“Just make sure you don’t prove Toby right,” he said. “No getting arrested or dying. If that happens, he’ll never stop talking about it.”
I laughed. “Now there’s a reason not to overdose and die. Forget being afraid of death. We just don’t want Toby to get a win. That’s perfect.”
We walked to the jet and I climbed up the steps.
I turned back and stood as though I was the President waving to the people.
I nodded to my favorite city in the world. To my home.
And just like that, it was time to be a wild rock star and forget about everything that didn’t involve loud music and fast women.
4
WREN
Nia and Jack.
Engaged.
Getting married so fast.
In Vegas.
It was such a Nia thing to do.
And knowing her, she’d end up divorced in three months.
If that.
I stared at the picture on my phone, then dropped it beside me and put my hands to my face.
I was thinking such shitty thoughts about my friend and her feelings on love and marriage.
Judging her simply out of… jealousy.
The picture of her and Jack though… they looked happy.
Of course they looked happy.
They were newly together. Probably going out to dinner every night. Going back to one of their places for some crazy sex. Exploring each other’s bodies, wants and needs. That was always the fun part of things.
Was it marriage material?
A knock echoed from my office door.
I made my phone screen turn off.
“Come in,” I said.
I thought it was going to be Jenkins.
He was the cliché pain in the ass boss who thought he was helping by telling you everything you were doing was wrong and slow. He walked around the office carrying a cup of coffee and did nothing but talk. I could handle him. I knew how to get him out of my office.
I just needed to be on my game.
And after staring at the picture of Nia and Jack, I didn’t have my head in the game at all.
The door opened and Audrey poked her head in. “Got a second?”
“Audrey,” I said. “Hey. What’s up?”
She shut the door behind her. “How are you?”
“Me? Why are you asking me that?”
“Come on,” she said. “Another wedding. And this one is a little crazy.”
“It’s Nia’s life,” I said.
“True.”
We stood in silence.
I was giving myself away.
I finally cleared my throat. “Vegas. That’ll be fun. Are Keith and Tyson coming?”
“No,” Audrey said. “This is all about the girls. No guys allowed. Well, except Jack and a few of his friends. Hey, maybe you can have a little fun yourself.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said. “We’ll see what happens.”
“So… this wedding is complete crap, right?” Audrey asked. “Nia is a total flake for this. She’s going to end up divorced. Right?”
I opened my mouth and begged myself not to fall into the trap.
But it was too late.
“This is so stupid,” I said. “She always does this. And now she’s getting married? After a month or whatever? Are you kidding me? That’s not a relationship. That’s dating. That’s fucking. Where’s the serious side of it all? I can’t…”
I hung my head and sighed.
“It’s okay,” Audrey said. “You needed to get that off your chest. I know you meant it but didn’t. And I will never say a thing to Nia.”
“I’m such a bitch.”
“Not too much of one,” Audrey said. “Lola and I feel the same. But it’s Nia’s business. Who knows, maybe this is it for her. Instead of some long, drawn out dating thing, she found a guy and is just going for it. It won’t be so easy to break up now.”
I looked at Audrey. “When it happens, she’s going to ask for my help.”
“Oh, totally. And you’ll help her.”
“I know I will.”
“Which is why I wanted you to vent right now. Get it all out in the open. So we can go to Vegas and have fun. Just think, you’re the only one who can go and have a hookup. You can sleep with anyone you want.”
“I don’t know, Audrey. I don’t want to leave Grams behind.”
“It’s not for long. You know she’s tough enough to hang on if something were to happen.”
“I hate that thought.”
“I do too. But you should live a little.”
“I am,” I said.
“You’re jealous.”
“Not jealous. Just…”
“Jealous?”
“Jealous,” I said. “Fine.”
“Anything else you want to say?” Audrey asked.
I shook my head. “I just feel rotten right now.”
“I know you do,” she said. “That’s why I showed up. But… Vegas… right?”
Audrey playfully pumped her fists into the air.
I did the same motion and smiled.
A couple days away wasn’t going to be the end of the world.
But it wasn’t going to change my life either.
“You stay away from those goddamn blackjacks tables,” Grams said to me. “You’ll lose your panties faster than if you were with a hot man.”
“Grams,” I said. “A hot man?”
“What? A piece of steaming meat…”
“That one doesn’t work,” I said. “That’s kind of gross.”
“Which one is Nia again?” Grams asked.
“Super tight dresses,” I said.
“Oh, her,” Grams said. She rolled her eyes. “That woman needs to eat. A cheeseburger won’t kill you. Or a slice of pizza.”
“Don’t judge.”
“Judge what?”
“She’s beautiful, Grams.”
“I think you’re beautiful, Wren,” she said.
“Thank you for saying that. I love Nia. She’s a good person.”
“I know that tone,” she said. “You think she’s batshit crazy for getting married so soon. And so fast.”
