by Amber Lynn
“My stomach isn’t poofing out.”
Her lip sort of did when she pouted after her words. She’d invited Nina because she’d shown she was changing who she was and was capable of being a real human, but that had to be questioned when she basically told Hannah she looked fat in her wedding dress.
“But I have a feeling it will be soon.”
Hannah scowled. She wasn’t sure whether Nina was predicting a wild honeymoon or if she was fishing for something.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not saying you’re getting married because you’re pregnant, but you can’t tell me you’re not. I’ve known you for about twenty years and you have never liked onions on anything, let alone the smell of them, and you had a steak smothered in them the other night for dinner. I didn’t say anything then because I was trying to get back in your good graces, but I can’t keep my excitement in anymore. You’re pregnant with Hottie McHotpants’ baby, aren’t you?”
It was impossible not to laugh at the moniker. It was even funnier since it was Nina saying it without a load of snark behind it. Whoever Dr. Barnes was, he or she was a miracle worker.
“Maybe I’ve just grown out of that phase. Isn’t there some saying about tastes changing every seven years?”
Hannah tried to sell the explanation, but she did so without making eye contact. She didn’t trust what her eyes would relay on the subject, which didn’t do her any favors with someone who knew her as well as Nina did.
“They also talk about a seven-year itch, but I highly doubt you’ll run into that either. You’re either keeping the news from me because you’re afraid I’ll do something crazy or you guys aren’t telling anyone yet. I’m guessing the odds are split pretty much fifty-fifty. So, how soon before you start telling people?”
Knowing what to say was tough. Hannah supposed there was a little of both reasons holding her back from saying anything in the affirmative. Nina’s original reaction to the idea of Hannah being pregnant was enough to want to keep the news from her forever.
“Ask me again in a month and we’ll see if the answer changes any.”
“I get it, but you have to tell me if I’m the first person to guess.”
Hannah smiled as she shrugged and moved her jaw around while she considered the answer. It technically wasn’t giving anything away to tell the truth.
“You would be the first person to guess and actually be serious. Others have heard about the wedding and playfully decided we’re rushing things because we’re having a baby.”
“You’ve only been together, what, four or five months? You can’t blame them for wondering. I’m not a relationship person, but even I know people usually wait at least a year.”
Nina moved from her post across the room and ushered Hannah into the bathroom. Even with her mood and cadence seeming like a normal human, Hannah wasn’t about to question the look on her face. It told her if she didn’t move, she was about to be moved.
“We were going to wait until summer, but he proposed months ago and thought we might as well get it over with since he has some free time. I thought a summer wedding would give him a chance to realize what he was marrying. I mean, you just called him Hottie McHotpants, so I’m pretty sure most people will notice that he’s at least a twelve and I’m closer to a five.
Hannah jumped when a hand made it through the layers of material and collided with her rump. It was probably a hard hit, but said layers dampened the blow. Hannah just hadn’t expected it.
“You’re an eight, at least, so don’t sell yourself short. If it makes you feel better, I’m about to make you into that twelve. Where do you keep your makeup and hair stuff?”
Nina finished guiding Hannah and indicated she should sit on the edge of the corner tub. Hannah looked at her skeptically, thinking of what could happen to her dress. There wasn’t only the wrinkle factor to consider. The huge skirt made the thought of sitting somehow feel painful.
Her friend’s foot tapped and her arms crossed over her deep purple dress, taking a stance that usually sent people running from the room. Nina never did any official countdown, but Hannah figured if she stood like that for ten seconds, a bomb would explode.
“By now I think he knows what he’s getting, Nina. I don’t think adding a little bit of makeup will help. If anything, he’d probably want me to start wearing it more, and we both know I’m hopeless when it comes to putting it on.”
Hannah hadn’t tried since they were in the eighth grade, maybe it was even before that. Sure, she was just a kid then, but she’d never been great at drawing straight lines and the raccoon look she gave herself made that perfectly clear. Unlike other things she didn’t succeed at on the first time, makeup hadn’t been one she revisited.
“All the more reason to get you looking like a princess. Other people probably don’t know it, but I do know what your dream wedding consists of. Some of the things are a little impossible, but you gliding in there like a princess walking down the aisle towards her prince is something we can do.”
Nina pointed again towards the tub and turned around to search the vanity for any beautification products Hannah owned. If it was up to Hannah, there wouldn’t be anything to find. She’d never bought a single eyeshadow or lipstick in her life. That didn’t mean she lacked a healthy supply of makeup she had no idea how to put on.
Her mother had bought her a few of the items over the years, thinking she didn’t wear anything because she didn’t have any. The vast majority of the collection came from Nina herself, so when she found the drawer it was hidden in, the oohs and aahs were more her approving her own selections than anything else.
“I can’t believe you have this stash and none of it’s been open. Don’t you sit up alone at nights and wonder what could be?”
It sounded like a rhetorical question, so Hannah let it hang in the air until Nina continued. She’d pulled out a few bottles of something and at least six of the little eyeshadow things. Hannah hoped she wasn’t planning on using everything she’d ever bought her. Her skin wouldn’t be able to breathe.
