by Nicole Dykes
“Fucking long. I told Cass we’re flying next time. Who’s Van dating?”
Of course, he heard that and isn’t gonna let it go. “No one.”
“Chris,” Jax overhears and answers.
Dylan who is sitting next to Jax just shakes his head, but is grinning. Yeah of course everyone knows.
Hunt looks totally shocked and turns to me. “Van is dating Chris? Alex’s Chris?”
“Shriller’s Alex, doesn’t have a Chris,” Shriller says, matter-of-factly.
“Yeah, as if Alex can be owned by any fucking one,” Jax says, nearly roaring with laughter.
Hunt shrugs off the humor and asks again, “Van’s dating him?”
“No. She went out on one date with him. Not a big deal,” I growl, wanting to talk about anything else.
“Careful Cam, Chris gave Shriller a run for his money. That fucker is no joke,” Jax says and Shriller flips him off from his chair across the room.
“Fuck. How did that even happen?” Hunter asks the room, bewildered.
“Brooke,” I say and look at Dylan since she’s his wife.
He holds his hands up in surrender. “I have no fucking control over her. She likes to set people up.”
“Yeah, especially Chris,” Shriller says, then looks pointedly in my direction, “Been there, man. It sucks.”
I’m really fucking sick of talking about this and getting more and more annoyed by the second. “Look it was one date. No big deal.”
My best friend looks concerned, but because Hunter is pretty intuitive he moves on. “So, how is my bachelor party looking?”
“Oh yeah, where we going, Cam? Strip club?” Luke asks.
“Man, this sucks, why can’t I just use my fake ID and go with you guys? I’m in the wedding party,” Michael complains.
“No strip clubs. Choirboy would hyperventilate,” I tease.
Dylan laughs and turns to Michael. “I thought I confiscated your fake ID?”
Michael rolls his eyes. “They’re pretty easy to get a hold of. Why can’t I go?”
“Because that wouldn’t make me a very good guardian and you’re giving me that ID,” Dylan says with authority in his voice, but Michael just shrugs it off quickly.
I look at Luke who looks worriedly at his little brother. I think he’s right about the kid getting into trouble.
Shriller steps in and says coolly, with a calm attitude only he can pull off, “You get busted at a club when your underage, and you can kiss your racing career goodbye. Sponsors don’t want to deal with that shit.”
Michael actually seems to listen to that and shrugs it off. “Sounds like it’s gonna be lame anyway.”
“That’s true. No fucking naked women?” Jax asks.
I laugh, “Nope. Promised Hunt.”
Hunter seems pleased and the doorbell rings. I look around. “Isn’t everyone here?”
Dylan shakes his head. “Well, it could be Dani. Or Chris.”
What the fuck? Neither would be great. Although I wouldn’t mind seeing Dani, I know Van would. “Why would it be them?”
“They were both invited,” he answers easily.
Again, Dani makes sense. Cass is in town for a few days, she’s going to want to see her best friend as much as possible.
But fucking Chris?
“Why the fuck was Chris invited?” Shriller asks heatedly.
Jax stands up from the couch and fields the question. “Look man, Chris is a good guy. You are gonna have to learn to play nice. You got Alex. Chill the fuck out.”
With that, he makes his way over to the door and opens it. I strain my neck to see and hear Chris's friendly voice, “Sorry I’m late, fucking Thursday evening traffic.”
Shit. I literally just made up with Van. I hope I don’t fuck it all up again.
Chapter 24
Vanessa
“So, how was your date?” Hannah asks me as we are both peeling potatoes into the trash can.
I honestly can’t believe it took her this long to ask, but still my eyes travel to Alex who is standing at the counter with her customary glass of wine.
Brooke’s stirring something on the stove, but we’ve caught her attention. She must see where my eyes are zoomed in because she waves it off. “Oh, Alex already knows. I had her blessing before I mentioned anything.”
Alex grins happily. She’s in a great mood. “Totally fine. He’s a great guy, Van.”
“Glad you think that,” Brooke says as Chris walks into the kitchen, holding up a bottle of wine.
