The Love Series Complete Box Set (86 page)

She jumps up and down and claps her hands. “Yes! You got it! Yeah, I’m Julia Roberts from
Pretty Woman.
I’m a hooker!” I’ve never seen someone so happy to be identified as a prostitute in all my life, but that’s Lia for you.

My phone buzzes in my hand and it’s a text from Bryan. “Come on ladies. Bryan is downstairs. Let’s go.” He offered to be the designated driver for the night, but I think he had ulterior motives. He wanted to win over my friends and my heart softens at the thought that he wants them to like him.

Of course when we get to the parking lot, he’s holding the door open for the girls. They all slide into the backseat saying “Hi” to him as they pass his extended arm. He opens the passenger door for me and closes it after I sit down. When he walks around to his side, Lia wolf whistles at him and we all laugh. Thank goodness she doesn’t have any time to say anything. I can only imagine what would come out of her mouth. I just hope she can behave for the ten-minute drive to the party.

Bryan gets into his seat and pulls the seat belt across his lap. When he places his hand on my knee a tingle travels up my body. He leans in and kisses my cheek and whispers, “You look great.”

Without even waiting for me to respond, he looks over his shoulder into the back seat and chuckles. “Well, this is the first time I’ve had a Goddess, a fairy and a whore in my car at the same time.”

Without missing a beat, Lia chimes in. “I am not a whore.” She clutches her hand playfully to her chest. “I am a classy hooker. Now drive me to my party so I can get my drink on.” She makes a motion with her hand for Bryan to start driving and everyone else breaks out into loud laughter. He looks over at me from his seat and mouths, “Wow,” as he pulls out into traffic.

When we pull up in front of the party, the girls climb out of the car and immediately race up the stairs. Cammie and Maddy go in search of Jack and Reid, and Lia, well, I’m pretty sure Lia is just searching for some booze.

Bryan takes my hand and we walk into the house together. We weave our way through the large crowd. When we get to the living room, we find Maddy, Reid, Cammie and Jack. Everyone smiles at Bryan as he introduces himself to the guys.

“Nice to meet you, man. You want a drink?” Jack asks as he shakes Bryan’s hand.

“No thanks. I’m driving tonight.” He shakes his head and returns his hand to mine.

“Reid, what the hell are you wearing? Maddy said you weren’t dressing up.” I ask as I stifle a laugh.

“What, don’t you think it’s true?” he asks as he looks down at the gift-wrapped box he’s wearing. It has holes cut out of the top for his head and the sides for his arms.

“Well that depends. If you’re going as A Dick in a Box, then hell yeah, you’re spot on.” That comment makes Maddy snort in laughter. He wasn’t exactly nice to her before the two of them started dating. But, since then, he’s been perfect. I can’t deny that I have a huge soft spot for my best friend’s boyfriend. The fact that he takes me out to lunch once a week just to keep on my good side is a nice touch as well.

He laughs at my snippy comment and smirks at me. “Read the tag. You’ll get it,” he says.

I eye the tag that’s folded closed and choke on my laughter when I read,

To:
Women

From:
God

Jack chimes in through my giggling and eye rolling, “He wears it every fucking year.”

“What? I am.” Reid’s voice is laced with humor. He kisses Maddy sweetly and she rolls her eyes at him.

“You sure are, Reid. But does that mean I get to unwrap you later on?” Maddy’s playful words definitely have an effect on him. It’s cute to see them together. They’ve both been under each other’s skin from that first night they met, and ever since they got together officially, they’ve been the cutest couple ever. There’s just something about them that tells me they’ll make it.

“Come on. Let’s go get you a drink,” Reid says to Maddy as he walks her out of the living room and into the kitchen. Jack and Cammie follow behind them and just as Bryan and I move to follow them, Liam, Bryan’s soccer teammate, walks up behind us and claps Bryan on the shoulder.

“Hey, Bryan. I didn’t know you’d be here tonight,” Liam says as he stands in front of us.

“Hey, Liam. Yeah, my girlfriend, Melanie, is friends with Jack and Cammie,” Bryan explains as he points to Jack as he walks into the kitchen. Liam says hi to me and politely shakes my hand, but there’s something fishy in the way he looks at me.