“Of course you don’t. You’re probably too tired from Hottie McHotpants screwing you all night long. He’s a sex machine, right? I knew he would be in high school, but I didn’t think he’d bloomed yet. I kind of thought I’d help him out in that department, but we had a little disagreement.”
Hannah scoffed and finally took a seat on the tub. Her butt barely rested on the edge and her dress puffed out around her as she did, enough so that she had to beat it down, which wasn’t exactly easy when only a half an inch of her butt was keeping her from falling on the floor.
“A little disagreement? He told you he liked me and you blackmailed him to make sure he never spoke to me. I think that’s a bit more than a little disagreement.”
“Tomato tomato.”
Not rolling one’s eyes when Nina used that phrase is impossible. She said both words the exact same, even though she knew one of them was meant to be spoken differently. According to her, there is only one way to say it, so why butcher it for an expression.
“Listen, I know it’s cocky and I’m supposed to be working on being more self-aware of my word choices, but if I wouldn’t have come between you back then, this day never would have happened. Curtis spent two years in some dinky town in Texas during his minor days, while you were in college here. Can you imagine what that would have been like for you? Not knowing whether he was sleeping with the whole town. There’s got to be at least twenty pretty women in that town, right? I mean it’s small, but it’s not the whole state of Delaware small, is it?”
Hannah had to briefly think about how she’d lived for months without having statements like that in her life. Curtis played minors in San Antonio, which didn’t exactly go with the word dinky. She was impressed that Nina actually knew where he played, even if she knew nothing about the city.
“I’m pretty sure that dinky town is one of the biggest cities in the country. It’s not as big as New York, but I imagi
ne it’s in the top ten.”
“So that just proves my point even more. There were probably at least a hundred women down there trying to get his attention. A different girl for him each night and you back home studying for your midterms.”
It wasn’t like Hannah wanted to disprove the point, because she actually thought it had merit, but she had tried to imagine what it would’ve been like if Curtis had asked her out in high school. Would she have been more outgoing with someone like him showing her attention? Would her and Nina have fallen out sooner as personalities clashed?
There were so many what-if questions that Hannah had stopped thinking about it. Curtis would probably always be pissed off, but as long as he could sit in a room and not kill Nina, that seemed like progress.
“You don’t have to spell it all out for me. I’m not going to pat you on your back for seeing into the future and stopping Curtis from asking me out. When it really comes down to it, you could have screwed up both of our lives. If he was anyone else, he probably would have moved on from the idea and settled down years ago with some puck bunny who flashed her tits after a game.”
Hannah wasn’t done, but Nina interrupted. She’d picked up a bottle and was making her way over to Hannah.
“A puck bunny? I have an idea from the rest of the description what you’re getting at, but you do know how funny an image of those words together is, right? I mean, is it a puck with a fluffy tail and big ears or just a puck with lots of fur all over it?”
“I can’t comment on the fur levels, but I’ve yet to see a tail or ears. Usually there’s a whole lot of cleavage, and really, what else is there to look at?
Nina laughed and shook her head. With a sponge, she started dapping a tannish liquid on Hannah’s face.
“And just think. Curtis is pretty good at what he does, so you’ll have to deal with them busty women for at least another five years. Imagine if you had to do it for ten. I bailed you out big time.”
They were going to have to agree to disagree on Nina wanting acknowledgment for potentially saving Hannah some heartache. Hannah just hoped Nina wouldn’t use that against her and put on some clown makeup for the wedding. Thankfully, white face paint was never something included in Nina’s little gift bags.
Chapter 26
“You sure you don’t want me to cause a distraction so you can run out the back door? I can go pick a fight with one of the brothers.”
“You do anything to mess this up for me and I will gut you, Brady.”
Curtis would probably need to sharpen one of his kitchen knives to accomplish the task, but he’d get it done. He was already anxious enough, waiting around in the backyard wasn’t exactly fun. Things had seemed to be going relatively smoothly. His parents and Hannah’s full family were there, even getting along by all indications.
Things went from quiet to chaotic pretty fast after Nina showed up. She’d brought a whole crew of people with her, and they were busy setting a trellis up and throwing flowers everywhere. Curtis had tried to stop them, but Nina played the best friend card and claimed she knew exactly the kind of wedding Hannah wanted.
He’d tried to contend that if Hannah wanted something, all she had to do was ask. The concept sounded better in his head than it did out loud. If she needed something, Hannah wouldn’t hesitate to speak up. It was the things that weren’t necessary she had problems asking for.
Turning the backyard into some fancy wedding venue wasn’t needed, but Hannah had hinted she had some dreams, foolish by her account. He felt like he’d be sorry he let Nina’s forces take over. When it came down to it, though, all he cared about was Hannah walking down the now white aisle covered in pink rose petals that led the way to him.
“Hey, I’m not the one who’s going to mess this up. That wicked witch of yours is going to be the one who ruins this. I can’t believe you invited her. She cock-blocked you for years and now she’s going to stand next to your girl when you say your vows. There’s something seriously wrong with that shit.”