“Hey ladies. Jax said to bring this in here.” He looks just as good as always. Tight jeans and t-shirt showing off his sculpted tattooed arms. Just enough scruff on his face. Sexy smirk. Sparkling bright blue eyes.
Yup. Chris is hot all right.
We all heard the doorbell ring a few minutes ago, but I assumed it was Dani here for Cass. My mind pictured her glued to Cam for the last few moments and was going wild.
I don’t want to see them together. It’s too hard to pretend I’m cool with it.
Brooke greets him happily and takes the wine. “Thanks, Chris. That was sweet of you.”
“No problem, Brooke. I guess I’ll get back out there with the men.” His eyes lock with mine right before he walks out, and Hannah doesn’t miss it.
“Hmmm . . .. There’s some definite chemistry there,” she says as soon as he’s out of the room.
“No. You’re wrong,” I try to say quietly.
“I think so,” Brooke says as she sets the wine on the counter. When she asked me how it went on Monday, I was vague, but told her it wasn’t going anywhere.
“Trust me. He doesn’t see me that way,” I say to anyone that’s listening. Charlotte is busy playing a game with Gabby at the table, while Cass texts away on her phone, so I don’t think they are paying attention.
“Why do you think that?” Alex asks.
This is a strange conversation to have with his ex. “We pretty much treated the date like friends. It wasn’t real.”
“That’s too bad,” she says and seems to mean it whole heartedly.
She and Brooke go into their own conversation, and Hannah leans in closer to me, keeping her voice really low, “So, what really happened?”
“That’s what really happened. It was just bizarre with him being Alex’s ex.”
“But he’s totally hot and everyone likes him, even Jax and Luke and they are total assholes,” Hannah jokes.
My eyes roam to Brooke to confirm she’s not paying attention to us. She’s not so I say, “He also accused me of being hung up on Cam.”
Hannah doesn't look surprised in the slightest. “Ah.”
Nothing else really needs to be said so we quietly peel potatoes and hang out until dinner is ready.
When everything is cooked and the tables—yes, that’s plural because of the number of people that are always at these dinners, —are set, everyone gathers in the dining room.
I sit between Hunter and Hannah, who is by Luke, followed by Cam. Chris sits between Brooke and Jax and safely away from Shriller and Alex, who are across from me.
We all start to eat peacefully, which is no easy feat at dinner with the Monroes. Drama seems to follow these people around and, unfortunately, I’ve been involved in my fair share of it. I still can’t look Shriller in the eye.
“Hey Alex, will you pass me the mashed potatoes, please?” Brooke asks from her end of the table. Alex looks oddly hesitant, but quickly passes the bowl to Brooke. I see Brooke’s eyes widen as Alex pulls her hand back quickly, tucking it under the table. “What was that?” Brooke asks.
Alex eats with her other hand and tries to casually ask, “What?”
Alex and Shriller briefly share a look as Brooke answers, gaining the attention of pretty much everyone at the table. “That on your finger. Did you get a new tattoo?”
Alex nods, curtly. “Yep. No big deal.”
“Then why are you hiding it? Was it on your ring finger?” Brooke asks.
> Everyone’s eyes are playing ping-pong between Brooke and Alex at this point. “Brooke drop it,” Alex says.
Then everyone shifts their attention to Brooke, waiting to see what her reply will be. Her eyes widen as she examines Alex and Shriller, who look like children that are guilty of something. “Did you two get married?”
All eyes go instantly to the couple. Shriller groans, “Fuck, I knew it would be her that outs us.” He turns to Alex, “I told you.”
I notice his left hand is also under the table as Alex sighs, “Fuck, you were right.”
“What the fuck? You two are married?” Jax says loudly.
Shriller nods his head, but is unable to hold back a happy grin before addressing the whole table. “Look, everyone in this room is an opinionated motherfucker.” His eyes go to Gabby. “Except for you kid, sorry.” She just giggles and lets him continue. “Yes. We got married this weekend.”
“That was your weekend getaway?” Brooke asks, looking astonished.
