by Zara Cox
We’re okay now, and I couldn’t be more thrilled for her. My take-no-shit cynical best friend has found her soul mate, and I want to shout my happiness for her from every single New York rooftop.
I grin at her imagined reaction should I ever voice that urge. She’d probably scream, fuck yeah, let’s do it, and drag me across the city to do just that.
My phone rings as I hike my Chloe purse over my shoulder. I check the screen and smile.
“Hey, gorgeous. I was just thinking about you.”
“Oh yeah?” Keely says. “You’re humbled by just how fabulous I am, right?”
I laugh. “Something like that. I’ll be there in five.”
“Good, because these cocktails aren’t going to drink themselves, and I intend to wring every last drop of pleasure from this rare, rare night,” she shouts above the thumping music in the background of the wine bar where we’re meeting.
I end the call and head down in the elevator, my smile still lingering. Keely is the last person I would’ve thought would entertain an ultra alpha man in her life—she gave me relentless grief over Zach’s possessive shit, as she called it. Turns out she needed the right man to change her mind. Mason is as possessive as they come, and Keely revels in it. But between our men’s constant demands on our time, girl time has been almost non-existent lately. Most of our interaction, since Mason resettled in New York, has been spent in double dates.
So this Friday night together, especially with my wedding set to happen two shorts weeks from now, is rare. And I intend to enjoy it to the max!
When I hit the foyer, Philip rises from his usual position next to the security desk—I don’t know how Zach managed to swing that—and holds open the side door for me to exit.
The bar is three blocks away, and I make short work of the walk. Philip’s presence by my side is great for making room on the busy sidewalk. No one wants to tangle with the giant from Papua New Guinea.
I enter the bar and immediately spot Keely. Despite her unavailable status, she’s surrounded by keen prospects. I do sense a close-but-not-too-close vibe from her, however, which is probably a good thing since I’ve witnessed Mason’s dominant side in action.
She sees me, and with a smile and a few words, sends the guys packing. When I reach the table, I’m enveloped in a bear hug. I tighten my arms around her. Then, we lean back from each other, and grin like idiots, bestie love given and received without words.
“Come on, let’s get this fucking party started!”
Drinks, whose names fly out of my head as soon I hear them, arrive and are downed. My buzz arrives shortly thereafter and makes itself at home. We settle on nibbles, place our order, then Keely and I hit the dance floor. An hour later and my silk shirt is sticky from the exertions. I shed it, leaving my body-hugging vest on to keep cool. We dance some more, then return to the table.
“Fuck, I’ve missed this so damn much.” Keely whoops after one last saucy ass wriggle to an Usher song. She grins at the resulting wolf whistles and collapses into her seat. “Sometimes I miss being single.”
I shake my head with emphatic certainty. “No, you don’t.”
She winks at me. “No, I don’t. My rejuvenated clit thanks you and owes you big time, my friend.”
“You’re picking up the tab tonight. That’s enough.”
“Fuck the tab. You need tributes and your name up in lights. I’ll get round to that one of these days, but rest assured I think of you every time I have an orgasm.”
I splutter like a hypertensive fish when my drink goes down the wrong way. “What the fuck, Keely?”
She passes me a napkin with an unrepentant smirk. “What? You should be honored. Mason Sinclair The Third gives the best orgasms. Trust me, I know my orgasm gradient, and he—”
“No!” I place my hand over her mouth. “Please, no more. I’m not nearly drunk enough for this.”
She pulls my hand away and shakes her head. “I don’t get how you can be getting fucked by the second sexiest man alive and still remain Miss Prissy. Fine, I’ll tone it down for you. Mason makes me...shit, I love that fucking man like I love Marie Curie for inventing penicillin.”
I laugh, because only Keely would make that insane correlation. I bump her shoulder. “I’m happy for you, babe.”