“I guess it’s not such a small campus, after all, huh. I’m in the Physical Therapy program with Jack,” Liam explains as he lets go of my hand, which I promptly return to Bryan’s.

“I didn’t see you at the party after the soccer game. What happened?” Liam asks as he takes a gulp of his beer.

Bryan laughs a little. “Yeah, well, when I saw you throwing up in a shoe, I figured I missed the party. So Melanie and I left and well . . . we had our own party.” A heated blush creeps up my neck and across my face.

“Bryan!” I gasp and swat him on the arm.

“What? We did.” He kisses my forehead and wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side.

I roll my eyes, but when he moves his hand from my shoulder to the base of my neck and starts playing with my hair, he’s forgiven.

“I’ll let you guys catch up. I’m going to go find the girls. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I stretch up in my toes and kiss Bryan on his cheek, but out of the corner of my eye I see Liam give me an ugly stare. I don’t really need to find the girls, but I just want to get away from Liam.

Before finding the rest of the group, I decide to stop in the bathroom and freshen up. Luckily, since it’s still early, there’s no line so I go right in. After I’m done washing my hands and reapplying my lip-gloss, I reach for the door. I nearly stumble through it as it’s pulled open from the other end. Tripping over my own feet, I land into someone in a slutty nurse costume.

Straightening myself, and pulling my face out of her tits, I’m less than pleased to see that I’ve just motor-boated Courtney.

Just my freaking luck!

I adjust my headband of cat ears and move to walk past her without saying a word, because, honestly, she’s the last person on Earth who I want to talk to.

Well, that plan goes to shit, when she grasps my wrist and pulls me into the bathroom with her. For a skinny bitch, she’s pretty strong.

After she slams the door behind her, she eyes me up and down. “What do you want, Courtney?” I practically spit my words at her. I wish I had fewer manners, because spitting in her face actually sounds like a great idea.

“I want you to back the fuck off Bryan.” Her words are dripping with venom and hate. Of course, they make me laugh.

“And why exactly would I do that?” I cross my arms over my chest and stare her down.

Courtney takes me by surprise when she steps into my personal space and pokes her bony finger into my arm. “Because it makes me look bad!” Her finger presses into my shoulder to accentuate each of her evil words.

A snarky and dismissive laugh escapes my lips. Unfolding my arms from my chest, I poke her back. “And, please tell me, how the hell does it make you look bad?” I huff and try to walk past her. But, once again, she grabs my wrist and digs her fingers tips into my skin.

Oh, it’s on now, bitch!

I let out a deep, steadying breath and turn calmly toward her. Wriggling my wrist free from her grimy hands, I place both of my hands on my hips and just stand there waiting for her to answer. Her eyes skim over my body before she speaks and I have a feeling I know what words are going to come out of her mouth. I brace myself for the blow that I know is about to knock me over. Her lips curl up into an evil little smirk, and she says, “Because he picked a fat, little wiry-haired bitch over me.” Courtney steps into my face again and pokes me in the shoulder one more time. “Now, if you don’t leave him alone, I’m going to have to do something about it. Just you wait and see.” Her words are a calm but evil whisper. Unwilling to let her get the best of me, I glare at her, showing her that her words mean nothing to me.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t a,” I tap my finger on my lip as I call up the perfect words. “Oh that’s right—a shallow, cold, heartless, bitch you wouldn’t have lost him in the first place. Besides what kind of person, if that’s what you can even call yourself, actually insults a child. You fucking bitch.” I’m practically vibrating in anger recalling what she said about Emmie.

Rolling her eyes skyward and huffing at me, she says, “Whatever. She’s a fucking little retard and it doesn’t even matter. It’s not like I insulted Bryan. I don’t even know why he cares.”

Before I can even hold myself back, my palm stings sweetly against her cheek. “Don’t you ever fucking call her that again! She is not a retard!” Gripping her chin in my hands, I force her eyes, which are now filled with a few tears from my slap, up to meet mine.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to leave Bryan and me alone, for good. He doesn’t want you, and after this little insight into who you really are, I can totally tell why.” I release her chin and push her back slightly before glaring at her one last time. “You’re not even worth the air I wasted on this conversation. Now, get the fuck out!” I hold my head high as she walks past me and out of the bathroom.

I really hope that puts an end to her whole “I’m going to get Bryan back” campaign.