Alex looks down the table, directly at Brooke. “Yeah. We went to Vegas.”
“Holy shit! Did Elvis walk you down the aisle?” Jax asks.
Alex laughs. “Sadly no, but we managed to find a really cute little chapel. It was really nice.”
She and Shriller share a sweet moment, and then he clears his throat loudly, neither of them are great with feelings. “Look, we were lying in bed and I knew we were gonna be together forever, so I asked her to marry me. She said yes and, instead of dragging it out, we hopped on a fucking plane and made it official. We know we want to be together, why fuck around?”
I feel Hannah stiffen next to me. I know every engagement and wedding secretly drives her a little more insane over Luke not proposing.
Brooke smiles. “Well holy shit. I can’t think of a more perfect story for you two.” Then she asks, “I’ve been with you for hours. How am I just now seeing the tattoo?”
They both are beaming and bring their hands up. They tattooed their wedding rings on their fingers. Yep. That’s fitting.
Alex answers, “We kept our hands in our pockets.”
“Fuck, I thought you were just playing pocket pool all night, buddy,” Jax says and that gets a laugh from almost everyone at the table.
“To Alex and Adam Shriller!” Dylan says as he raises a glass in a toast and then quickly looks at Alex. “Wait, are you taking his name?”
“Nah, I’m taking hers,” Shriller says, but it’s clearly a joke.
Alex laughs happily. “Yeah, I already changed it.”
“To the Shrillers!” Most of the table says, except for Chris although he did raise a glass. This has to be awkward as hell for him.
The other person that didn’t was Luke, who looks dumbfounded. “You two just got together.”
Shriller shrugs his shoulders. “When you know you know.”
Hannah’s super tense now, but Luke just shakes his head. “You guys just got together, fuck.”
Alex’s eyes are on Hannah, and I’m sure she’s picking up how this conversation is bothering her. “We’ve known each other for a long time. And we aren’t normal.”
“Fuck normal,” Shriller says.
Hannah stands up and looks at Brooke. “Excuse me,” she says, clearly upset before darting out of the room toward the living room.
Brooke looks angrily at Luke. “You know I’d love to have just one dinner without someone fleeing.”
I stand up. “I’ll go talk to her.”
Luke stands up too. “Nah, I’ll go, Van.” He looks genuinely apologetic.
I try to take it easy on him although I kind of want to nut punch him for hurting my friend. “No offense Luke, but I think you’re the last person she wants to talk to right now.”
My eyes briefly meet Cam’s and he seems to agree with me. He stands up and pats Luke on the shoulder. “Let Van take this one, buddy.”
Surprisingly, Luke sits down with Cam and I head off to find Hannah. I finally find her sitting on the front porch.
I hate seeing her upset. I take a seat next to her, “Hey.”
She wipes a tear from her cheek. “Hey.”
“He loves you,” I offer.
“Yeah, I know. It’s just . . .ugh. Alex and Shriller. They are both so tough and so bad at feelings, but that was the sweetest most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. He couldn’t wait to be her husband.”
I nod and put my arm around her, hugging her, feeling her pain. “I know. It is pretty romantic, but that’s their story, Hannah. Luke and you have your own romantic story.”
She scoffs. “Yeah. I’ve been in love with him since I was five and seventeen fucking years later, I still can’t get him to marry me.”
I flinch a little when she says “fucking,” it’s not a word she uses often. She is definitely fed up. “He’s going to marry you. He loves you. You guys are living in your dream house. He doesn’t fool around on you. It’s going to happen.”
She wipes another tear. “I know, I shouldn’t make such a big deal out of it, but I want it Van.”
“I know you do. Trust me, just get past Cassie and Hunter’s wedding. It’s going to happen.” I hope.
She smiles, wipes her face again and stands up. “Can we just run away? Do we have to go back?”
I laugh. “I would totally say no if I thought it wouldn’t upset Brooke.”
She smiles again. “Yeah, I don’t want to do that.” She looks back toward the front door. “Also, how weird is it that Chris was here for all that?”
