I needed out of here. Fast.
“Come on. Let’s get your wedding car and go to mine.” Tasha said, and this time, I did run. As fast as a girl in a huge white dress can.
I ran out of the hotel with my friends either side and four guys running behind us.
“Meet us back at mine.” Tasha shouted as her and Riley helped me and my gown back into the car.
“Change of plans.” I told the driver, whose eyebrow raised before he said, “Do you want to call back at yours first for a change of clothes?”
TY
“Has this really just happened?” I checked with the other guys. “You heard what I just heard, yes? Both of them said they can’t do this?”
But none of my friends needed to answer because their shocked expressions told me everything I wanted to know.
Sherry wasn’t getting married.
WAS. NOT. GETTING. MARRIED.
Then Sherry and Kade left the room.
“It’s probably just cold feet. They’ll be back after they talk, and the ceremony can start again.” Dante said, making me want to throat punch him. I didn’t want the ceremony to start again.
The next minutes were the longest of my life. Even waiting for a heart to start beating again when they were on a stretcher in front of me didn’t stop time like this was.
Finally, the couple returned, and I saw Sherry’s mom dashing toward her.
“It’s okay. The delay is fine. The officiant is ready to marry you as soon as you two are ready again. It’s just nerves. Let’s get you back in your places.” Her mom said. I think I actually stopped breathing at that point.
Then I heard Sherry’s response. “No, Mom. We’re not getting married. The wedding is off.”
And I cheered. It wasn’t the loudest cheer ever thank fuck, but it escaped.
Shane stuck his hand over my mouth and pulled my head down. “What the actual fuck are you doing? Sit there and shut up.”
“I couldn’t help it.” I protested.
“Well, help it. Because Tasha and Riley are headed over to Sherry now and at some point they’re going to come over to us and we have to be sympathetic, okay?”
I peered closely at my friend’s expression. “But you’re not, are you?”
“Hell no, my friend.” Shane whispered to me. “I hope once she recovers from this that you and she go off and make a million babies together.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Yeah, cos then the rest of us might get some damn peace from your constant whining and moping.”
I ignored the diss. They were on my side; that’s all that mattered.
Now, what was a decent amount of time before making a move on a jilted bride? I’m guessing not thirty-seven minutes?
SHERRY
I’d thought tonight I’d be on my way to my honeymoon destination.
I’d thought my nerves would be gone and Kade and I would be laughing, joking, and looking forward to the rest of our lives.
Instead, I was back in my jeans and a t-shirt, my wedding dress left discarded on the floor of my former bedroom, while I sat on Riley’s sofa with a glass of wine in my hand. It wasn’t my first and it wouldn’t be my last.
“I genuinely thought you had normal bridal cold feet.” She said for what felt like the thirtieth time.
“Me too.” I repeated. “But the fact I feel so damn happy that I didn’t get married would suggest otherwise.”
“So what now?” Tasha asked. “You live with Kade, you work in the same building…” We both worked for an advertising agency, but in different departments.
“I’m going to hand in my notice, find somewhere else to work. I want a clean break from Kade. A fresh new start on life. I’m newly single and I intend to make the most of it. Do everything I’ve not been doing.”
“Such as?”
I shrugged my shoulders and sighed. “I don’t know. Kade was pretty easygoing. He let me do anything I wanted. There’ll be something though. Shame Spring Break isn’t for another nine months. I could go again, and this time have a spring fling!”
Riley stroked her stomach. “Sorry, I’ll be unavailable for the next one.”
“You know you’re supposed to come back with a tan, not a pregnancy, right?” I joked. We were all made up that Riley was having a baby and we were set to be honorary aunties.
I noticed that Tasha had left the room. She came walking back in with a smile on her face. “You’re all set. You have a new job at Juniper’s if you want it. Alex needs someone on his team that’s new and fresh. Just say yes and he’ll phone your previous employers and make it worth their while to let you go without serving notice.”
My jaw dropped to the floor. “How the hell did you arrange that, in that short space of time?”
“He owes me big-time. I slave for that dude.”
“More like you’ve got bags of dirt on the guy from growing up with him as your brother’s best friend.”
“That too.” Tasha winked. “Anyway, fancy working at Juniper’s? I heard the boss’ PA is fabulous.”
“Hell, yes. Though I’ll never bring a wage home working in that place.” Juniper’s was the best department store in New York.
“I negotiated a staff discount card with a hefty discount too.”
“Oh my god, I love you both so damn much.” I started to sob. “Wow, my life is about to change big time. Is it weird to be both happy and sad at the same time?”
“Perfectly normal.” Riley said. “It’s just happened to me, remember? I mean, I’ve not left behind a several years long relationship, but I have a guy and a baby on the way. My life has totally changed.”
“Gosh, so much has happened in our lives since Spring Break!” Tasha added.
It really had. The trip had proved a game changer in terms of the lives we’d been living. Maybe it had just proved the catalyst for what we had all needed? To push ourselves out of our comfort zones and live life.
A knock came to the door and I looked up.
