by Lena Nicole
“Maybe you should have said something else like trendy, not something that is in, idiot.”
That’s about how the night went. At another point, Jeremy was giving her clues like “This animal has a long neck.” Morgan said, “Giraffe.” Jeremy got so excited that they got one and finally had a point until Addison told him that wasn’t the word on the card. Apparently he was supposed to have her guess the word graffiti. Not giraffe. Needless to say, they came in last place.
It’s the last round and it all boils down to this card. At this point, it’s between Charlotte and I and Pierce and Addison since Jeremy and Morgan are out of the running because they suck. If I can get Charlotte to guess this clue, we win. I look at the word, and a smile immediately spread across my face because I know we have it in the bag.
“It’s where we go to work when we’re not in our office.”
“The courtroom,” Charlotte says.
“Yep!”
Charlotte yells out, “Bam! We win!” Everyone laughs at her.
“Next time I’m on your team,” Jeremy grumbles to her. Morgan smacks him in the head.
“I don’t know. You did kind of suck. You can’t blame Morgan for all that.” She unscrews the cap on her water and takes a sip.
Damon shouts out, “Buuurn!” earning another round of laughter from everyone, even Jeremy who was previously sulking.
Maybe I’d invite her to more functions like this so I didn’t feel so out of place. She definitely helped make things less awkward. She was attentive to me in making sure I was doing okay. But she didn’t lay it on thick where it looked like an attempt to make Addison jealous. Not that she would be since she doesn’t remember enough to be jealous. It was nice though to have a good friend there that helped get me through this. Turns out, I didn’t really think about how weird this all was once we started playing Taboo. It was a great evening and I’m glad I got to spend it with all of my friends.
IT’S BEEN TWO months since I found my dress. In those two months not much has been happening. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately though, mostly about my friendship with Colin. It was really nice hanging out with him at my house and it didn’t feel weird at all. I think when I started planning this wedding I was a little worried my memory would suddenly resurface and then I would be left in a bigger mess than I was in the beginning. Now that so much time has passed since the accident though, I’m fairly confident I don’t have to worry about that anymore and I can enjoy planning the rest of my wedding.
I haven’t had any more run-ins with Samantha, thank god for that. After the two encounters I had with her, I knew she wasn’t over Pierce. It doesn’t worry me because Pierce doesn’t talk to her. She burned him too bad for him to have even a platonic friendship with her.
We’re headed to Vegas later tonight for our bachelor and bachelorette parties. Colby and Garrick coordinated them so we can go the same week. We wanted to be able to spend some time there to hang out and sight see. Luckily, everyone was able to make it.
We check into the Venetian once our flight lands and go up to our rooms. I’m shocked when Pierce scoops me up and sweeps me over the threshold. “Still trying to carry me around everywhere, Charming?” I’ve never been really big on pet names, but every since I started calling him that to tease him, it just kind of stuck.
“Well, I have to get plenty of practice in since the big day is almost here,” he says as he presses his lips against mine with a grin on his face. “Why don’t you relax and shower and I will hang up our stuff?”
“Why don’t you take a shower with me and we can hang up our stuff when we’re done?” I say as I stand on my tip toes and bite his bottom lip gently.
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” Pierce smacks my ass and I make an eek noise before running to the shower with Pierce following closely behind me.
After we make love, we get ready to wash ourselves. In our haste to get in the shower together, we forgot all of our toiletries so Pierce has to run out and grab them. When he comes back, we enjoy the opportunity to wash each other’s bodies. Once we’re out of the shower and dried off, it hits me how exhausted I am from traveling.
I put my hand over my mouth as I yawn when Pierce says, “Come on lets go to bed. We have all week to do other things.”
I crawl into bed and cuddle up next to him. He likes to sleep naked and I like having his warm body wrapped around me when I sleep.
“Goodnight, beautiful, sweet dreams,” he whispers and kisses my lips.
“Goodnight.” I drift off to sleep almost immediately.
