Fries Before Guys

by Vale, Lani Lynn

Sean’s eyes met mine.

  Sean and my mother were best friends.

  Best work friends anyway. They worked opposite shifts from each other and shared a K-9, a drug dog named Joe. Joe Boxer, to be specific.

  Mom and Sean had just made the switch when the accident had happened, and this was the first time that Joe was seeing my mom in over twenty-four hours. Something unheard of for them.

  Joe whimpered.

  I whimpered right along with him.

  Dad’s hand went limp in mine as he let me go, then walked over to Joe and picked him up.

  He placed him in my mother’s lap, and Joe fucking cried.

  He fucking cried.

  I didn’t know dogs could cry.

  Joe didn’t have any tears or anything, but he whimpered. He sniffled. And he buried his face in my mother’s hand, urging her to move it. To pet him like she always did.

  Yet my mother’s hand didn’t move.

  Didn’t reach out and stroke that silky nose.

  I sniffled, my hands shaking, then moved until I could place my mom’s hand on Joe’s forehead.

  “It’s okay, Joe,” I said, petting him with my mother’s hand. “It’s okay.”

  But it wasn’t okay.

  Things were never going to be okay again.

  I turned to Sean.

  “I’ll bring him back, okay?” I said.

  Sean gave one big nod, then we were off again.

  More people were crying.

  There were doctors and nurses interspersed within all the cops.

  Some wives of the cops were there, too.

  Children.

  Then there were more random people, and I realized when I saw one face in particular that these were all people my mother helped save in one way or another. All there to watch her one final ride.

  “Do you want to stop again?” the nurse with the pink pin asked.

  “No,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  My dad walked beside me like a zombie.

  And when we finally got to the OR area, and the big red line that we weren’t supposed to cross, we stopped one last time.

  Dad got Joe down and handed his leash to me.

  Then he leaned down and spoke to my mother in hushed, whispered tones.

  Then he took one step back, and walked away, leaving me alone with my mother, Joe, and the nursing team that was about to do the organ retrieval.

  I looked at the first man that was standing there, a big blue lunchbox in his hand that said ‘Live Organ’ in it.

  I swallowed hard. “What are you here for?”

  He looked at me, his voice soft as he said, “Her heart.”

  I asked the next person. And the next. And the next.

  Until finally I looked down at my mother.

  “Did you hear that?” My voice cracked. “You’re going to save seven lives today.”

  I trailed my fingers over her hair.

  “You’re not going to be there to help me get married,” I said. “You’re not going to be there to help me raise my future baby. You’re not going to be there to look at my pictures, give me a ‘yes’ or ‘definitely not’ on whether I should share it on Facebook anymore.” I swallowed hard. “How am I supposed to live without you, Mom? How can I be here and you’re not? I’ve never lived without you before.” My voice sounded like I’d smoked a thousand cigarettes a day as I said what I said next. “I’m sixteen, Mom. I didn’t get to keep you long enough.”

  I touched the pin on her chest, pressing it with just one finger. “You’re my best friend. Always have been, always will be.”

  With that, I backed away, and they forced Joe to go with me.

  “You can take her in now.”

  The nurses and doctors moved as one, the OR filling with so many people that I was scared they wouldn’t all fit.

  Leaving me alone in the hallway with just Joe.

  At least, I thought I was alone.

  When I looked back toward where I came, one lone figure stood there in uniform.

  ***

  I woke up from my nightmare. My memories. My plague.

  That was the first day that I saw the military man.

  But it wouldn’t be the last.

  “We’re here,” Dax said, startling me out of my thoughts.

  I blinked, then looked around at my neighborhood.

  The one that I’d once shared with my family.

  “Thank you,” I said, bailing out of the cruiser.

  Just as I did, Derek parked my car in the driveway.

  In my mother’s spot.

  I tried not to hyperventilate.

  I succeeded. Barely.

  But only because Derek tossed my keys at me, hitting me in the face when I failed to catch them.

  Derek didn’t even notice. He was already half the way to Dax’s cruiser.

  I bent down and picked them up, ignoring my headache.

  “No problem,” I said to nobody. “Thank you for the ride.”

  With that, I walked inside, slamming the door closed behind me.

  The moment I did, I smelled the familiar smell of my home.

  The one that was beginning to fade the longer that my dad stayed dead.

  The smell of gun oil wasn’t so prominent anymore.

  Neither was the smell of my dad’s cologne or my mother’s perfume.

  There was no sound of the television in the study anymore, or my mother’s humming along as she sewed on her sewing machine.

  There was nothing.

  Just… nothing.

  Chapter 2

  Give that bitch a wedding. Bitches love weddings.

  -Things your sister doesn’t like to hear

  Derek

  Two months later

  “Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?” the preacher asked.

  I missed my future brother-in-law, Dax, answering because my eyes were busy being trained on a certain black-haired goddess in the third row.

  The shit of it was, Avery would look at me, sneer, and then turn away.

  Except I wasn’t able to stop staring.

  There was something seriously wrong with me.

