Addison and Casey looked stunning amongst all of their friends and family. They were perfect for each other, both beautiful beyond description. She was tall and blonde and he was taller and blonder, their kids would definitely be super model material. Everyone was toasting champagne and sampling hor’dourves when I spotted Mrs. Conrad from across the room. I walked over to her and asked, “Have you seen Colton yet?”
She smiled and placed her hand on my arm, “Not yet, dear, but when I do, please remind me to introduce him to you. You know he’s single?”
“Oh really,” I laughed “I hadn’t heard that, you’ll have to introduce me to him when he arrives.” I really wasn’t interested in meeting anyone, in fact my mind was still all over GQ, but Mr. and Mrs. Conrad seemed nice enough and I’m sure their son was just like them. So what the heck, besides, it was Thursday evening which meant it was almost a full week since I’d had my first one night stand and I still hadn’t heard from him, I’m pretty sure that meant I wasn’t going to. It was time to forget about him and move on, and what a perfect thing to do with Casey’s mysterious cousin, Colton. If he looked anything like his father, I was sure he had to be gorgeous. I excused myself from Mrs. Conrad and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
By the time Friday evening rolled around Addison had run me ragged, I was sure the wedding planner had it easier than I did, and she was getting paid. Luckily, I’d just finished my last errand of the day and I was off to the spa to get my hair blown out for the rehearsal dinner. After my hair was finished, I swung by my house, got dressed, and headed straight for the church. Of all nights to be running late this was not it, Addison was going to kill me.
I barged into the church and Addison and Theo were standing at the end of the aisle, she looked panicked.
Shit. They had to start without me; at least my hair looks good.
I thought as I grabbed my fake bouquet from Addison, hugged and kissed her and Theo, and mouthed I’m sorry, I’m late to the both of them as I scurried down the aisle.
I don’t think I’d even made it half way down the aisle when I glanced up to see how excited Casey looked and at that very moment I locked eyes on none other than GQ himself, he was standing right next to Casey. I stopped in my tracks as his eyes peered into mine. My heart was pounding out of my chest. Addison’s mom, Teresa, whispered from the front pew, “Keep walking Reagan, you’ve got to make it all the way down the aisle.” Thankful for her interruption, I regained my focus and continued walking down the aisle, all the while keeping my eyes sealed on GQ. From the looks of it he was just as stunned as I was. I made it to my spot front and center just as Addison and her dad finally began their descent down the aisle. I tried to keep focused on her, but I felt him glaring at me as they made their way towards us.
The rehearsal took forever and each time I’d position myself perfectly behind Addison she’d move and there he was staring straight back at me. When Pastor Bob announced that Casey may kiss the bride, Addison only allowed him her cheek, and everyone laughed as they applauded in excitement. I sighed with relief that it was finally over and began to bee-line it to the exit of the church, thankful Addison had enough faith in us to not have to practice the recessional back up the aisle. But before I could make it Mrs. Conrad stopped me and grabbed my hand, “Reagan, Colton is here. I would love for you to meet him, please let me introduce you.”
“I’m sorry Mrs. Conrad, but I really have to step out for some fresh air, can we do this a little later?”
“No, ma’am, I insist, it will just take a moment. Wait right here while I go get him.” I smiled at her as she hurried toward her son. Seconds later GQ and his mom were standing right in front of me as she introduced us. “Colton, this is Reagan, she is the maid of honor and Addison’s best friend.”
He stuck out his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Reagan, my parents call me Colton, but everyone else calls me Cole.”
I stuck out my hand to shake his and the instant our skin touched there it was, that same shock I’d felt the first night I’d met him. “Cole, it’s nice to finally meet you, your mom and dad have told me so much about you.”
Mrs. Conrad squealed and clapped her hands together. “I’m so excited to finally introduce the two of you. Weddings are such wonderful places for singles to meet.”
“Mom, stop. I’m sure Reagan isn’t interested in a relationship with anyone, she’d probably rather get what she wants out of a man and leave him in the middle of the night without any explanation.”
“Colton Conrad, apologize to Reagan, right this instance, I will not have you be so rude.”
“No worries, Mrs. Conrad, I’m sure Cole is just referring to his own ways as opposed to mine. Cole, it was a pleasure meeting you, now if you’ll both excuse me.” I marched hastily away from the both of them as I heard tiny Mrs. Conrad ripping her son a new one.
