do.”

  “And what about Natalie? I can’t just leave her.”

  They all grew quiet for a moment and then gasped at the sound of the bedroom door opening. Natalie stepped out – she looked pale and her eyes were red from crying – but she also looked…a little more confident than she had an hour ago.

  “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” she started, “but it seems like you all have things that you need to do.”

  “No, Nat,” Julianne said as she jumped up. “We’re here for you. Whatever you need, we’re here.”

  “I know that and I appreciate it, but…” she sighed. “I have to accept some facts. For starters, I’m pretty sure my marriage is over. Even if Jayce agreed to go to counseling with me, I don’t know that I want to.”

  “Dammit,” Harper murmured. “What did he say?”

  “His messages were all rather curt and mainly about him. Not once did he ask how I was or even sound remotely saddened that I was gone. It was more of an inconvenience to him.”

  Kayla walked over and hugged her. “I’m so sorry.”

  Natalie hugged her back. “Thanks.” She pulled back and addressed them all. “I sat there for a while after turning off my phone and I felt…numb. Just…I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t sad. I just…was. But then I got sad again,” she admitted.

  “So what are you going to do, Nat?” Julianne asked. “You know you can come stay with me and Gavin. We have plenty of room.”

  “Actually, I was hoping Kayla would let me stay here while she’s out of town.”

  Kayla looked at her in complete surprise. “Really? You’d be here all by yourself, Nat. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.”

  “I thought about that, but I think it’s exactly what I need right now. I need to learn to be okay with being alone. And I know I’m not really alone – I have all of you and my job…and Zuma and kickboxing,” she added with a small laugh. “And maybe in time, I’ll learn that I can’t control every situation and I can’t make someone be who I want them to be.”

  “I hate how what you’re saying makes sense,” Julianne said.
“I was really hoping you’d come home with me so I can take care of you. You’ve always been there for me and I hate to think about you here alone.”

  “It’s going to be a good thing,” Natalie said and the funny thing was, she really sounded like she believed that. She turned to Kayla. “You need to pack and get ready to leave. Make sure you bring extra of everything with you. If there’s flooding, you’re going to get wet and you don’t want to be miserable so…pack extra. Is Adam going with you?”

  Kayla nodded mutely.

  “Okay. If you’d like, I’ll take the two of you to the airport so you don’t have to pay for long-term parking.” Then she looked at Harper. “You need to head home and get ready for your date with Brady. And you should totally wear your black skinny jeans with those amazing ankle boots with the chunky heel. They look really good on you. Trust me. And while you’re out, ask him if it’s okay if I come in at other times and use the bags. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”

  “There’s a gym downstairs for everyone in the building,” Kayla said. “I’ll leave you the key card and you can go down there at any hour of the day and night and use it and yes, there is a bag for you to kick.”

  Natalie smiled. “Perfect!” Then she looked at Julianne. “And you, my sweet friend…you need to go home and love on your fiancé and thank him for throwing himself on the grenade today. Tell him I promise to make it up to him.” She paused for a moment. “Go out for a date night – dinner and a movie…hold hands and just remember how lucky you are.”

  “Nat…”

  “And if you do go out, you should wear that fabulous sapphire blue sweater you bought last week. It looks fantastic on you. And you have those knee-high boots that I wish were my size…you should totally wear them too. I remember you saying how much Gavin likes them.”

  Julianne didn’t comment. She just nodded and gave her friend a sad smile.

  She shook her head and took a steadying breath. “I know I just said that I have to learn not to try to control every situation, but if you guys could just humor me today…” Tears welled up in her eyes and the girls all surrounded her and turned it into a big group hug.

  Kayla squeezed her friends just a little bit tighter because it was times like these that reminded her of how lucky she was. Her life was crazy and unsettled and unconventional, but this group of women helped keep her grounded and sane. They reminded her that it was okay to be who she was.

  And right now, they were all doing the same for Natalie.

  ****

  “I had a really good time tonight,” Brady said as he walked Harper to her door. She tried to hide how ridiculously pleased she was. And on top of everything else, Brady Bennett was a gentleman. They had gone out several times and each time she learned a little more about him that showed her how wrong she’d been about him and how she’d been fairly superficial in her ideas on what qualities were deal breakers.

  “Me too,” she said as she fished her keys from her purse. Tonight they had gone to dinner and to an art gallery downtown. It was casual and wonderful and she just felt...good. Happy. It had been a long time since she’d felt like this and on some levels, Harper knew she had never truly felt like this.

  When she opened the door, she turned to him. “Do you want to come in for a while?” Like for the night, she wanted to say but refrained.

  He didn’t say anything, but he nodded, smiled and followed her inside.

  They made small talk as she put her purse down and took off her jacket. Brady took his own coat off and hung it on the rack she kept by the front door. This wasn’t the first time he’d been in her home – he always picked her up for their dates and once they had even stayed in and just watched TV and had takeout. But tonight was different – she knew it and had a feeling he knew it as well. Tonight, she didn’t want to kiss him good night and watch him leave. She wanted him to stay the night.

  “I loved those paintings we saw tonight,” she said as they walked into her living room. “I’m not normally a pastel kind of girl, but that sunset one we saw would look good over my couch. Don’t you think so?”

