Friday Night Brides (24 page)

“Mmm…” Ella hummed. “Dylan?”

And right then and there Hailey’s heart broke a little bit more for her friend. Drunk and passed out and Dylan was still the first thing on her mind. Gently combing Ella’s hair away from her face she said, “No, sweetie. Dylan’s not here.”

Ella’s face scrunched up like she was about to cry before she rolled onto her side. “I miss him so much,” she said quietly. “Why won’t he come home?”

Jack had come back into the room and put the water and tablets on Ella’s nightstand. “Is she okay?”

Hailey leaned against him. “She’s so sad.”

Wrapping an arm around her, Jack pulled her close. “I know. I’m sure it’s not easy to be as close as you two are and not be able to do anything to help her.”

“Tonight…I really thought maybe she had turned a corner. And I feel bad because I wasn’t really happy about it.”

“What do you mean?”

Hailey shrugged. “I want Ella to be happy—more than anything. But I know now that she’ll only truly be happy with Dylan. What they had?” She looked up at Jack. “You don’t see that sort of love every day.”

His gaze was intense but he didn’t say a word. He simply held her close for a few minutes. Finally he asked, “Are you going to stay here tonight with her?”

“I thought about it. But I think she’s out for the night. Plus, I’m not sure she’ll want an audience when she wakes up with a hangover tomorrow.” Stepping away from him, Hailey made sure Ella was covered and then fluttered around the room making sure she had a clear path to the bathroom—and even turned the light on in there for her. With nothing left to do, she faced Jack and silently held out her hand to him.

Leaving Ella’s house, Hailey made sure the door was locked before walking with Jack back toward her car. “Thanks for following me here. I don’t know if I could have gotten her inside by myself.” She chuckled. “I didn’t think she’d fall asleep so quickly. In my mind we were going to do the drunk walk into the house.”

“You mean like the one the two of you did across the parking lot?” he asked, laughing with her.

She nodded. “Absolutely. Then I imagined the two of us tripping over each other as I tried to get her up the stairs.” She laughed again and shook her head. “Believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve ever had to do this with Ella. Angie, yes. Becca, yes. But not Ella.”

“I can believe it. I’m sure if she ever drank before, Dylan was there to take care of her.”

Hailey nodded again. “It was always sweet to watch.” Then she shrugged. “And Ella’s really a lightweight. All of this tonight was only after two beers.”

“What? No!” Jack said with disbelief.

“It’s true. She’s always the designated driver because she doesn’t like to drink. That’s another reason why I was concerned tonight. Everything about her tonight was completely out of character. And seeing her talking to that guy? Charlie? It was just plain weird.”

“Come on, you can’t tell me in all the years the two of them dated that they never broke up. Not even for a little while? Or that no guy ever hit on Ella?”

“Nope. They started dating in middle school and pretty much everyone knew Ella was off-limits. Besides, it was so obvious that the two of them only had eyes for each other. I never saw Dylan even look at another girl. And believe me, there were a lot of them who tried to get his attention. He just wasn’t interested.”

Jack studied her for a minute. “This may seem like a stupid question but…has anyone talked to Dylan? I mean, you? Angie? Becca? Anyone?”

“We’ve talked about it, but we don’t want to upset Ella any more than she already is. I mean…it almost seems like a betrayal to do it.”

“But maybe it’s exactly what needs to be done,” he reasoned. “Dylan needs to know how much Ella’s hurting and someone needs to give them both a nudge. For all you know, he’s as much of a mess as she is and is waiting for someone to give him the green light to come and talk to her.” He paused. “I realize I don’t know them the way you do, but…”

“No, no…you’re right. Someone does need to do something. Maybe Ella will realize she needs to go and talk to him. I’m hoping tonight’s behavior will maybe open the door to some dialogue.”

Jack’s eyes went wide. “Open the door to…? Hailey, everyone’s walking on eggshells with this situation and it hasn’t helped. The time for sitting back and waiting is over. If the two of them are too scared to do something, then somebody else should! You need to go at this!”

“Go at this? Why me?”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, you or Angie or Becca or someone! It doesn’t matter who, it just matters that something happen. Soon!”