Once outside, I walked around to the side of the church and went into full on panic attack mode. My heart was heaving out of my chest and my hands were trembling. How dare he talk to me like that in front of his mother? Damn it, I was so stupid, I’d fallen right into his trap, he played me for a fool and I’d fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. I leaned against the side of the church and tried to catch my breath. But it was next to impossible, that night just kept playing over and over in my head. What were the odds that my one night stand was none other than my best friend’s future cousin? It must have taken me a half hour to get my heart rate back to normal when I realized I was one of the last ones at the church.
Pulling myself together, I heard Addison yelling my name, “Reagan! Where are you?”
I came around from the side of the church and she spotted me, “Why’d you run off?” She looked concerned.
“Sorry, I just got choked up seeing you and Casey. I needed some fresh air.” She hugged me. There was no way I was going to fill her in on what had just happen, not the night before her wedding. “Go get your car and follow me and Casey, we’ve got to get to the restaurant, so everyone isn’t waiting on us.” I ran off to my SUV and jumped in, just as I started the engine my phone chimed.
WE NEED TO TALK.
Need to talk my ass! My fingers were going a mile a minute on the keypad.
I’M SORRY, BUT I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY TO YOU! I’LL BE CIVIL BECAUSE ADDISON IS MY BEST FRIEND AND I WANT NOTHING MORE THAN FOR HER TO HAVE A PERFECT WEDDING, BUT I DO NOT WANT TO TALK!
OH QUIT BEING A BRAT.
You have got to be kidding me, that didn’t even deserve a response. I threw my phone on the passenger’s seat next to me and kept my eyes focused on the road, avoiding anything that was coming through on my cell phone.
Dinner was brutal. Of course, Addison and Casey wanted their maid of honor and best man right by their side at all times, so I was forced to interact with Cole the entire evening, from sitting next to him at dinner, to taking pictures with him and his family. Every time he touched me, I cringed, but I was going to be the better person, I wasn’t going to let him win. By the time dessert rolled around I was beyond ready to get as far away from Cole Conrad as possible. But I still couldn’t, Addison insisted that we stay as long as the guys did because she didn’t want to leave Casey.
It was tradition that the bride and groom spend their last night apart from each other, so, of course, Addison was going to stay until we absolutely had to leave. “Addison, we really need to go, you’re going to have bags under your eyes tomorrow, just think how that will look in pictures.”
“Come on,” she leaned into me pouting her lips, “I hate being away from Case, just a few more minutes, please” she begged, scurrying over to Casey. Gosh they were irritating sometimes, they were inseparable and I was glad. I’d always hoped she get her knight and shining armor, but sometimes it made me want to gag.
“Why don’t you have a shot of whiskey? Maybe that will calm your nerves, and you’ll loosen up a bit.” My body froze as Cole’s breath caressed the side of my cheek and his hand traced the length of my arm.
I snapped my head around and looked up into his golden eyes, my breath instantly faltered. Damn this man. “I won’t be needing anything to loosen me up, especially around you.”
He smirked and cocked his head to the side. “I guess you’re right, I’ve already seen you as loose as you’re going to get.” Before I knew it the palm of my hand was connecting with his face and the entire room fell silent. Luckily, all that was left was the wedding party. I’d have died had all of the Cartwright’s and Conrad’s still been there.
Casey walked up behind me and rested his hand on my back, “everything ok?”
I turned around to look up at my best friend’s fiancé and I wanted to scream, No! Your cousin is an asshole! But instead I smiled and said, “Yes. Sorry, Case, I was just startled by your cousin, but I think he’s okay.” Casey looked towards his cousin, and Cole nodded his head. “Good, now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to get back to my future wife.” He kissed my cheek and rushed off towards Addison.
“What the fuck did you just slap me for?” Cole whispered, so we wouldn’t draw any more attention to ourselves.
“I’m not some two bit hussy who goes around sleeping with people, and let me tell you, I loathe the day I ever crawled into your bed.”
“Come on, Reagan, was it that bad?” No, it wasn’t that bad, in fact it was probably one of the best nights of my life, from what I remembered, but I wasn’t going to tell him that, not after he completely ignored me after the fact.