  He nodded and sat down on the couch. “Maybe. The size was right but I think you could find one that was a little bolder.”

  She shrugged. “Hmm...maybe.” Without asking, she went and grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses, then sat down beside him. They were in sync – he took the bottle from her and opened it and then poured. Her heart raced just a bit when she faced him. “I had a really good time tonight.” Then she wanted to kick herself because she already said that. She was so nervous! But it was the good kind – the anticipation, the knowing that she was finally going to get to see this amazing man naked…yeah, it was undeniably the good kind of nervous. Was he feeling it too?

  “It definitely was a good night,” he agreed. “But...it’s not over yet. Is it?”

  Yeah! She almost sagged with relief that she didn’t have to keep going with the small talk because they were on the same page! Brady didn’t sound the least bit nervous or unsure, even though he was asking her permission – which was sexy as hell.

  She shook her head. “No. I don’t want it to be over yet either. In fact, I was really hoping you’d feel the same way.”

  “I’ve been feeling this way since I first saw you, Harper,” he admitted softly. “And I want you to know that nothing’s going to happen here that you don’t want. It’s important to me that you trust me.”

  “I do,” she said, her voice nothing more than a breathy whisper.

  They never tasted the wine. Brady took the glass from her hand and placed it on the coffee table along with his and as soon as he faced her again, Harper wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His clear blue eyes were so damn sexy and the way they were watching her was a turn on in and of itself. She licked her lips in anticipation for the kiss.

  And as incredible as his kisses were, she had no doubt the sex would be even better. Slowly, Harper pulled him toward her and over her as she lay down on the sofa. Her bedroom was only ten feet away, but right now, she didn’t want to go that far. She wanted to ease into it. They had all night.

  Brady’s kiss didn’t ease into anything – it was hot and wild and pretty much jumped from zero to sixty. And she loved it. Within seconds, she was wrapped around him – her arms, her legs – and he felt so fucking incredible that she swore she’d be happy to stay like this forever.

  Except that was a lie.

  If they were naked like this…that would be the way to go.

  His lips left hers and worked along her jaw then down to the V-neck of her sweater and she cursed the fact that she’d have to release him for ten seconds so she could whip it off. Squirming underneath him, she felt him chuckle against her skin.

  “I know, ba…Harper,” he instantly corrected himself and she couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Go ahead, say it. Say it but keep doing what you’re doing,” she urged.

  Brady continued to kiss and lick every inch of skin he could reach and when she rocked up against him, he reared up and looked into her eyes. “I know, babe,” he said, his voice thick and deep and gruff and so damn sexy she almost orgasmed from the sound of it.

  Great. Now she liked the word babe.

  What is happening to me?

  Then her sweater was gone and Brady toyed with the waistband of her jeans. Harper frantically kicked off her boots and heard him do the same.

  Her jeans were unzipped, his shirt was off…and the last thing she expected to hear herself say was, “Stop!”

  But she did.

  Brady immediately froze.

  She let out a long breath. “Okay, that sounded a lot more dramatic than I wanted it to. Sorry.”

  “Harper, if we’re moving too fast…”

  She shook her head frantically. “No. No, that’s not it at all. I just wanted to say …well…I’ve been thinking about this…us…you know…naked, for a little while and I’d really prefer it if we took this inside. To the bedroom.”
And then she felt her cheeks flame with embarrassment. She’d never been one to really speak up about sex – the where, the when. This seemed like a harmless request though. And she really had been thinking about it. A lot.

  He instantly reached up and cupped her cheek. “The idea of stretching out on the bed beside you and being able to see and touch all of you is the only thing that got me through this day,” he admitted.

  “So…you…I mean…you’ve thought about…?”

  “Ever since that first night when you punched the bag after yelling at your sister. I thought you were so fucking sexy and I knew you were someone I wanted to get to know better.” His hand roamed from her face, down over her shoulder and her arm and then up to cup her breast over her black lace bra. “I knew you’d be perfect,” he murmured. “I knew you’d be soft and curvy and like a fantasy.”

  Her heart literally kicked hard in her chest. No one had ever described her like that. Ever. You’d think that after three fiancés, someone would have come close, but they didn’t. Not one of them. She looked up at Brady in wide-eyed wonder. Her own hands wandered over him. His biceps, his chest and every inch of him was sculpted like a work of art. How could she have ever thought that muscles weren’t her thing?

  Swallowing hard, she said, “I’ve never been anyone’s fantasy.”

  The smile he gave her was sweet and sinful at the same time. “Babe, trust me. You’ve been a lot of men’s fantasy. They were just too shy to let you know.”

  “And you’re not?” she teased softly.

  “Hell no. As a matter of fact, I think I’m going to enjoy telling you all the things I’ve fantasized about where you’re concerned.”

  “Really?” she whispered.

  He nodded. “Oh yeah…and in great detail. If you’ll let me.”

  That was something completely new to her and she found it oddly…arousing.

  Wow…

  Brady stood and held out a hand, then gently pulled her to her feet. When her breasts pressed up against his chest, she reached up and pulled him down for another kiss. This time, when his tongue met hers, he mimicked exactly what he wanted to be doing to her and it made her knees go weak and her breath hitch.