The next morning we wake to pounding on the door. I groan in protest rolling over in bed and putting a pillow over my head. “They have to go away eventually, right?” I whine to Pierce.
“I hope so because I’m still exhausted,” he replies.
Bang, Bang, Bang.
“Ugh, I guess not. I’ll get it,” Pierce says as he pulls a pair of sweats on. He walks over to the door that is still being pounded on and opens it.
“Good Morning!” Colby sings in an overly cheery voice. I sit up in bed to get a good look at her and give her the evil eye for waking me up when the rest of our friends come in behind her. “We have been calling you guys for an hour now. You have the rest of your lives to sleep in. We’re in Vegas so get up. We’re going to the pool to lay out and drink!”
I look at the clock and see it is twelve thirty. I can’t believe we slept that long. I go to check my phone to see if I missed anyone else’s calls and notice it is turned off. I forgot Pierce turned off our phones last night saying we were on vacation and shouldn’t have to wake up to ringing phones. I didn’t think anything of it then, but I’m glad Pierce did because I needed the extra sleep. I get up and shower quickly and throw on my bikini.
When we get down to the pool, we see Garrick who waves us over. He has reserved a cabana for us and has drinks waiting. He hands Pierce and me a drink.
“So I’m assuming you had a late night boss? It’s unlike you to sleep in,” Garrick says with a knowing smile.
“You’re lucky you’re my best friend, G.,” Pierce says with an arched brow and a bemused look on his face.
I pull my hair into a pony tail and throw my sunglass on. I sit between Pierce’s legs on a lounge chair and lean back against his chest as we all make small talk for a while. The pool has a DJ and they have great music playing. As the alcohol kicks, we get louder and dance more. We play a couple rounds of chicken in the pool. Everyone says that Pierce and I cheat because no one can knock me down. We just laugh and shake our heads. The rest of the day is spent doing more of the same. We wanted to stay low key since tomorrow night is the big party and will get crazy.
The next day I spend the afternoon getting ready. The guys picked Pierce up early and hauled him off. He was able to give me a quick kiss as the guys were dragging him away. I was barely able to tell him to have a good time before the door slammed shut. I laughed and shook my head. Men, I swear.
I was told not to buy a dress because Morgan, Colby, and Lexi had gotten me one. I won’t lie, I am a little nervous to see what they got me. I hope it’s not too risqué. I leave my hair down but put curls in it instead of keeping it straight. I give myself a grey smoky eye with a neutral lip for my makeup. Since I don’t know what I will be wearing, I figured a smoky eye would go with anything. I can’t accessorize until I know what I’m wearing, so it doesn’t take me that long to get ready. I hear a knock on my door and I open it.
“Happy bachelorette party!” The girls yell. They all shuffle in one by one carrying bags.
Colby hands me the first bag. “Here, go put this on.” I take the bag into the bathroom and pull out a dress. It is actually really cute. It’s fun and flashy. The dress is strapless and is fully encrusted with chunky stones. The short skirt of the dress has strips of chiffon that are attached to the waistline giving the dress its flowy look. Happy with the dress they picked out, I slip it on and check myself out in the mirror. I can’t help
but think that it’s a shame Pierce didn’t see me in this before he left; he would have loved it. I’ll have to take a picture and send it to him. I look at the bottom of the bag and see a tiara. I take it out and put it on top of my head. I put in hoop earrings and silver bangle bracelets and make my way out. The girls start whistling so I do a little twirl. I grab my phone so I can take a picture.
“Hey, would one of you mind taking a picture. Pierce is going to be so mad he missed me in this dress,” I say with a grin.
“I’ll do it,” Morgan says as she takes my phone. I pose for the picture and hear the shutter noise go off.
“Thanks Morgan.” I look at the picture and send it to Pierce.
Me: So this is my dress for the evening. I’m kind of sad you’re not going to get to see me in it. :-(
Charming: I will be having thoughts of taking that dress off you all night. You look beautiful. Love you.