  I couldn’t make myself pay attention.

  “The rings?”

  “Derek,” my sister growled.

  I pulled the rings out of my pocket and handed them to my sister, who then handed one over to Dax.

  “Sorry,” I muttered.

  My sister, Rowen, had decided to forgo the usual bridesmaids as did Dax with his groomsmen. I was standing up with Katy on Rowen’s side, falling down on the job of holding the rings. Harleigh, Dax’s sister, stood at his side.

  “…with this ring, I thee wed,” Dax said.

  My eyes once again moved to the woman in the third row.

  Jesus Christ, where did she get that dress?

  It fit her like a fuckin’ glove.

  It was red, fit her curves like it was made for her, and God, I couldn’t wait to see her high heels.

  “You may kiss the bride.”

  I kept my eyes on Avery, unwilling to watch my sister kiss a man.

  It was bad enough to know that they’d done it. I didn’t need to see them kissing.

  Avery stood up with her camera in her hand and continued to take the pictures that she’d been taking throughout the ceremony.

  I wasn’t sure why she’d sat down when she had, but now that she was up, I could see her shoes.

  And yep, she rocked them just like I knew she would.

  They made her legs look long as fuck and pumped her calf muscles up and made them look strong and sexy.

  Who the hell knew that calf muscles were sexy?

  Because I sure as hell had no idea that I would be attracted to someone’s calf muscles, but there I was.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, may I now introduce to you, Mr. and Mrs. Dax Tremaine.”

  The preacher man’s words h
ad me yanking my gaze back to where it belonged, and I swallowed hard when I caught my sister’s eyes.

  The one who wasn’t getting married today.

  “What’s your deal with that girl?” she whispered so that only I could hear.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

  Katy’s eyebrows lifted. “You don’t know what’s making you stare at her the entire wedding?”

  I was already shaking my head as I fell into step behind Dax and his newly wedded wife. My sister.

  “I can’t believe she’s married,” I muttered.

  “I can’t believe he’s married,” Harleigh said from my side. “I remember when he used to show me his poop in the toilet. And now he’s all married and having a kid. I feel old.”

  I looked over at her and rolled my eyes. “You’re not old.”

  “Me, too,” Katy agreed, ignoring my comment. “And this one has to go and get a crush on the wedding photographer.”

  I ignored the way Harleigh’s eyes flashed around the room, looking for Avery.

  “The one standing in front of us?” Harleigh looped her arm around mine before leaning forward to stare at Katy.

  Katy’s eyes danced as she nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, her!”

  Harleigh leaned back into place and made an excited sound. “She’s beautiful. I like her. You’re allowed to go for it.”

  I rolled my eyes as I saw Avery snapping away taking pictures.

  Rowen and Dax finally made it through the doorway at the back of the hall, and then Avery’s lens was focused on us.

  “She looks gorgeous in the dress,” Katy commented.

  “And I love how her legs look in those shoes,” Harleigh added. “Her hair is perfection. How do you think she gets it to lay so straight with our humidity?”

  “You know, I was wondering that, too,” Katy admitted. “It looks like it’s straight out of one of those hair commercials. I’ll bet it’s super soft, too.”

  They chattered back and forth about the woman that I was trying to keep out of my mind, and by the time we reached the end of the aisle, I prayed that they would get it out of their system.

  Luckily, they did.

  When we finally arrived at Avery’s side, neither one of them were talking anymore.

  Thank God.

  “Wedding photos in five minutes,” Avery said. “Out by the pool. It’s the perfect sunset.”

  The girls on my arms immediately said, “Okay!”

  Avery frowned at their enthusiastic agreement, her eyebrows raising at me in question.

  I gave one small shrug. “They’re excited.”

  She shook her head, then moved around us to start taking photos of our parents who had followed us down the aisle.

  By the time we met outside, Dax and my sister were sucking face.

  “All right,” I announced our arrival. “I’ve been pretty cool about this. Seeing y’all kiss and all. But I’m gonna need a break. It’s making me nauseous.”

  Just then, Katy’s husband, Logan, came out of the shadows and pulled his wife into his arms.

  “Ack!” I covered my eyes with both hands. “My eyes!”

  Rowen pulled away from Dax, laughing.

  Harleigh pinched my side. “They’re in love, bro.”

  I looked down at the tiny woman at my side. “Don’t you have a man to hang on to?”

  A silent shadow moved from the darkness, revealing her husband, Slate.

  Slate caught his wife around the hip and pulled her to him.

  “Why must you always cause the men headaches?” he teased his girl.

  “Exactly,” I agreed. “That’s all you women are. Headaches.”

  “The right woman is worth the headache,” Logan teased as he removed his mouth from my sister.

  I briefly glanced at him, thankful to see that his tongue was put away.

  “All right, everybody!” I heard said from behind me. “I want groom’s family on his left, and bride’s on the right. Husbands, you can stay for a bit, but in a minute, I’ll want you to move.”

  Everybody lined up, pairing up with their respective mate.

  Everybody but me.

  Not that I was upset by that or anything.