“Right? I bet he wants to escape too,” I say.
“Well at least Dani isn’t here, right?” she says.
I’m surprised she isn’t. “Yeah, I really thought she would be.”
“Small blessings,” Hannah says as we make our way back inside.
Thank God for that. I can’t take much more drama tonight.
Chapter 25
Vanessa
After Hannah and I rejoined the table, everything pretty much went back to normal. Well normalish.
Everyone talked about Shriller and Alex’s Vegas wedding, and Chris stuck to discussing cars and tattoos with Jax.
Cam pretty much ignored Chris. Typical Cam.
Luke whispered something into Hannah’s ear when she sat back down next to him. Whatever it was, it seemed to bring her momentary comfort.
Why he doesn’t just end this and propose already is beyond me.
After dinner, most of us made our way outside to the large backyard. The guys are gathered around the new fire pit Brooke and Dylan had put in. Alex is standing with them, Shriller’s arm draped casually around her. They look blissfully happy.
Cass is still inside, and Gabby is watching TV in the living room. Michael left immediately after finishing his food to meet his girlfriend, and Brooke is putting Sylvie to bed.
Hannah and Luke are nowhere to be found so I assume they are somewhere making up.
I grab a bottle of water from the cooler stocked with beer and wine coolers and jump when I hear Chris’s voice. “Weird night, huh?”
I twist the cap off the water and look at him. “Yes. Very weird.”
His eyes wander to where Alex and Shriller are standing across the yard. “They look happy.”
I nod, hesitantly. Not sure how he feels about the situation. “I think they are.”
He smiles, and it seems genuine. “I’m glad.”
I examine him closely. “You are? Really?”
He laughs at that. “Yeah, of course. I mean, I’m not Shriller’s biggest fan, but they really do seem to love each other. I don’t ever want to be someone's second option.”
I sense the hidden meaning in the way he said that. “You shouldn’t be. A guy like you doesn’t have to settle.”
That bounces off him, and he says, “I’m sorry I was a dick the other night.”
He really is blunt. “You weren't.”
“Yeah, I was. I was really caught off guard. I didn’t know it was going to be you on the other side o
f the door, and to be honest, watching you and Cam for a couple of minutes was all it took to know there was something still there.”
I’m uncomfortable talking about Cam and me. I’d rather live in denial. “Chris . . .,” I start.
He interrupts, holding one hand up, effectively silencing me. “Like I said, Vanessa, I get it, probably more than anyone. I just don’t want to be in the middle of it. I do think you’re great though.”
I smile and bite my bottom lip with my teeth, letting his words soak into my mind. “I think you’re pretty great too. And you don’t deserve to be anyone’s rebound.”
He smirks at me. “Give me a call when you get that out of the way. I’ll take you out for a real date.”
He winks, and then his lips barely touch mine in an extremely brief kiss before he says goodbye with a quick wave to the group.
“See ya Monday!” Jax hollers and Chris nods to him as he leaves through the back gate.
I feel Cam’s intense glare on me and make damn sure I don’t make contact. Instead, my eyes fall on the patio door as Cass and Dani come walking out, all giggles.
Well hell.
So much for no more drama.
Chapter 26
Cam
He just fucking kissed her. Right in front of me. Everyone else has gone on like nothing fucking happened, but my mind is reeling.
And now to make matters worse, Dani is here with Cass.
Fuck.
They walk past Van, but don’t join us. Instead, they walk over to the pool and sit at the glass table.
“Let it go, man.” Hunt who is standing next to me says.
So, I wasn’t the only one who saw that fucking lip lock. I take a sip of my beer, trying like fucking crazy to act casual. “What?”
Hunt rolls his eyes, not buying it. “It was nothing.”
My eyes go to Van, who greets Brooke as she walks outside.
“I know,” I say, but I’m still pissed.
Van literally attacked the last girl she saw kissing me and then she kisses a guy in front of me? What the fuck?
I finish my second beer of the evening and then look over at Dani, who is making her way over here with Cass, after stopping by the cooler where Van and Brooke are standing.