Me: Love you too. Have fun, but not too much. ;-)
Morgan comes up with a bag in her hand and pulls out a sash that says “Bachelorette” across it. She puts it on me and takes a step back. She looks me over and says. “Perfect, but there’s one problem,” she says as she squints her eyes as if she’s in deep thought.
“What?” I say looking at myself thinking I had something on my dress already.
“These.” Lexi says pointing to my earrings.
“What’s wrong with them?” I ask confused. I think they look cute with the dress.
Lexi reaches in her bag and takes out a box. “Ah, these will work much better.” She hands me the box with a mischievous look on her face. She’s definitely up to something.
I open the box and my body immediately quakes with laughter. “Light up penis earrings, really? I am not wearing these.” I hand them back to Lexi.
We thought you might say that,” Colby says not looking up from her phone as she’s typing away.
Next thing I know, my phone alerts me of a new text.
Charming: Just wear the penis earrings. You only get one bachelorette party. Live a little. Love you.
Me: Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to walk around with blinking penises hanging from your ears and smacking you in the cheeks.
Charming: Wear your hair down and it will cover them. Miss you.
Me: I didn’t think of that, but hair is already down. Miss you too.
“Okay, give them to me,” I say with a sigh. “I will wear them, but I am leaving my hair down. I already styled it so if my hair covers them I don’t want to hear any bitching from any of you,” I say as I point my finger at each of them.
“I love that brother of yours,” Morgan says to Lexi.
I put my earrings in and we head out the hotel. There is a limo waiting for us and when I get in it I see a bag sitting in there. Colby hands me the bag and says I have to use what is inside all night. I open the bag and pull out a martini glass. The martini glass has a penis for the stem that lights up. I am beyond embarrassed.
“I can’t drink out of this! Are you guys nuts?!” I protest.
“Oh, don’t be such a pain in the ass, Addy. You would be utterly shocked by the other choices the store had. They were much, much worse,” Lexi says.
“Couldn’t you guys have settled on a penis straw? Geez.” I complain. I’m really not comfortable drinking out of this cup. The sash, tiara, and earrings are going to draw enough attention as it is.
“Well, since you brought it up,” Colby says as she pulls out penis straws.
All the girls giggle and I can do nothing but join in. I finally catch my breath and say, “Okay, I will use the straw, but I am not using this cup. It stays in the limo.” I chuck it across the seats to the other side hoping it’ll be forgotten.
I have no idea where we are going. Everyone wanted tonight to be a surprise and I was fine with that. I have a feeling the less I know the better, especially with these group of girls. We pull up to another hotel and am about to ask if we are going to gamble a little when the driver opens the door. The first thing I see is a sign for the hotel’s main attraction.
A male revue show.
I should have known. I chug my glass of champagne before getting out of the limo. I have a feeling I’m going to need it if I have any hope of being able to walk into that place. Once we enter the hotel we make our way through it until we get to the doors leading to the entrance of the show. There’s what looks like a ticket booth outside the doors with a man working behind the glass.
“Hi, my name is Colby and we have a table reserved for a bachelorette party.” The guy looks at his list and leads us inside to our table. Of course, it is in the front, dead center of the stage. The girls make me sit in the middle of the table and we order a round of drinks. I tell the server to keep them coming. I don’t know how long this show is, but I’m not going to get through it with a straight face being sober.
The lights dim and the men come on stage to start their act. I have to say, these men can dance. A few of their moves are so suggestive I think I might have blushed. They are all in great shape too. But I guess you would have to be if you’re stripping. They do a bunch of group dances and then they start to do solo dances. They each have a theme and some of them are so corny it’s hysterical. The host of the show comes on the stage as the dancers follow behind him in their new outfits.