“That’ll be the guys. Are you sure you’re okay with them coming around?” Tasha double-checked.
“Yeah, they said they’d bring more alcohol. They’re welcome to join in with the non-wedding reception I appear to be holding in your house.”
Truth was, I didn’t want the guys there, but three of them dated my friends and I couldn’t ask Riley to not see the father of her child. He now lived here! I know he’d have stayed at one of the other’s homes, but I was the cuckoo in the nest. As long as I spent the next few hours getting and staying wasted, I didn’t care who turned up, as long as it wasn’t my family or the ex-groom.
“Hey.” I said to them as they trooped through the door, hesitant expressions on every single face. “I’m fine. In fact, I’m better than fine. I have a new job already, and I’m well on the way to getting so drunk I can’t stand up. So come join me. Let’s make this a proper party. Oh, except for Riley and Dante who have to be booorrrrinngly sober, but it’s worth it because they’re having a lovely little baby.” I drank the rest of my drink, picked up the bottle and poured another.
Dante had sat at the side of Riley and the twins either side of Tasha. That just left me staring at Ty. “Hey, dude. Looks like you won the booby prize. Where’s your fiancée anyway? I didn’t see her today. Could she not make it?”
I wasn’t particularly interested in his answer, so I drank my drink down and refilled my glass again.
“Whoa there, lady. I think you should slow it down a little. Let me make you a coffee and sit you down at the dining table.” Ty grabbed my arm steering me, and all I could think was how nice and warm his hands were. Hands that wrapped around another woman’s body at night.
“I don’t want to be sober. Don’t make me.” I sat on the chair and a thought struck me.
“Shit. Where am I going to live? I can stay in my old house for two weeks, but I need to find somewhere? Can I borrow a computer?”
“I have a spare room now Dante’s moved out. I was
about to put it up for rent, but if you want it, it’s yours. I’ll even give you the first month rent free until you find your feet.”
Now I knew I was wasted because Ty wasn’t asking me to move into his place. His fiancée would have a coronary.
“Ty, bless you, but I don’t think your bride is going to be happy with a woman in the guest bedroom.”
Looks passed between everyone. There was something I wasn’t getting. No doubt due to the alcohol flowing through my system like wildfire on dry grass.
“Erm, I’m not getting married.”
I sat up straight in my chair startled.
“You’re not? Have you had cold feet as well?”
He looked at his feet. “No, erm, actually. There never was a wedding. I made it up, so we had a cover story for going on Spring Break when we were older than the other people there.”
My brain was having a hard time computing this. I looked at my friends and laughed. “I’ve had too much to drink. I’m starting to hallucinate that Ty is single, and while that would be good if it was real because he’s hot, somewhere in the real world he’s at home with his fiancée and I’m… where am I then really?” My eyes widened.
“Am I dreaming this? Do I still have to get married? Oh my god, no. Don’t let it all have been a dream. I like this reality where I’m not getting married and Ty is single.”
I put my head down on the table and that was the last I remembered.
* * *
“Hey, sleepyhead.”
I groaned as I opened first one eyelid and then the other.
“Tylenol and water on the nightstand. Bucket at the side of the bed if needed.”
As Riley said the word Ty at the beginning of Tylenol, my heart jumped into my throat as thoughts of yesterday came rushing back at me, a tidal wave threatening to knock me straight off my feet and drown me in embarrassment. I’d had so much to drink I could only remember bits of things, flashes of words. Plus, I wasn’t sure which of it was real or if I’d been dreaming.
“Did I make a fool of myself?”
“No, and I don’t think anyone would have blamed you if you had. It’s not every day you run out on your own wedding.”
I sat up and Riley handed me the water and capsules. I gladly took them, feeling pain at my temples. To be honest though, I felt it could be as much due to tension as the alcohol I’d consumed.
“So, to be clear, as I’m not sure what was real and what was not real…”
“Yeah?”
“I did skip my wedding, come here and get drunk?”
“Yeah.”
“I got a new job at Juniper’s with a hefty discount card?”
“Yep.”
“I did? Wow! I felt sure I’d dreamed that one up.”
“And yes, he’s not getting married. Sorry we didn’t tell you the truth, but he asked us not to.”
I raised a brow. “I didn’t even ask that question, but why did he not want me to know?”
“Because he liked you, and he didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. He figured by keeping up with the fiancée story, once you were married, you’d not see him much and that would be the end of it.”
He liked me?
HE liked ME?
HE. LIKED. ME!!
“You have the most stupid grin on your face right now.”
“I do not.”
“You do. Anyway, we had no idea you fancied Ty too. Sure that didn’t have something to do with you calling the wedding off?”
“No.” I said honestly. “I just didn’t love Kade enough.”
Then something Riley said made me freeze.
“Erm, what do you mean I fancy Ty?”
A smirk danced on Riley’s lips. “You told us all last night. You said he was hot. About three seconds before you passed out.”
My jaw dropped.
Oh Lord.
“Right, I’m going to get Dante to fix you a strong coffee while I take a shower because I can’t stand the smell of the stuff right now, and then we need to make plans for your future… and whether or not you’re going to take up Ty’s offer of his guest room, rent-free for a month.”