Since there was a party being thrown after the wedding, there wasn’t food and drinks available for the few people at the wedding, other than whatever was in the kitchen. There hadn’t been alcohol until Brady had shown up with two cases of beer. It was supposed to be a relatively quick hour event, and apparently, Brady couldn’t make it through it without a couple beers in him.
Curtis tried not to take offense. His friend was a confirmed bachelor who broke out in hives when he thought of marriage. It only made sense that he thought people needed to be drunk to make it through the event.
“She’s not my wicked witch. She’s Hannah’s best friend, even if she’s a bit mental.”
A bit was being kind. That wasn’t news to anyone, but it was interesting watching other people interact with the she-devil. Other than unleashing her worker bees to make magic in just a few minutes, Nina had been the sedate version of herself. Hannah’s family, particularly her brothers, didn’t seem to know how to deal with that.
In the yard, there were less than a dozen chairs where the families had taken their places and were talking amongst themselves. The Williamses weren’t as boisterous as the other times Curtis had been around them, but they were easy to hear over his parents. Karen had taken it upon herself to offer direction to Nina’s busy bees since the ringmaster herself had disappeared to help Hannah.
“I don’t know about her mental state, but she’s fucking hot. You seriously didn’t hit that?”
“I haven’t thought about it for a long time, but the only time I did, my dick shriveled up and I threw up a little in my mouth.”
Curtis was being generous saying he’d even thought about it. Nina had always been someone he knew he wouldn’t be dipping body parts in. He wasn’t sure if she’d ever had surgery, but she seemed plastic in high school and that hadn’t changed.
“But she wanted to, right? That’s why she went all psycho on you. I can’t believe you didn’t take one for the team.”
There were times Curtis had to wonder why Brady was his closest friend. Other teammates had personalities and views similar to Curtis, although, he didn’t doubt that the majority would be on the Nina is a sex goddess team. She just had that power over men.
“It’s complicated, but trust me that it never crossed my mind. I’ve always had a thing for Hannah, whether that’s because of a secret redhead obsession I have going on or just the fact that she’s fucking perfect, well, I guess I’d go with the latter there.”
“I don’t know,” Brady said, shaking his head. “She’s a little quiet for my tastes.”
Thankfully, Brady hadn’t experienced Hannah in the bedroom. The times he’d introduced her to the team tended to be with her glued to his side, simply smiling when anyone acknowledged her. For him, it was cute seeing that awkwardness still there, since she’d rarely had it since the reunion.
“And I can’t believe she wouldn’t let me get you a stripper. I did all sorts of research for you and everything. She was going to be a drop-dead gorgeous blonde with tits out to here.”
Brady held his hands out in front of him a good foot. Curtis imagined a woman with a lot of back pain who had trouble standing up straight. Big boobs had never been his thing. As sappy as it sounded, it was always personality that won him over.
He smacked his friend’s hands out of the air and scowled at him. Curtis’ wedding wasn’t the place to talk about strippers that could have been.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t bring up strippers in front of my soon-to-be in-laws.”
No one seemed to be paying any attention to them, so Curtis didn’t worry too much about Brady’s crude words being taken the wrong way. There hadn’t been a lot of time for them to get to know Curtis, which was probably a good thing. They hadn’t had a chance to see his stubborn and overprotective sides, not that either of those had proven to be a bad thing.
The overprotective part of it could be said for pretty much anyone who knew Hannah. There was something about her that
made a person want to wrap their arms around her and never let go. Why another guy hadn’t swooped in and done just that, Curtis had no idea. He was just thankful that his waiting around to make sure Nina’s blackmail wouldn’t kill his career hadn’t made him too late.
“I think I’m going to go see if they’re ready to get this show on the road. You all set here?”
Hannah’s father asked as if Curtis had any clue what was going on around them. They seemed to have a walkway with flowers set and some lighted arch all ready to go, but he had no clue if there was more in store. As far as he was concerned, he was there, the judge was there and as soon as Hannah got there, things were ready.
Curtis and Brady were both in tuxedos, while the rest of the men were in suits, which Curtis was surprised to see when they’d all converged as one on the house. He’d thought the short notice would necessitate them breaking out their sweater and button-down combos, but they’d gone all out for the wedding.
“As long as Nina hasn’t managed to talk her out of it, I think we’re good to go.”
Harvey shook his head. Curtis tended to think of him as Hannah’s father or Mr. Williams instead of the name he insisted Curtis call him. He didn’t seem like a Harvey in his mind. There was no reason for that feeling, since Curtis didn’t know any Harveys. He supposed over time he’d eventually get used to it, but for the time being he liked the deference of saying Mr. Williams.
He was marrying the man’s daughter, after all, and it’d only been a few months since they’d been together. No one had said anything about the timing of everything, but Curtis had to wonder if they assumed there was a baby involved. Technically, they’d been engaged long enough that she’d be showing if a baby was the only reason they were getting married. He was quick to point that out the couple of times Brady had brought the subject up.
“We were a little surprised to see her show up after that deal at Christmas. I know the girl has always had her heart in the right place, but she has trouble showing it.”