“Now ladies. This is the fun part of the show! Earlier we had some forms up front for you to fill out to be participants in our show. We’re going to go ahead and call you ladies up, so don’t be shy when your name is called and come see if you can help these men out with their acts,” he says as he wiggles his eyebrows and does a little pelvic thrust for the crowd. The other women go crazy and I bury my face in embarrassment for them.
The realization of being called up there makes me break out in a sweat. I didn’t see the girls fill out any forms, so that’s a good sign, but I wouldn’t put anything past them. I’m torn away from my mental freak out as I watch a lady well into her 70s get up on stage and frantically wave around dollar bills. I hope this doesn’t cause her to have a heart attack.
I’m too busy laughing at the woman to notice anything else going on until the host says, “Now, I understand we have a bachelorette party here.” I immediately stop laughing as my face drops and slowly look over at Colby. I give her my best please tell me you didn’t look. She has a huge smile on her face and I know I am so screwed. “Men, can you please escort Miss Addison Ramsey and her party to the stage?” The spot light comes down on our table and I am mortified. I want to hide under the table and die. I can’t believe the girls did this to me. I’m going to kill them.
The guys pick us up and carry us onto the stage as the crowd of women cheer them on. They place us down into seats that are set up on the stage. The music starts and the men begin their raunchy dances. They are all facing away from us toward the crowd. Okay, maybe this won’t be so bad and they won’t grind all up on us. Suddenly, the men all turn around and give their full attention to us. The tall man starts to come toward my direction. His head is tilted down and he’s looking at me through his eyelashes. He looks like he’s on the prowl ready to eat me up. I’m petrified. I chance a glance at Colby who is crying from laughing so hard.
“I’m so going to kill you!” I yell to her.
I turn around and face my predator as he gives me a lap dance. I can honestly say this is the first time I’d been on the receiving end of a lap dance. The guy grinds himself into my lap and is rolling his stomach onto my body. I am not prepared for what happens next. The man lifts me out of my seat from behind and has my legs wrapped around his waist while he starts bouncing me up and down. I look to my left and right and see all the other girls getting the same thing done to them. Morgan is waving her hand in the air like she is a damn cowboy. That girl is nuts. The dancer finally puts me down in my seat and the music comes to an end. He leans forward and says, “Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Hopefully we didn’t scare you too much here.” He
gives a lopsided grin before chuckling in a low, deep manner.
When we leave the show we decide it’s best not to gamble while drunk, so we hit the dance club instead. I am dancing with the girls when I feel someone staring at me. I look around and see a pair of intense brown eyes watching me dance. He gets up and approaches me.
Roughly grabbing my waist, Pierce pulls me into him and starts dancing. “What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Not happy to see me?”
“No, I am. It’s just how did you know we were here?”
“Lexi text Garrick and told him you guys were coming to dance so we came to join you guys. Plus, I wanted to see you in that dress. But now that I have seen you in it, I want to get you out of it.” Pierce kisses me in the middle of the dance floor in a way that promises amazing things in the near future. “Want to get out of here?” he says into my ear in a husky voice
“Can we leave?” I bite my lower lip.
“It’s our parties. We can do whatever we want, and right now I want to do you.” He bites and tugs on my earlobe which is all the convincing I need.
“Let’s go.” I give a wave and mouth “Bye” to Colby.
We take the guys’ limo back to the hotel. Once we get back, Pierce makes good on his threat to take me out of my dress.
I’M BROWSING THE internet for wedding gift ideas and keep coming up empty. I never thought I’d be sitting here buying a wedding gift for Addison since I had every intention of opening all of our gifts together. To say that this is hard would be an understatement. I call Charlotte to see if she has any brilliant ideas. She’s met them before and she seems good at winging things, so maybe she can help me.
She picks up the phone, “Whatcha need, Colin? Don’t you know I’m busy?” I can hear the sarcasm in her voice so I don’t feel bad interrupting her “busy” day.
“Sorry, did I catch you cleaning your toilets again?”
“Very funny. For your information I was about to perform the daunting task of cleaning my oven.”