“Well, of course I’m not.” I protested. “Not now I’ve completely embarrassed myself.”
“A rent-free room living with a guy you have the hots for, and who has the hots for you. I agree, it sounds like a complete disaster. I mean what if you both just fucked each other’s brains out for the whole month? Yeah, it’s too soon after splitting from Kade. I get that. Forget I said it. I’m sure you’ll find somewhere else to live. You can always stay at Kade’s for a while. I mean, I don’t know when you last slept with him, but maybe you and Kade could have a friends-with-benefits thing for the rent.” She joked.
“We’d not slept together for three months and barely the last year. Like count on one hand barely. We were busy at work. Well, that’s what we said…”
“And I’m sure on this vacation he’s gone on with his single mate, he’s not going to sleep around. At. All.”
“Well, it might prove a little difficult, given it’s a honeymoon destination.”
“Where there’s a will…” She pointed to the door. “Anyway, Dante says Ty’s dick is huuuggeee, and his ain’t small.”
I knew that. Dante used to be a stripper, so we’d all seen it.
But I wasn’t going to think about Ty. Or his dick. Fuck, I actually was. Traitor brain.
I guess I could move into the guest room, but keep things platonic, couldn’t I?
Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to meet him for a coffee to discuss the potential room further.
“Do you have his number?” I asked Riley, who smirked triumphantly.
“I just want to talk to him about the potential room.”
“It was his huge dick swayed your decision; don’t think I don’t know this.” She laughed and left the room.
TY
As the non-bride face-planted the table, passing clean out; all I could think of was that she’d said I was hot.
Oh my. Maybe Sherry liked me right back?
“So if you could stop grinning like a lunatic and help get Sherry into the guest bedroom that would be appreciated.” Riley raised a brow at me.
“Oh, right, yeah, sure, absolutely.”
Once Sherry was safely in bed the rest of us went home. Riley had Dante on hand if she needed any more assistance.
* * *
I’d woken early, a man on a mission. Calling at the local store for cleaning products, I began clearing and tidying the filthy squalor I called my home. There’d not been much need before, two guys sharing were happy to throw pizza boxes onto the floor. But if there was even a small chance that Sherry would accept the guest room then I wanted her to come and see a clean home. This afternoon I’d get her number and ask if she wanted to come take a look. I’d better grab a shower and smarten myself up.
But I didn’t need to contact her because just after midday my own cell pinged with a text. It was an unknown number, but as I read the message my heart leaped.
Hey there, it’s Sherry. Could we meet for a coffee and talk about the guest room?
I immediately sent a text back.
Of course. We can meet at a coffee shop or I have coffee here at home. You could come and look at the room?
My heart thudded as I waited for her to reply.
That would be great. Say 2pm? Can you text me your address? I’m not sure I should be seen out in public anyway. I have rather a large headache and look a little worse for wear!
I wanted to say that I was sure she looked as gorgeous as usual, but felt I’d better hold myself back, so instead I just texted her my address and said I’d see her at 2pm.
The buzzer rang and I felt sick. Come on Ty, you’ve got this, I told myself. I lived in a simple two-bed apartment on the first floor, accessed through a communal entrance. Sherry was now outside in that entrance. In a moment she’d be making her way to my front door. I needed to show her the apartment. My body was
n’t getting the memo and wanted to crush her against the door and take her to bed.
She’d only yesterday split up with her long-term partner. She needed a friend. I could be that friend, that support, I realized. Then, maybe later, something more could come from it?
I buzzed her through and waited.
There was a small knock to the front door. I made myself walk slowly toward it and then opened it with a smile on my face.
“Hey, Sherry. Come on through. How do you like your coffee?”
“Usually a latte, but today strong and black please.”
I looked at her face, taking in the dark shadows under her eyes. “Well, at least you seemed to be enjoying yourself last night.”
She took off her coat and I took it from her and hung it in the entrance hall.
“Yeah, I’m not sure I should have been so happy about things, but I couldn’t find a book on Amazon on how to behave when you run out on your own wedding.”
“You just have to be you and do you.” Fuck, I want to do you right now.
I felt my cock harden. Okay, kitchen fast.
“Do you want to make your way through to the living room, while I grab us both a coffee?” I said over my shoulder. No way was I turning around.
This afternoon was going to be hard. VERY hard if my dick was any indication.
I sat on the chair opposite the sofa where Sherry was, handing her the coffee.
“Thanks.”
She looked uncertain so I decided to start a conversation. “No regrets then about what you said yesterday?”
Her eyes widened. “P-pardon?”
“About saying you didn’t want to go through with the wedding. No regrets in the cold light of day?”
“Oh, oh right. No, none at all. My only regret is we didn’t call it off sooner so we didn’t have to have all the crazy that accompanies calling one off. My mom and sister are texting me on the hour asking me if I’m okay. My dad sent me a message saying he was happy if I was happy. I wish he’d call off my mother and sister.”
WEDDED MISS Page 2