“I’m going to talk with Ella tomorrow and…”

“Why? Why wait? Are you going to ask her permission? Do you need her to give you the okay before you do something that is ultimately going to help her?” He paused and almost growled with frustration. “What are you afraid of? Why can’t you simply do something because you know it’s right?”

“I’m not afraid, Jack,” she said, trying to sound reasonable. The truth was his words were starting to make her feel defensive.

“Then prove it! Do something! Break the damn rules you seem to live by, Hailey! Take a freaking chance! Stop worrying about how things are going to look to other people and do what you know is right!”

She didn’t like his tone or what he was implying. Her back instantly stiffened. “Don’t worry about it,” she said primly. “I’ll talk to the girls and we’ll handle it. Like we always have.” She crossed her arms across her chest. “It’s late and I’m tired. Thank you again for helping me here tonight. I appreciate it.”

Hailey knew she had totally regressed back into bitch-mode. Something she hadn’t done with Jack in well over a month. And she also saw the look on his face.

Yeah, he was mentally calling her a bitch too.

And that was fine. She was tired and frustrated—not only with their current situation but with Ella and Dylan’s too.

Jack took a step back and gave her a curt nod. “No worries. As usual, you’re the one in control.” He sighed loudly before turning away. “I’ll see you Friday at the show.”

Hailey didn’t even try to stop him. She had done this—pushed him—and she wasn’t about to resort to groveling. Mentally she made a note to call him tomorrow and apologize. But right now all she wanted to do was go home and punch something or kick something or…do something to get out this frustration!

By the time Hailey had backed out of Ella’s driveway, Jack’s car was nowhere in sight. She slapped the steering wheel while cursing herself and him. Her condo was only five minutes away and she spent every minute of it continuing to mentally yell at Jack.

It was easy for other people to offer an opinion on what should be done when they weren’t the ones who had to do it. Talk to Dylan? Sure! Why not? Why not stab one of her best friends in the back—even if it was for the greater good! That wasn’t the way they did things. Ever. It was one thing if she happened to run into Dylan, but to actively seek him out seemed wrong.

She slammed her car door shut with a little more force than necessary and then cringed. No need to wake up the entire neighborhood. Inside her home, she threw her purse on the sofa and went into the kitchen to grab herself something to drink. Suddenly she wasn’t tired; her mind was too busy racing.

Thinking back to their conversation, Hailey was pretty sure Jack wasn’t only talking about this situation with Ella and Dylan.

He was talking about her.

Or…them.

What did he expect from her? Hailey had no intention of changing everything about herself to simply suit him. She wasn’t the overly-impulsive type—she enjoyed playing by the rules and within the boundaries. She hated coloring outside the lines. The only impulsive thing she had ever done was…Jack.

Dammit.

It wasn’t in her nature to be impulsive. Hailey liked order. She hated chaos or going into situations blind. The very thought of going and talking to Dylan made her nervous. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about Ella. Maybe he had already moved on. Then what was she supposed to do? What if he told Hailey breaking up with Ella was the greatest thing to ever happen to him? How could she possibly look at Ella again and tell her that? Or worse, how could she keep something like that from her?

And then there was Jack. Yes, she had acted impulsively and kissed him in his hotel room. And yes, it had led to a night of amazing sex. He was the one who said they should take it slow! He was the one who said he essentially didn’t want to feel like she was using him. He was the one who made the rules and now…

Cursing, she slammed the refrigerator door closed and stomped out of the room and scooped up her purse and keys.

“He wants impulsive? He thinks I have to wait for permission? Well, we’ll just see about that!” Walking over to the front door she pulled it open and froze.

Jack was standing in the doorway.

She wasn’t sure if she was surprised or angry or both. Rather than think about it, she reached out and gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled him inside.

“About damn time,” Hailey said as she pulled his head down and kissed him.

Eleven

Judith took one look at Angie and immediately gasped. “Oh my goodness! Are you all right?”

It was Friday night and an hour before show time. Angie still felt like hammered shit but she had never missed a show and she wasn’t going to start now. “I’m okay. I didn’t want to leave you shorthanded.”