When some of the adrenaline fades, reality sets in. What the freak? She’s acting like they were engaged or something like that. Yet, as much as I don’t want to let her words affect me, I can’t deny that they do. They speak to every issue I’ve had to this point and force me to question what Bryan and I have shared. The freaking bitch!

Trying my best to seem unaffected, I splash some cold water on my face and touch up my make-up once more. A knock on the door startles me and I call out, “I’ll be right out!”

Exiting the bathroom, I walk past a huge line that’s snaking its way down the hall. People give me the evil-eye as they wait. Great, just what I needed—more people hating on me!

By the time I make it back into the living room, a crowd of people are dancing to some loud club mix. I see Bryan off to the side; his back is to me as he’s engaged in a conversation with someone I can’t see beyond his body. When my eyes land on his solid back, a warm feeling of comfort and security anchors me. Courtney can say whatever the hell she wants, but I know that she’s not who he wants.

As I make my way toward him, I nearly stop in my tracks. My gut churns and anger boils hot and fierce in my veins. Of course, Courtney is standing right in front of him. But what’s more shocking than that, is that she’s wrapped around Liam like a vine. I don’t know if she’s trying to make Bryan jealous or what, but the only thought that crosses my mind is that she looks like a whore. A bitchy, whore dressed up like a slutty nurse.

Bracing myself for the worst, I pad over to Bryan’s side and I’m more than a little hurt when he startles at my touch. He doesn’t include me in the conversation or look at me warmly or anything like that. In fact, he doesn’t say anything as he pulls me away from his little chat with Courtney and Liam.

Maybe it’s because I’m bristled with anxiety from my exchange with Courtney, but my words come out harsh and accusatory. “What’s up with that? What the hell were you guys talking about? Why did you pull me away like that?”

He doesn’t have a chance to answer me. His phone must vibrate in his pocket because I don’t hear it ring. When he looks at the screen to see who is calling him, his eyes looks a little scared. “I have to go outside to take this. I’ll be right back.” And then he walks away from me, leaving me all alone in the middle of a Halloween party that I didn’t even want to go to in the first place.

Scanning the crowd, I don’t see any familiar faces. Maddy, Cammie and Lia are nowhere to be found, and since Jack and Reid are never more than a step away from their girls, I don’t see them either. All I see is Courtney and Liam staring at me from across the room. The air around them stinks of some kind of conspiracy, and I have a feeling that the ugly looks Liam was shooting at me before I left to go to the bathroom are part of Courtney’s plan to come between me and Bryan.

No longer able to stand their harsh scrutiny, I step out onto the porch where Bryan has taken his call. When I see him holding his phone in front of his face, instead of pressing it up against his ear, I know immediately who has called him.

Emmie.

I stay to the side because I don’t want her to see me on the screen. Bryan has told me that she has a difficult time adjusting to new people so I don’t want to overwhelm her. But Bryan catches sight of me out of the corner of his eye and he smiles over at me. He holds one finger up to the side to let me know that he’ll just be another minute. I nod and wrap my arms around my chest, trying to block out some of the chill in the late autumn air.

Through the loud, raucous intensity of inside, I can hear bits and pieces of the conversation.

“It’ll be okay, Emmie. I promise,” he coaxes her, but it’s obviously not working when he adds, “They’ll calm down. Just stay in your room. Tell me about your new book. Yeah, the one I downloaded for you. What do you think?”

Bryan’s face lights up like a flash of lightning when she starts talking about whatever book he must have set up for her. I’m lost staring at him and daydreaming about how sweet he is, when I catch the tail end of his last sentence.

“ . . . no I’m not alone. You don’t have to worry, Emmie. I’m with my girlfriend, Melanie.” Bryan’s warm eyes look over to me and his face softens. I take a step closer to him, but still stay out of view. I’m close enough now that I can hear Emmie ask, “Can I see her?”

Bryan eyes me warily, unsure about how I’ll react. Surely, he’s thinking about how Courtney reacted, or maybe he’s thinking that I don’t want to talk to his sister. Keeping my voice low enough so that only he hears me, I say, “I can talk to her.”

He reaches out his hand to mine and pulls me to his side. Holding the phone in front of us, he centers it between our face so that Emmie can see both of us.