“I’m not doing this, Cole, not here, this night isn’t about us. Let’s just get through this evening and tomorrow and after that you can go back to ignoring me.” I whipped myself around and went straight for Addison. “Come on, Bridezilla, we need to get you to bed, we have an early morning tomorrow.”
Casey wrapped his arms tightly around her and held on for dear life. “Please, don’t make her leave, can’t I just take her home with me? No one will know.”
“Absolutely not, it’s bad luck. Besides, while you all are sleeping in tomorrow morning we’ll be at the salon getting beautiful, now say goodbye, we have to go.” Casey and Addison turned to each other and made out like two love struck teenagers without a care in the world. “Okay, okay, you don’t want any hickies on your wedding day do you?” I grabbed Addison’s arm and pulled her away.
She waved to Casey and yelled back to him, “I love you, baby, tomorrow you’ll be my husband!”
“I love you, more, Mrs. Conrad!” We heard Case yell as we walked out the front door of the restaurant.
Both of us were laughing at their performance. “You two are so lame.”
“We are not, we’re just in love. Don’t you worry, one day you’ll find yourself someone just as special as Casey is to me. Who knows, maybe you and Cole will hit it off?”
“It’ll be a cold day in hell.” I said under my breath, trying to avoid that subject. There was no way I wanted Addison to know Cole was my GQ, she’d flip and we’d be up all night talking about it. Knowing her, she’d have us engaged and married by next weekend, just so she and I could finally really be family.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Get up! Get Up! Get Up! I’m getting married today!” Addison was shouting at the top of her lungs and jumping on my bed like a child.
I rolled over in bed to look at my phone and the time read 6:30 AM. “Ugh, go back to sleep, we don’t have to be to the salon until 8:30.”
“Who cares, this is the best day of my life and I can’t sleep any longer and I need you to get your ass out of bed and celebrate with me.” Clearly she didn’t get enough sleep last night, but what could I do, she was right, it was the happiest day of her life. I forced myself to wake up and I climbed up on the bed, so I was standing face to face with her. We both began jumping on the bed and screaming like fools. We were laughing so hard the tears were pouring down our faces. I hugged her so tight.
“I’m so happy for you, you have no idea. You and Case are perfect for each other, and I cannot wait to see the two of you finally make it official today.” She grabbed my hand and pulled us both down onto the bed, so we were lying side by side.
“Okay, I’m going to get sentimental here, so just bear with me for a second. Today is the happiest day of my life, but I want you to know none of this would’ve been possible without you. You knew Case long before I did, and it was your bright idea to introduce us. You’re the sister I never had and I’m so grateful that we’re celebrating this day together. There is no one else I’d rather have by my side than you. And one day, when you finally get your head out of your ass, you’ll be waking me up at who knows what hour of the morning, so we can jump up and down on the bed and scream about the fact that you are marrying the man of your dreams.”
I hugged my best friend so tight. And in that very instant a picture of Cole flashed through my head. “Okay, enough of the heavy, let’s get this party started.” I jumped out of bed, pulling Addison up with me. I had to get focused on something else, so I wasn’t thinking about him.
He
was the last person I wanted to associate with marriage.
It hadn’t taken much to get my mind off of Cole. Mimosas, a Swedish massage, hair and makeup, and I was in wedding la-la-land, right there with my best friend. “Reagan, you look stunning.”
I looked in the mirror and smiled at myself, I looked great, but Addison was the belle of the ball. “I’ve definitely got nothing on you, Mrs. Casey Conrad.” She was beaming as she critiqued every centimeter of the both of us in the full length mirror we were posing in front of.
“Can you believe that will be my real name in just a few hours?”
Of course, I could. Case had fallen head over heels on their very first date. “Of course I can.” I said, hugging her. Oh man, this day was going to get emotional, I could already tell. “Okay, okay, no tears, we don’t want to ruin our make-up, and you don’t want the first thing Casey sees when you are walking down the aisle towards him to be raccoon eyes.”
She laughed. “You’re right, no more crying.”
After spending the morning at the salon, we’d all packed into the limo and headed towards the church to finish getting ready. Addison had us on a tight schedule, there was no way we could be late, and she was beyond ready to finally become Mrs. Casey Conrad. The bridal room was packed with bridesmaids, family members, photographers, and hair and make-up artist in case we needed touch ups. We were all buzzing around the room getting ready, while enjoying the day together.