Judith immediately began to fuss over her—feeling her head and making sure she wasn’t feverish. “Hailey said you had food poisoning. Have you gone to the doctor?”

Angie shook her head. “I didn’t think it would be necessary, but I can’t seem to get rid of whatever it is that made me sick.”

“Then you probably shouldn’t be here,” Judith said lightly. “We’ll be fine and I’d feel better knowing you were home resting. And you know tonight is really more of a mini-show. We could have easily made it work.”

At that moment, Sean walked over and joined them. “I told her the same thing, but she insisted she couldn’t miss a show.”

“I feel fine right now,” Angie argued. “I took some over-the-counter anti-nausea stuff. I’m not saying I can handle four dress changes, but I can definitely do a couple.” She looked at Judith. “Please? I hate to ruin a perfect attendance record.”

Unable to help herself, Judith cupped Angie’s face and smiled. “Okay, fine. Two dresses. But no more than that and we’ll do one at the beginning and one at the end so you can rest in between. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Okay then.” Judith looked over her shoulder and called out to her assistant. “Let me go rework the schedule. You go and do your thing. The girls are already back there.”

Sean was right beside her when she turned to go and get ready. Before she could take a step, she faced him. “Look, I am so grateful for you staying and taking care of me all week, but tonight I kind of need to be with the girls.” She watched his face for any signs of disappointment. “Are you okay with that?”

He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. “We talked about this earlier, remember? I knew you guys were going to go out after the show and just relax and really, I’m fine with it. I’m going to go and grab some takeout and do some work. My flight out tomorrow is pretty early and I’m landing and heading right to a meeting with a new client so I want to make sure I have everything in order.”

“I just hate feeling like I’m leaving you alone when you’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Ange, we’ve spent a lot of time together and we’re not joined at the hip, remember? Neither of us wanted to be like that.”

She nodded. “I know. I know…”

“Go and get ready and tell the girls I said hi. I’ll see you when you get home,” he said and kissed her one last time before leaving.

Once he was out of sight, Angie moved to the dressing room area and took her spot with the girls. She sighed and let her head fall back as she sat down.

“So you weren’t kidding,” Becca said. “You look like hell.”

“Becca!” Ella cried. “That was just mean!”

“Nah,” Angie said without opening her eyes. “She’s telling the truth. It’s gonna take a lot of makeup to make me look a little less green around the gills.”

“This can’t be food poisoning,” Hailey said as she applied mascara. “It’s got to be a virus or something. And now you’re just spreading it around.”

That had Angie sitting up straight. “You all told me to come!” she whined.

“Sorry…you know I’m a bit of a germaphobe,” Hailey said. “So what’s going on?”

“Sean thought it was the nachos Saturday night and to be honest, it made sense. But all week I’ve just been off. I left work early twice because I got sick after lunch.”

“Please tell me it wasn’t on more nachos?” Becca asked.

“No, smartass,” Angie said. “If anything, I was being super cautious—ginger ale, tea, soup. But we had birthday cake for one of the girls in accounting and I had a slice and then…bleh! It was all over. The next time it was someone reheating their lunch in the microwave—something German, I swear—and I was running for the bathroom.”

“Uh…Ange?” Hailey asked cautiously.

“What?”

“Is there a chance you could be pregnant?”

All eyes turned to Angie—including some of the other models. “Geez, Hails, are you sure you don’t want a megaphone? Seriously, what the hell?”

Hailey gave some rather pointed looks to the people around them before looking at Angie again. “Sorry. I didn’t think I was that loud.”

“Well you were.”

“And I apologized.”

“Well you should.”

Hailey gave her a knowing smile. “Nice distraction tactic, but I’m on to you.”

Angie sighed loudly. “I can’t be pregnant.”

“Is it even a possibility?” Ella asked softly.

Shrugging, Angie replied, “I don’t think so. I mean, I know nothing is completely foolproof but…”

“Okay, this probably isn’t the time or place to get into this,” Becca said. “We’re all heading over to my place after the show so let’s table this discussion until then. All right?”

They all nodded in agreement.

****

Three hours later they were all sitting around Becca’s living room eating ice cream.

Except Angie.

