“Stop.” I grab her arm. “I’ll take you back to the party.”
“No, thank you. I’ll grab a taxi.”
“But—” Before I can finish my demand to drive her, she’s out the door. It slams in my face.
What the hell?
Chapter 11
Is sex with the ex supposed to feel so good it’s all you can think about for days on end? ~ Violet’s Secret Thoughts
I stomp my way over to the booth at The Coach House. I do not want to be here. I’ve been avoiding Shelby and Bailey since I left with Luke at Bailey’s going away party. I am in no way, no how ready to talk to anyone about what happened when I got to Luke’s place. But there is no way they’re going to let me get away with avoiding the topic.
“What’s bugging you, Trouble?” Shelby asks as I plop down across from her.
“Leave her alone.” Bailey shoulder-bumps me.
Frankie arrives with a tray of drinks. I grab one of the beers and down half of it with one gulp. Liquid courage is the only way I’m going to survive this evening. When did girls’ nights out go from fun to torture? One word. Luke Flipping Bauer. And yes, I’m aware those are three words.
“Well.” Shelby leans forward and stares me down. “What happened when you and Luke left the party? I notice you didn’t come back.”
After rushing out of Luke’s apartment, I ran to the corner and ordered a taxi to take me straight home. There was no way in hell I was returning to the party after having sex with Luke. I’m sure I just had sex was stamped on my forehead. And if the stamp was unreadable, my sex hair would have given me away.
“I thought we were here to help plan your wedding.” Diversion is my only hope now.
“Please. This one,” she points to Frankie, “has everything under control, although she claimed two gazillion times she isn’t a wedding planner.”
“I’m not a wedding planner. I’m an event planner. Lucky for you, a wedding is an event.”
Now, here’s a topic I can latch onto. “Didn’t you start out as a wedding planner?” Rumor has it she had a break-down during a wedding. I am dying to hear the true story.
Frankie glares at me. “I did.” Everyone leans closer, ready to hear her grizzly story, but she keeps her mouth firmly shut.
“We won’t tell anyone else. Promise.”
Frankie grunts at Shelby’s promise. I can’t blame her. Someone has a big mouth.
“Fine. I’ll tell you.” I rub my hands in anticipation. “But this does not leave this group.” She glares at each of us in turn until we all nod.
“The wedding was at the history museum.”
“Why isn’t my wedding at the history museum?” Shelby interrupts to ask.
“Do you want to hear the story or not?” Shelby pretends to zip her lips and throw the key into her beer. “Everything was going well, despite the bride being your typical bridezilla. Even her bridesmaids were hell on wheels. People with money can be obnoxious.” Frankie’s eyes widen as she looks at Bailey. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean you.”
Bailey waves her concern away. “I’m new to the money thing. I’m thinking I’ve got years of growing before I reach total obnoxiousness.”
“Anyway, it was time for the bouquet toss. The maid of honor was convinced the bride was going to send the bouquet her way. When the bouquet didn’t land in her hands, she attacked the woman who caught the bouquet. And when I say attack, I mean pulling hair, punching boobs, the whole shebang.
As the coordinator of the event, I couldn’t let the bouquet toss ruin the wedding. I waded in there. I grabbed the bouquet and separated the women. The maid of honor wasn’t too happy with me. She wanted that bouquet! She punched me in the nose, which started bleeding profusely. So now I’m standing on the dance floor, blood all over my face and the floor, and the bridesmaid is screaming I broke her hand and she’s going to sue me. That was it. I was done. I grabbed a napkin to stop the blood flow and walked out. I walked straight out of the museum to my car. I’ve never done a wedding since.”
“Until mine!” Shelby grins. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if my bridesmaids got into a fistfight?”
Frankie groans.
“One problem. Two of your bridesmaids are already engaged,” I point out.
“There’s always you.”
I snort. “Don’t expect me to fight anyone for the bouquet. I am not getting married.”
“Not even to Luke?”
I growl at her question. “Have you not been paying attention? We hate each other.”
“There’s a thin line between love and hate. Very thin line. You can’t tell me you two didn’t play hide the cannoli after you ran away from Bailey’s party.”
I feel my face heating up. I’m probably lit up like a beacon. Crap. Way to keep my sexy time with Luke a secret. I drop my head and stare at my beer.
Shelby squeals. “I knew it! You bitches owe me ten dollars each.”
Bailey raises her hands. “I never agreed to bet you.”
Frankie shakes her head. “Me either.”
“Fine, then.” Shelby pulls out her phone. “Grandma is the only honorable person. She’ll pay up. We’ve had a bet going for ages on when Luke and Violet would finally seal the deal. Her date isn’t for weeks yet.”
I slap the phone out of her hand. It clacks as it hits the table. “You are not telling Grandma I had sex with Luke.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t act all innocent with me, Missy. You know Grandma will be all over shoving Luke and I together like white on rice. I don’t need her up in my business. Luke and I are never, ever getting back together. It was a one-time thing. A mistake.” Except it didn’t feel like a mistake. For one glorious moment in time, the past melted away as Luke and I came together.
Bailey grabs my hand and squeezes. “Are you okay? What happened afterwards? Did you work out your problems?”
I’m not telling her I ran away like Chicken Little. “There’s nothing to work out. We’re over and that’s that.”
“Stop being Ms. Supportive Friend, Bailey. I want to hear all about how Luke is in the sack. Does he have a long schlong? Or is it all about the motion in the ocean?”
Shelby is out of her mind if she thinks I’m discussing Luke’s body or what sex with him is like. Luckily, Frankie steps in. “Didn’t Jackson forbid you from talking about sex with other men?”
“But his way of punishing me is hotter than a solar flare on the sun.” She fans her face.
“Someone stop her before she starts giving us details,” Bailey begs.
“There’s an easy way to stop me. Give me the deets between Luke and you and I’ll zip my lips.”
I shake my head. Shelby will never zip her lips. I stand. “Since you don’t need our help with wedding preparations, I’m out of here.”
“Come on.” Shelby does not give up. “I’ll make sure the bouquet goes nowhere near you during the bouquet toss.”
Now things are getting interesting.
Bailey grabs my wrist. “Don’t leave, Violet. I came in from the city to see you.”