  Not with something so beautiful standing in front of me, wearing a dress so tight that she could barely bend down in it.

  “Okay, I’ll need y’all to squeeze together,” Avery ordered, moving the hand that was holding her camera and her free hand together in a scrunching motion.

  I took a step closer to my dad and felt Katy squeeze in tight to my other side.

  Something small bumped into my hand, and I grinned down at her.

  “Your baby just kicked me,” I said.

  Katy scrunched up her nose. “The baby is starving and already throwing a fit because he or she can’t have her way.”

  “I’m fairly sure that the baby isn’t starving, Katy.” I poked her in the side. “You have more than enough…”

  “Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Katy warned.

  “…Padding,” I finished the sentence.

  The next thing I knew, I was taking a dip in the water.

  When I surfaced, laughing my ass off, the first face I found in the crowd was Avery’s.

  Her eyes were huge as she stared worriedly at me.

  I shook the water out of my face, then hefted myself back into position.

  “Don’t you…” Katy ordered.

  I wrapped my wet arm around her and hauled her in close.

  “…dare.”

  Smiling wide, Avery turned the camera on the two of us.

  Dax moved so that he was no longer touching me, leaving Rowen within arm’s length.

  I moved before she could think better of her position, then wrapped my other arm around her, too.

  Both of my sisters groaned.

  “I hate you.” Katy laughed, pressing her palm against the side of my face and shoving me away.

  “I’m pretty sure you just ruined my phone,” I told her. “So you could stand to be a little nicer right now.”

  Katy snorted. “You had that coming and you know it.”

  “What did you say?” Rowen looked up at me.

  I looked down at her and lied right through my teeth.

  “I told her that I was considering rejoining the military, Marines this time, and she pushed me into the pool,” I said.

  Katy snorted. “Actually, he told me that I was fat.”

  “Derek!” Rowen admonished. “That’s not nice.”

  “I was joking,” I promised. “I don’t really think she’s fat. It was just too perfect of an opportunity to pass up.”

  “All right, parents out. Husbands out. Only the wedding party.”

  The parents and the ‘husbands’ left, leaving only my sisters, Harleigh and Dax.

  “How do you want us?” Dax asked, standing two feet away from Rowen in the hopes that he didn’t get wet, either.

  “Where you are but claim your bride back,” Avery said. “Derek, stand behind everyone else so we can’t tell you’re wet.”

  I did as I was asked and posed like a nice boy for the photos.

  I started to get bored, though.

  And hot.

  Even with it being February, it was hot.

  It was always hot in Texas, though.

  Honestly, I was surprised the pool felt as good as it did.

  Which made me wonder if it was heated.

  Though it was hot today, it’d been cold the last week. Meaning it shouldn’t be as warm as it was without a little help from a heater.

  “All right. Only the bride and groom,” Avery called.

  Katy went to step away from me, but I tightened my hand around her shoulders.

  “Derek Roberts, don’t you—”

  I jumped back into the pool, taking Katy with me.

  She screamed all the way down.

  ***
>
  Two hours later, I was in jeans, a t-shirt, and boots, staring at Avery as she tried and tried to get her car started to no avail.

  I walked up to her car and tapped on her window, causing her to squeak in surprise and whip her head up and around to face me.

  “Battery’s dead,” I said to her. “It’s clicking?”

  Avery nodded.

  “Battery,” I confirmed. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride home. I don’t have a jumper box on me, and everybody’s already gone.”

  “I…” She started to deny it, but I shook my head.

  “Come on,” I repeated myself. “I have a cake melting in my truck.”

  She sighed and got out, pissed as all hell that she was having to get a ride home from me.

  How did I know this?

  Because she told me.

  Multiple times as she marched her way to my truck.

  “Why do you have the cake?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Did your sister take the top layer?” Avery asked.

  I shrugged again as I held the door to my truck open for her. “I don’t know.”

  She growled in frustration. “Is there anything you do know?”

  I slammed the door closed and walked around to the driver’s side, getting in and starting it up without a problem.

  “I know that you’ve been spitting mad at me since I turned you down for a date,” I said. “And I was right to do it. You’re young, Avery. Not even out of high school yet. And I like my face arranged exactly like it is, thank you very much.”

  Avery snorted. “Whatever. I was just being nice.”

  I decided not to say a word about that.

  She wasn’t ‘just being nice.’ She had the hots for me just like I had the hots for her.

  The only difference between the two of us? She wouldn’t get her ass kicked for touching me. I couldn’t say the same for myself.

  “Did you have fun tonight?” Avery asked conversationally, her fingers playing with the hem of her dress, moving it further and further up her legs with each gentle tug.

  I looked away and focused on driving as I said, “Yeah, it wasn’t bad for a wedding. Did you enjoy it?”

  She nodded, then yawned. “Even though I have the SATs in the morning. It was worth it, though. I adore shooting weddings. They’re one of my favorites to focus on.”

  “What’s your absolute favorite?” I asked curiously.

  She looked over at me, then quickly looked away as she studied the lights as we drove by them.