“Okay, so this has been a completely shitty week,” Becca said. “I mean, a week ago I thought we were all on top of the world and it’s like the universe swooped in and took a huge crap on us all.” Then she glanced to her left. “Well, except for you, Hails.”

Hailey blushed.

“Go ahead and give a quick rundown of how awesome your week has been. Might as well start out on a high note.”

“Well, I have to admit, if it weren’t for Ella’s little foray into being a woo-girl, I’d be just as miserable as the rest of you.”

“I am never drinking again,” Ella said solemnly. “Honestly, what do people get out of that? I felt awful all day Sunday and just thinking about it makes my head hurt.”

“You were entertaining, if nothing else,” Angie said, raising her glass of ginger ale at her.

“I aim to please,” Ella said with a grin.

“Have you thought about calling Dylan?” Hailey asked. “You know you said…”

“Yeah, I know,” Ella quickly interrupted. “But…I can’t. I need Dylan to be the one to make the move. He was the one who left and even after I went to see him, he still didn’t make any attempt to come after me.” She shrugged. “I just thought he would have tried more by now.”

They were all silent for a minute. “What about you, Becs? I saw Max at the show tonight but didn’t see the two of you together like you usually are. Everything okay?” Angie asked.

Rather than answer right away, Becca took a large spoonful of ice cream and slowly savored it. “He came over last night.”

“And?” they all asked.

“And…we talked. He admitted—again—how he was disappointed that I didn’t stand up for him more. For us. And he thought it was wrong for me to even want to hash things out with Danny. He said if I was truly happy with him then that was all the closure I should have needed.”

“Wow,” Angie said seriously, “clearly he’s never had someone dump him.”

Becca nodded in agreement. “That was my argument.”

“So then what happened?” Ella asked curiously, twirling her spoon.

“He thought my telling him I loved him was a little manipulative—given the timing and the circumstances.”

“Wait…what?” Hailey cried. “You told him you loved him? In the middle of the fight?”

“Yeah, I know. Not the smartest way to go. But honestly, that was the whole reason why we left the club! I finally realized I’m in love with him and I wanted to tell him. Then Danny showed up and ruined the whole thing.”

“Typical Danny,” Angie said.

“I think calling it manipulative is a little harsh,” Hailey commented. “Did you explain to him how, if it weren’t for Danny, you were planning on telling him that anyway?”

“I did. He didn’t seem like he really believed me.”

“So how did you leave things?” Hailey asked.

“We talked for a long time.”

“And…?” Ella asked with a hint of frustration.

“And I think we’re okay,” Becca said with a smile. “We both agreed it was a fight, it happens and we’re ready to move on from it.”

“But…what about the ‘I love you’ part?” Hailey asked.

Becca sighed. “Well, he hasn’t said it back so…that sucks. But I feel better because I said it. I was scared to and honestly, if we hadn’t fought, I think Max would have said it too. It’s okay. I can wait. He’s worth it.”

“Wow,” Ella sighed. “That was quite possibly the healthiest example of a relationship I’ve ever heard. I’m seriously impressed.”

“Yeah well…I think we all know I was due. This is the first healthy relationship I’ve ever had! And I really do love Max. I can’t imagine ever loving anyone else. He’s it for me,” Becca said, taking a spoonful of ice cream. “I’m not pushing to get married or engaged or anything, although I wouldn’t mind us moving in together. But again, I can wait.”

“So then what was the deal tonight?” Angie asked. “You guys hardly said two words to each other.”

“You just got there late,” Becca corrected. “We got there at our usual time and I helped him set up and then he went and grabbed me a latte before he needed to get started.” She shrugged. “But he knew we were all hanging out tonight so we promised to talk tomorrow. Which reminds me…are we still doing lunch since we’re all here now?”

“Um…it’s tradition,” Ella reminded. “No matter what, remember? And besides, we’re all going out tomorrow night too.” She turned to Hailey. “Is this the same club as last week?”

Hailey gave them all the updated info. “It’s basically right around the corner and the band goes on at ten. You all in?”

“Max and I are gonna be there.”

“And I can promise to be the designated driver,” Ella said. “I’ve learned my lesson.”