“No…”
“Bethany!” Grams yelled.
“Grams, what are you doing?” I asked.
Bethany appeared in the bedroom doorway, drying a bowl with a towel.
“Why are you doing the dishes?” I asked.
“Just helping out,” Bethany said.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said.
“Hush,” Grams said. “Bethany. Wren is going to Vegas. Two days. You’re going to be here, right?”
“Of course I will be here. Wren should get away.”
“See?” Grams asked. “I’m fine. Now, Bethany, do you believe in love at first sight?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Would you get married to someone after a month?”
“Well…”
“And then just marry them? No big wedding?”
“Grams, what are you trying to prove?” I asked.
“I’m trying to prove that not everything is black and white in life,” she said. “You work all day with contracts and whatever else. And it has to make sense. There’s no room for loopholes. That’s fine. But that’s not how life goes.”
I looked at Bethany and grinned.
“She’s right,” Bethany said. “I met Darryl by accident. We both got stood up and ended up talking. That was on a Friday. Sunday - two days later - I left my apartment and moved in with him. We then ran away and got married two months later.”
“See?” Grams asked.
“You were the one just making fun of Nia,” I said to her.
“I was just pointing out that she needs to eat some food,” Grams said. “She’s skinnier than me and I’m dying of cancer.”
“Grams,” I said.
“Oh, laugh a little,” Grams said.
“I’ll get back to the kitchen,” Bethany said.
&nb
sp; I sighed. “So I guess I have no chance in skipping this wedding…”
“Not if you’re using me as an excuse,” Grams said. “Go. Have fun. Meet a guy. Get a little action. But take protection. Condoms. A gun.”
“A gun?” I asked.
“Hey, the world is crazy,” Grams said. “Oh, and I saw something else… what are your thoughts on lube?”
My face began to burn hot. “Grams, I love you. I’m going to go chase Bethany out of here. This conversation will not be continued.”
“What?” Grams asked. “I’m just curious what you think about lube. You know, some of these things they have now are amazing. When your grandfather and I were your age, we used to have to-”
I stuck my fingers into my ears.
“La, la, la, la!” I cried out as I hurried out of the bedroom.
In the kitchen, Bethany was finishing up with the last dish.
“Sorry if I threw you under the bus back there,” she said.
“No worries,” I said. “So you and your husband met like that?”
“Yeah. Is that a problem to you?”
“No. I don’t know.”
“Well, what’s your take on marriage?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “The only one I saw was my grandparents. They met when they were young and did everything in order.”
“That was a different time then.”
“I know. I think I missed my time… or I feel that way.”
“You’re young,” Bethany said.
“I’m not that young anymore.”
“Yes, you are. You’re being silly. Let me tell you something. Darryl and I both have an agreement. If one of us goes, the other moves on. I’ll always love Darryl, but if you think I’m living alone, you’re crazy. People have needs. Physical, mental… everything. That includes you too.”
“I was only talking about my friend getting married,” I said. “This has nothing to do with me.”
“Or does it?” Bethany asked. “You don’t like that she’s getting married the way she is.”
“I just don’t want to go to Vegas and miss Grams.”
“That’s an excuse,” Bethany said. “A valid one though. She’ll be fine. I’ll take good care of her. And I think she’ll be happy to see you doing something other than work.”
Bethany grabbed her bag and hugged me before leaving.
I wandered my way back to Grams’s bedroom and she was asleep.
Sitting up, head to the side, eyes shut.
Everyone around me was right, yet I insisted on being a pain in the ass and going against the grain.
No wonder I was single, right?
I made sure all my work was done, triple checked, and handed in.
I left the office just before lunch and I wasn’t going to come back for a few days.
Of course, I had my laptop, phone and email with me at all times.
So it wasn’t exactly like I was disappearing off the face of the earth.
If I needed to be reached, I could be reached.
And I would answer the phone.
Or respond to an email.
That was just part of the job for me.
Oh well.
It was what I got paid to do, and I was really good at my job.
There was no taking that away from me.
When I got home, I packed a bag and carried it to the front door.
I heard Bethany with Grams, both of them arguing over a cup of coffee.
I loved how Bethany stood up to Grams. She needed that in her life. I found that if everyone played into the cancer and wore it on their face that Grams was going to die, it just made everything sadder. But by treating her like everything was fine - or normal - then Grams herself felt better and acted better.
There was no stopping what was going to happen, but from now until then, I wanted Grams to enjoy her time the best she could.
My phone dinged with a text.
Be there in 10!
That was from Lola.
I took a deep breath.
Vegas. Seriously.
I walked to the bedroom as Bethany was leaving.
Carrying a coffee cup.
“She thinks it’s too cold,” Bethany said. “I can’t have her burning herself with hot coffee.”
“Stubborn,” I said with a smile.
“That’s where you get it from,” Bethany said.