A megawatt smile lights up her whole face. “I’m happy for me, too.” We clink glasses and let the party vibe wash over us for a few minutes. “You know they’re up to something though, right? It’s the only reason they’re not here right now, snarling at every guy in the room and piss-marking their territory.”
I nod sagely. “Of course they are. Zach barely blinked when I told him I was meeting you for drinks tonight.”
Keely makes an irritated face. “Ditto with Mason. But I know they plan to have whatever they’re working on finished soon. Think it could be something to do with your honeymoon? Whatever it is, when Mason get that look in his eye, I know he’s pulling out all the stops.”
“Oh, hell. You sure you can’t find out what it is?”
She shakes her head. “He won’t tell me. He slams his fucking laptop shut every time I walk in the room. I’ve tried breaking into the damn thing, but the password is like a zillion words or some shit.”
“And you’ve let it go at that?”
“Hell no,” she snaps. “I Agent Provocateur’d his ass and tried to fuck the secret out of him last night.”
“And?”
“He put me in a fucking sex coma. I woke up in the middle of the night and he’d locked himself in his damn invention room. I tried again this morning...”
I stare at her for a beat as her eyes glaze over, and I swear a shiver runs through her body. “Do I want to know what happened?”
“B, I had to use an ice pack on my pussy for half an hour before I could walk. I was twenty minutes late to my first appointment and was this close to asking for extra padding just so I could sit down.”
“That’s some serious effort to keep a secret,” I muse.
Keely picks up her cosmo with a fiercely determined expression. “Yeah. But I’m—
“Beth?”
I turn at the sound of the voice, familiar and yet so alien in my new reality. My gaze travels up chunky legs draped in mud-colored corduroys—who wears corduroys anymore?—and a stylish, black, button down shirt to meet those of my ex. “Chris?”
My heart slows, then speeds up for all of three seconds before sinus rhythm resumes.
“I thought that was you.”
I stare at him without responding, not because I’m shocked or struck dumb or anything. It’s because that three-second arrhythmia feels like a deep betrayal of Zach. I’m overcome by the urge to get up, walk out of here, find my fiancé as fast as possible and apologize. The awkward silence finally gets to him and Chris’s gaze flicks to Keely.
“Hey, Keely.”
“Hey, Asshole.”
His features pinch in momentary anger, but he gathers himself quickly and refocuses his dark brown eyes on me. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“Hell-to-the-fuck no!” Keely lurches closer, ready to fire-and-brimstone on my behalf. I shoot her a grateful-but-let-me-handle-this look. Her lips purse, but she subsides in her seat.
“Sure. Talk.” I don’t project hate, but my tone strokes sub-zero temperatures. Anything above zero is venturing into unacceptable warmth.
“Uh...can we go somewhere quieter?” he asks.
I have no intention of asking him to take a seat, but I hate that he’s looking down on me, so I shoot Keely another glance, and stand. In my four-inch Louboutins, I’m eye-level with him. His gaze slides down my body, his eyes widening the lower he goes.
“Wow, you look great, Beth!” He clears his throat. “I mean, toned and, you know, really...healthy. You’ve been working out?” Another, slower, perusal of my body.
I wait for his gaze to return to mine, and I immediately see the sparked interest.
Yeah, newsflash, Asshole, you’re not as gay as
you think.
I couldn’t care less about pointing it out to him, but I nearly giggle at the thought. Nearly.
I spot Philip nursing a soda one table away. He’s not looking my way, but I know he’s aware of everything happening right now.
Philip...the man who was previously my future husband’s Man Friday, but who’s now entrusted with my wellbeing when Zach’s not around.
With one word, I can get Philip to take care of my Chris problem. But in the interest of lines drawn and fresh starts, I raise an eyebrow at my ex. “That’s what you came over here to say? That I look healthy?”
“Well...no, but the compliment was deserved.”
“Thank you.”
His gaze drops to the rock on my finger and he nods at it. “I heard you were getting hitched.”
“You heard right.”
“To that Savage guy?” There’s a mixture of awe and envy in his voice that soothes a part of me I wasn’t even aware needed soothing.