Hailey chuckled. “I’m going to hold you to that because Jack is actually picking me up and we’re having dinner first and then going to the club. I fully intend to go home with him so keep that in mind in case you decide to have a drink.”

“Not gonna happen. Trust me,” Ella said, holding up her hand. “Scout’s honor.”

“Yeah, that would be a lot more impressive if you were ever a scout,” Angie teased.

“Bite me,” Ella said, sticking out her tongue. She burst out laughing. “That felt good!”

“So we went all around the room but never got the rest of Hailey’s story,” Angie said, smirking.

“Noticed that, did you?”

They all nodded.

“Well, Jack and I had a fight in Ella’s driveway Saturday night.”

“Oh, no!” Ella cried. “Over what? Was it because I was drunk?”

Hailey shook her head. “We were both a little snippy about…well…a couple of different things,” she said evasively. “Anyway, he accused me of being uptight and I didn’t take too kindly to it. So he took off.”

“You’re seriously not going to tell us what you argued about?” Becca asked, brows furrowed.

Hailey shook her head again. “It’s not important. Anyway, I got home and was still fuming and the more I thought about things, the madder I got. So I decided I was going to go and confront him.”

“Here’s where it gets good,” Angie sang.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I opened the door and there he was,” Hailey said, grinning. “Then I pulled him inside and rocked his world until the wee hours!” She let out a maniacal little laugh, clearly proud of herself. “I’m not gonna lie, it was even better than the night at the hotel!”

“Yeah, you!” Angie cheered.

“I know!” Hailey agreed. “God, I had no idea I was missing so much! Sex was always…nice. But with Jack?” She fanned herself. “Nice is never going to be a word I’ll use to describe the way that man is in bed!”

“Good sex makes everything better,” Becca agreed.

Ella sat curled up in her chair, playing with her ice cream. “I miss all the good sex.”

“Seriously, El, you need to go and talk to Dylan again. Maybe he just needed a little time,” Becca suggested. “Or do you maybe want one of us to go and talk to him?”

“Oh, gosh no. I think I would die,” Ella said miserably.

“Why?” Hailey asked.

“Because…what if…what if he’s moved on? What if he just doesn’t care anymore? I don’t think I’d be able to handle hearing about it—even if it came from one of you.”

“So…what then?” Angie asked. “Ignorance is bliss?”

“Hardly,” Ella sighed. “I’m not sure what to do anymore.”

After a brief pause, Angie said, “You’re going to keep doing what you’re doing then until you figure it out. And no matter how long it takes, we’ll be right here to support you.”

Ella smiled sadly. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too.”

****

The club was crowded, but not quite as much as the previous weekend. Hailey was standing with her back pressed against Jack’s chest, unable to stop smiling. When he had shown up at her place earlier to pick her up for dinner, he took one look at her in her electric blue dress with matching stilettos and hauled her over his shoulder, up to bed.

The drive-thru burgers they’d had right before showing up here at the club were totally worth it.

She felt his hot breath against her neck. “I’m all for supporting a friend,” he murmured in her ear, “but I don’t think he’d be too upset if we didn’t stay for the entire set.”

Hailey smiled. “You’re not going to get an argument from me.” Turning, she kissed him. Jack’s arms immediately banded around her but she pulled back before things got too out of hand.

“Geez, get a room,” Becca teased as she and Max approached. They were both smiling and holding hands as they all greeted each other. “I haven’t seen Angie or Ella yet.”

“Me either,” Hailey replied. “Maybe Sean’s flight was delayed.”

Becca shrugged. “Maybe. But Ella wasn’t coming with them, was she?”

“Actually, I think they decided that after you left this afternoon,” Hailey said. “Ella said she felt weird about coming alone. I just wish she’d stop being so stubborn about this whole Dylan thing!”

“Her?” Becca asked incredulously. “I wish Dylan would get his head out of his ass and stop pouting! I have to tell you, I’ve lost a lot of respect for him after this whole thing. He never should have let her go the way he did. It was cowardly.”

“Oh, I agree. But…” She stopped when Jack bent down and whispered in her ear that Angie and Ella were walking in. Hailey looked at Becca. “To be continued.”