AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sloane didn’t bother answering. They had arrived at Bella’s house, finally. As soon as he put the car in park, she opened the door, quickly getting out. It was horrible, but she couldn’t wait to be away from him. That should’ve told her something right there.
Brody’s door opened. Cautiously, she turned around at the top of the stairs on the front porch. He stood by the open car door with his arms crossed over the hood. Great, show time. Mentally, she rolled her eyes.
“Have a great time, sweetheart,” he called, talking loud enough for everyone inside to hear him. “I’ll call you later. We’ll finally have that alone time that we need.” He winked before folding himself back into his car to drive away.
Just what she needed. As she was trekking into the house, she noticed Max’s truck parked across the street in the same spot it had been last night. Sighing, she walked inside.Lovely. Bella was sitting at the dining room table with Foster hunched over her from behind. His arms were crossed over Bella’s shoulders. They were laughing. They were so happy, it almost made Sloane’s heart break for her own shitty relationship. Across from the happy couple sat Max.
“Hi, guys.” Sloane tried to sound chipper even though her headache from the morning was doing its best to creep back up.
Foster stood up and began marching toward her. He picked her up and spun her around once before setting her feet back on the floor. He had treated her like family from the first day they met. She had instantly liked him.
Bella sat smiling over what she could now see were wedding invitations. Max sat back in his chair stretching one arm over the back. The move put his expansive chest on display. She could make out more of the tattoo swirls on his arm. She had to drag her eyes away from him before she actually drooled on herself. The man was like sex on a stick and she wanted to lick every inch of him. Slowly and thoroughly.
Foster folded his arms, throwing her a mock glare. “You can pretend to be cheery all you want, Robertson, but we know better.”
“I don’t know what you’re babbling about, Hyland. I’m just fine.”
“Whenever a woman describes herself as ‘fine,’ she’s anything but.” He laughed.
Foster was a bit of a goof, but God love him, he knew how to lighten a room up. Sloane wandered over to Bella and kissed her cheek. They were more like sisters than cousins and best friends as long as either of them could remember.
“Maid of Honor reporting for duty.” Sloane’s smile was overenthusiastic. Feeling eyes on her, she turned her head. “Hey, Max.”
“Sloane.”
She loved her name on his lips. The way he’d said it in the past was more than just a name. It sounded like a promise. This time however, it sounded darker. Almost guarded. It shouldn’t affect her this way. It shouldn’t matter how he said her name. Not before and not now. It did, though. She couldn’t take her traitorous eyes from him. He didn’t even blink—just met the stare until she turned away. She had to break the connection. It was too much and yet not enough.
Sloane cleared her throat. “So, it looks like invitations are on the agenda today.”
“That’s right,” Bella chirped. “Grab one of those pens and here’s one half of the guest list. Want a Bloody Mary or a Screwdriver?”
“God no! Not after last night.”
Mirabella snorted with laughter. Sloane rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hold back her own chuckle. She risked a peek across the table from where she’d taken a seat, and her eyes locked once again with Max’s. He slowly shook his head for a moment before standing up to take a seat in the living room. He wasn’t acting like the guy she’d met last night. Did she do something wrong? More importantly, why did it matter?
Bella glanced up from filling out the address on a cream envelope. “What’s going on with Brody? I heard him outside earlier.”
“He wants to make it up to me for missing dinner. He got stuck at work.”
Bella scoffed. “We both know that’s bullshit.”
“Bella…”
“Don’t ‘Bella’ me! You’re my family and I love you. I can’t stand watching him hurt you over and over and you just take it. You make excuses and defend him. What the hell, Sloane?”
“It’s not his fault!” Sloane yelled back. Humiliation colored her face. Mirabella didn’t know she didn’t measure up to what Brody wanted in the bedroom. He wanted someone adventurous. He wanted someone to do things that she wasn’t comfortable doing, and when she resisted that’s when things had begun to change. That’s whenhechanged. There’s no way Bella would understand.
“Ladies—” Foster marched into the room. “Enough. Bella, sweetheart, as much as I agree with you, this isn’t our decision. It’s Sloane’s.”
“Thank you,” Sloane whispered.
“Oh no. Don’t go thanking me yet. You need to get your head outta your ass and realize we only want you happy. Before you try to interrupt me and lie, we both know you aren’t.”
Sloane cast her eyes down, not wanting to meet his gaze. They both loved her. She knew that, but it wasn’t the same as having someone to hold at night. To chase away the fears and show her there were better days ahead. They had that.
“All right, Max and I are gonna head out. Don’t scratch up any furniture with your cat fights.” He winked again and headed for the living room where Max had sat silently listening to the whole conversation. Now shereallyfelt like an ass. Great.
***