“You done with the chit-chat yet, A-hole? Only, I’m getting parched over here,” Keely snaps.
Chris’s jaw clenches for an instant, but his retains his composure. “She never liked me, did she?” He forces a laugh, inviting a camaraderie I have no intention of indulging.
“I need a drink too, so if we’re done here?”
“Wait.” He reaches out for my arm.
I step back. Those three seconds were bad enough. No fucking way am I compounding my sins by letting another man touch me. I glare at the offensive hand until he drops it.
“Say what you came to came to say and leave, Chris. Although I fail to see what we have to talk about. Our last meeting was eye-opening and definitive enough, don’t you think?”
He scratches his jaw for a moment before he answers. “Beth, listen, what happened...it was a mistake.”
“What are we talking about, exactly? The time we were together, or the months you spent lying to me while sticking your dick somewhere else?”
A dull flush rushes up his neck. “I’m not into that. Not anymore. That time...it was just a phase.”
I’m mildly stunned by his gall. “Oh, you mean like flu season? You caught something that lingered for a while, but then you got your shot, so you’re all better? But, oh poor Beth got caught in the outbreak? Good for you. Goodbye, Chris.”
I turn decisively from him and take my seat. Keely is still glaring daggers at him.
He braves her stare and steps closer. Beyond him I see Philip’s shadow loom.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Sure you did. You deliberately went out of your way to humiliate and hurt me. But you know what? If you hadn’t decided you wanted to explore the joys of anal sex with men, I wouldn’t have met the love of my life, so I guess you served your purpose in my life. And what you see right here, me, being healthy? It’s me, happy beyond my wildest dreams. This is a possible guess, but what you won’t see if you don’t step away from me right now, is another sunrise.”
His dark blond eyebrows crease. “What?”
“My fiancé is insanely possessive and bit of a Neanderthal about who I talk to. You’re not on his approved list, and my minder is right behind you, so I suggest you leave right now, while the leaving is good.”
His head whips round and he spots Philip. He blanches and takes a few hurried steps sideways.
When he thinks he’s safely out of Philip’s reach, he looks back at me, his expression a mixture of entreaty and irritation. Whether he tracked me down by design or this was some shitty coincidence, I’ve fucked up his plans to...what? Make me think he’s less of an asshole?
Every square inch of my heart and soul is filled with Zach. I don’t even want to look for empathy for Chris. I turn my head. Keely’s staring at me with concern.
“I’m fine.”
She stares some more. Then nods. “You so fucking are, girlfriend.” She lifts an almost regal hand and a waiter materializes. Ten minutes later, we’re back on the dance floor and it’s almost like the interlude with Chris never happened.
But those three seconds still haunt me.
So, when my phone lights up with a text, while I’m on my way out of the bathroom, I jump on it. I lean against the wall and read it.
Having fun, Peaches?
Hell, yeah! I’m high on cocktails and hip-hop. You?
I want to be high on you.
Very funny. You know what I mean.
I’m being extremely productive, but my fun only happens when I’m with you.
Liar. You couldn’t get out the door fast enough when Mason called. You gonna tell me what you two are up to?
No.
I sigh and worry my lip with my teeth. In the end, I decide to bite the bullet.
So...I saw Chris tonight.
I don’t receive an answer. But my phone rings thirty seconds later.
“Peaches.” His voice is a deep, sexy rumble, and I want to sigh with pleasure.
“Hey.”
“I know.” Of course he knows. I don’t ask how.
“He’s no longer gay. Apparently.”
“I know that, too.”
My breath catches and my mind tumbles over the possibilities. “Zach?”
“Peaches?” he responds with infinite patience.
“Did you...?” I sigh and rest my head against the mosaic tiles. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“Because it’s not important or because you’re too high on cocktails to form proper words?”
I smile at the wall. “I can form words.”
“Tell me, then.”