Bethany went one way and I went the other.
I entered the bedroom and Grams looked at me and frowned.
“I thought you were in Vegas by now,” she said.
“I didn’t leave yet.”
“Why not?”
“I’m waiting for my ride.”
“They’re late.”
“Not even close, Grams. Everything is on time. I’m going.”
“You better go,” she said. “Look at me. I’m perfect. Nothing is going to happen to me. I won’t go kicking the bucket while you’re gone.”
My heart sank a little. “Why would you say that?”
“Because you’re thinking about it,” she said. “You’re worried about it.”
“How can I not be?” I asked.
“Come here, Wren,” Grams said.
I walked to her bed and she took my hand. “Whether you believe it or not, I have some control over this fate of mine. If I decide to give up and give in, then I’m a goner. If I decide to fight a little longer and enjoy the ride, then I’m good to go. Go as in staying. Right here. Your life can’t revolve around me. Got that?”
“It doesn’t.”
Grams smiled. “I won’t call bullshit on that. But I hope you hear me when I talk.”
“Oh, nobody could ever ignore you,” I said.
“Sometimes you need to have a loud voice in life,” she said. “Now go have some fun. Don’t get pregnant!”
“Grams!”
“Or married,” she said. “Well…”
“Stop it,” I said. “I love you. Be good for Bethany.”
“I’ll be fine with her if she brings me a damn hot cup of coffee. I’m not some hippy millennial that drinks cold coffee. What is wrong with people?”
I kissed the top of her head.
She grabbed my arms and pulled me down for a hug.
We hugged long enough that I started to tear up.
I walked out of the room, wiping the corners of my eyes.
Bethany met me with a cup of coffee that was steaming.
“You okay?” she asked.
“I’m an emotional wreck,” I said. “All the time.”
“Maybe Grams is right,” Bethany said.
“About?”
“I’m going to quote her… that woman needs to get laid…”
I laughed. “Take good care of her for me.”
“I always do.”
My phone dinged with another text.
It was Lola telling me she was out front.
It was time to catch a flight to Vegas.
I was going to be the most boring person there.
5
JAY
A limo picked us up at the airport and we were taken to the hotel.
As we cruised down the strip, the lights shined bright even in the day. There were bad decisions flying by with every passing second. Whether it was gambling or women, there was always a bit of sensory overload when it came to this town.
The good news was that we had been there so many times, there wasn’t much that could surprise us. Especially when you were as famous as we were. In the past we’d have to go out and find trouble.
“Hey, remember Reno night?” I asked with a grin.
“Oh, fuck,” Reed said. “That was wild.”
I looked at the band. “Should I tell the story again?”
“Why not?” Sab asked. “That was a night and a half.”
I looked at Nash. He smiled.
Liv, Candice, and Abby were in the limo with us.
That meant the drinking was more casual than I would have liked. And
there was no extra fun. In pill, powder, or pussy form.
“So this one night, we’re tearing through the city,” I said. “We played a show. Things were great. The band was getting more popular by the day. We were still new enough that we could walk around without being noticed too much.”
“Get to good part,” Dex said. “When this asshole wanted to have sex…”
Dex nodded to Sab.
“Me?” Sab asked. “It was Jay.”
“It wasn’t me,” I said.
“Every story revolves around Jay,” Nash said.
“Not this one,” I said. “It was Sab and I. We both wanted to… you know… with the same woman.”
“That’s just filthy,” Liv said with a wink.
I pointed at her and smiled.
Liv had been eased into the life from day one. She had traveled with the band to spin bad stories about Nash into good ones. Abby had been around in the really early days of FILHTY LINE. Poor Candice, she got her crash course into the rock star world by pretending to be engaged to Dex to keep his ass out of jail.
We were all a big mess.
“Okay,” I said. “The point of the story is that we all got into this SUV. Some guy promised us the craziest women we’d ever meet. And we were all down for it. It wasn’t just Sab and I.”
“We just wanted to watch,” Dex said.
“That’s gross,” Candice said.
“I’d watch you with another woman,” Dex said.
“Of course you would say that,” Abby said.
“Oh, that’s it,” Liv said. “You two, come here and kiss me. Let’s make them all uncomfortable.”
“I’m good with that,” I said.
“No, you’re not,” Nash said. “Go back to the story.”
Everyone laughed but Nash.
He was a bit protective of Liv.
“Okay, so we get into this SUV and this guy drives us to fucking Reno,” I said. “We were all so wasted, we had no idea what was happening.”
“And the women he promised?” Sab included. “They weren’t anything like we thought.”
“This guy didn’t realize who we were,” Nash said. “He thought he was going to screw us over. Take all our money and leave us in Reno. It was a scam.”
“What did you guys do?” Candice asked.
“Well, I hung around to see if something worth fucking showed up,” I said.
A FILTHY Marriage (Filthy Line Book 4) Page 4
