“Don’t ever ask me to,” I reply. As we watch each other, the light shining down on the angles of Rusty’s face and the tenderness pouring out from the depths of his eyes, a swell of emotion overcomes me. “I love you,” I murmur.
Rusty says nothing. His eyes search mine as he reaches forward to stroke my cheek with his fingertips. Finally sliding his hand around to cup the nape of my neck, he pulls me toward him and captures my lips with his own. The kiss is sweet. Profound. Enigmatic. It says something. I’m just not sure what.
CHAPTER TEN- Rusty
I ease open the unlocked front door of Trick’s house. I’m hoping he’s already in bed, sleeping off his zillion shots of Patron and his undoubtedly painful set of blue balls before his wedding in the morning. I close the door quietly behind me.
“You are the shittiest best friend ever!” he mumbles from the darkness.
“Holy mother of hell! You’re scared the piss out of me!”
With no lights on, I can barely make out Trick’s silhouette where he’s sitting at the island. I see his arm move as he tips back a bottle. He’s drinking. Again.
No sex’ll do that to a man!
“Don’t you think you ought to knock that off and get some sleep? I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be presentable when Cami meets you at the altar.”
“Kiss my ass, man! I’m trying to drown my libido so I can honor my fiancée’s wishes. Unlike some people.”
“Hey, I’m not the one getting married, dude. I have no clue how Jenna and I ended up involved in this.”
“Because you two are our best friends. You’re supposed to do it for moral support.”
“I was doing it for moral support.”
“Then where have you been for the last two hours?”
I chuckle. “Damn, has it been that long?”
“You dawg,” Trick shouts, jumping to his feet. “You have been with Jenna!”
“I thought that’s what we were talking about.”
Trick flicks the kitchen light on and I can see that he’s grinning. “I was just yanking your chain, man. I didn’t think you’d really cave that fast. You really can’t stay away from that girl, can you?”
I hadn’t really thought of it that way. “I don’t have the same motivation as you. I’m not the one getting married. Besides, you’ve got the rest of your life to bang your wife. My time with Jenna is much more limited.”
“That’s your choice, dumb ass.”
“It’s not a choice. It’s just the way it is.”
“Just because she has interviews doesn’t mean she’s gonna take either job. Besides, there’s nothing holding you here. Nothing saying you couldn’t be with her somewhere else.”
I feel like I’ve been kicked in the teeth. Or in the chest. Jenna has interviews. And she hasn’t said a single word to me about them. I don’t really know what to say. I can tell by Trick’s expression that he knows he’s stepped in it. If he weren’t shitfaced, he’d never have told me and I’d never have known. Until she was already gone.
Why would she hide it, though? Was she just planning on bailing and never saying a word? Because that doesn’t sound like Jenna. Even though I expected her to go—eventually—I can’t imagine her doing it like that.
But still, she didn’t tell me. For a reason.
“Jenna’s in love with you, idiot.”
“Sometimes love isn’t enough.”
Trick shakes his head. “Whatever. You want a beer?”
“Nah,” I say, suddenly feeling tired. “I think I’m going to bed.”
Trick drains his beer. “Yeah. Me, too. Tomorrow, my suffering will come to an…explosive end.”
“Too much information, dude!” I mumble as I walk away. “Too much information.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN- Jenna
Spending the entire morning being lavishly pampered, scrubbed, buffed, massaged, made up, curled and dressed with my best friend on her wedding day is a ridiculous amount of fun. And memories of Rusty last night, his hard body between me and a mechanical bull, only make my mood that much lighter.
Once we are as perfect as professional hands can make us, we move into one huge room full of mirrors to get dressed. I pull on my dress, zip it up and spin in front of the mirror.
“You really are the best friend ever,” I tell Cami.
“I know, but what did I do to make you say that this time?” she asks with a mischievous grin.
“Only the bestestest friend in the whole world would take such pains to pick a bridal color that suits both her and her best friend’s complexion, especially when they’re basically polar opposites.” Cami has dark red hair, blue eyes and fair skin, while I have black hair, dark eyes and olive skin. There are, like, ten colors out of a zillion that would look good on both of us. Yet Cami picked one of them to use on arguably the most important day of her life.
Cami shrugs. “I can’t very well have you looking all washed out, standing up there behind me, now can I?”
She winks, but I know that had nothing to do with her choice. She’s just that kind of a person—caring, considerate, selfless. Even on her wedding day.
The royal blue dress complements my coloring surprisingly well. My skin glows like bronze, my eyes sparkle like drops of onyx and my lips needed very little red stain. And the cut of the garment is superb. The pencil slim design makes my waist look narrow, my ass look round and my boobs look like they’re tucked up under my chin. On top of that is my sexy hair-do—black curls pulled up on the sides with tendrils dripping down to kiss my shoulders. All in all, I can’t wait for Rusty to see me.
After my confession last night, I feel the need to knock his socks off. For my self-esteem’s sake as much as anything else.
As we are being herded out of the salon toward the curb, I see the familiar face of Trick’s mom, Leena, hovering at the edge of crowd of giggling girls. I look to my left to find Cami, only she’s not beside me anymore. I turn to find her stopped dead in her tracks, staring at Leena.
“Come on,” I say, reaching back to take her hand. “It’s your wedding day. You can do this.” Her wide eyes dart to mine and I can see in them that she’s not convinced. “You won. Just remember that. You. Won.”
I tug on her hand, pulling her behind me as we make our way to the waiting limo. All the other girls pile in and, before we can duck inside, Leena makes her way to Cami. I start to let go of Cami’s hand and get into the limo to give them some privacy, but she tightens her grip, urging me to stay. So I do.
Leena jumps right in, not giving Cami the chance to say anything. “Cami, I’m not trying to ruin your wedding day and I’m not trying to make your life harder by showing up like this. I just…I just wanted to talk to you beforehand. Without Trick.” She pauses and I see her take a deep breath, like she’s gathering courage to do something she doesn’t want to do. “I love my son more than you can imagine, but I’m not ready to be around your family just yet. I don’t know if that will ever change. I’m working on seeing you for you, not for the mistakes of your family. And that’s why I wanted to come today. I’m sorry I didn’t come to any of the other events. I just didn’t think I could be around…everyone that much just yet. I want to be part of your life, part of my son’s life and the lives of my grandchildren, but I can’t promise much more than that right now. Just know that I’m trying. And that I’m here for Trick.” She pauses, looking away again. “And for you.”