“I don’t want to know because I ripped the rearview mirror out and threw it away. You are my future. All I see, all I want, is in front of me. You’re it, baby.”
He remains silent for a charged moment. “Hell, Bethany, if I wasn’t in another state, I’d track you down and fuck the shit out of you!”
I giggle for one ecstatic moment before his words intrude. “Wait, you’re in another state?”
“Fuck, did I just let you trip me up?” he growls.
“Don’t dodge the question. Where are you?”
“Mason and I are in Connecticut. We’ll be back in a few hours. I want you naked and in bed when I get there.”
My pulse goes wild and I grip the phone tighter. “Okay, Zach. Anything else?”
“I love it when you’re wet for me before I even touch you. But not tonight. I want to work for it,” he continues, his voice thickening with each word. “Will you let me work for it, baby?”
My eyelids droop and my surroundings recede. Zach is my sole focus. “Y...yes.”
“Fuck, you’re already getting wet, aren’t you?”
I force my eyes open and clear my throat. “No. I’m not that easy, Savage.”
He laughs. “Trust me, sweetheart, I know that. Now tell me what else he said.”
If anything’s guaranteed to kill my erotic buzz, it’s the reminder of those shitty minutes with my ex. “He was courteous. And he apologized for hurting me.” No way am I going to tell Zach about Chris complimenting my body.
“He hurt you in the first place. He doesn’t get a pass out of Asshole-ville.”
“Keely made that very clear to him.”
“Good for her. Anything else?”
I grimace. “I wasn’t very nice to him.”
“You bothered to give him the time of day. That’s a hell of a lot more than he deserves. Or what I would’ve allowed. You get a pass this once, baby. Next time, Philip handles it.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’m heading back to the dance floor.”
“Philip will take you home in an hour. I’ll be there in two, tops.”
“Good, we can get a few hours sleep before we head to Westchester.” Zach has commissioned the jeweler who designed my parents’ wedding rings to design ours. Tomorrow will be our first sight and fitting, and I can’t wait.
“I need a few hours with you first. You can slee
p in a little in the morning if you need to. I’ll push back the appointment.”
I pout even though he can’t see me. “I’m excited about the fitting, Zach. I don’t want to push it back.”
“That’s your call, baby. I’m excited too. But I’m fucking you long and hard when I get back. And we both know you’re not a morning person...”
“I’ll set the alarm.”
“You’ll sleep right through it. You wanted to drive, but how about we take the chopper instead? That way you can sleep a little longer?”
My smile makes a triumphant comeback. “You’re my hero.”
“Don’t fucking forget that. Now go enjoy yourself.”
I rejoin Keely and we throw ourselves into our last hour of girls’ night out. It occurs to me at one point that this is our last before I officially check out of single town.
I don’t say anything because I don’t want to ruin the mood. But I dance harder, laugh harder, and hug her tighter when the night is over.
If only I knew what waited for me around the corner, I’d have done everything ten times as hard.
EIGHT
W.T.F. Just Happened
Bethany
“Can we talk about this?”
From his lounged position across from me on the bench helicopter seat, Zach raises an eyebrow at me. His blue shirt and cashmere sweater combo makes his eyes seem more blue than grey. Add the long denim-clad legs, designer stubble, and finger-combed hair, and his drop-dead sexy appearance is almost too much at this time of the morning.
“About you having a bachelorette party? Sure. The remodeling of The Indigo NYC spa finished last week. Tell Keely it’s at her disposal to stage your party there. You ladies can have free rein of the place for the whole weekend.”
I look up from the text Keely just sent and the list of things she’s planning, and I clear my throat. “I don’t think a spa weekend is quite what she has in mind.”
Zach plucks the phone from my hand and reads the contents of the text. His eyes narrow the further he reads. “Over my fucking dead body is any of this happening.” Before I can get another word out he hits dial and speaker on my phone. Over the noise of the helicopter blades flying us to Westchester, I hear Keely’s husky voice answer.