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“You have to have this, Leah,” Bree said.
“And you did say Radleigh told you to get whatever you want,” Kayla pointed out.
“Oh God.” I laughed, running my hands through my hair.
“This is it,” Freya told me, taking my hands. “This is the dress you’ll get married in. Screw the cost. You’ve been through so much crap over the last few months. You deserve this.”
One last glimpse in the mirror was all it took.
“Okay. I’ll take it.”
Chapter Seven – Halos and Horns
“Say cheese!”
Bree held her phone out as far as she could and we all tried to fit into the shot for our first selfie of my hen/bachelorette party. Kayla had gone home, and we had been joined by Stacey and Alison, my friends from Boston, who were staying for the weekend. We’d had a very dignified dinner at the hotel, during which we were dressed appropriately and behaved impeccably.
But that was two and a half hours ago.
Now we were at our first club of the night
, dressed as angels and devils – Bree’s idea – and necking our first round of cocktails. Freya, Izzy and I were the angels, and Bree, Alison and Stacey were the devils – all of us complete with halos and horns. I’d also been given a bride-to-be sash to explain why we looked so crazy. Not that anyone would have batted an eyelid, really. We were never going to be the weirdest sight in an L.A nightclub.
After finally choosing my dress, I felt lighter and more relaxed. The earlier strain and lack of excitement had been replaced by a buzz I hadn’t felt in a long time. Most of the wedding decisions had been made, everything had been booked for the day, things with Radleigh were back on track, and all I had to do now was not put on weight and look forward to the big day.
“We look hot,” Bree said, examining the photo she’d just taken. “I could use a selfie stick, though.”
She passed the phone around and I had to admit, we did look good. We had the faces of women who intended to enjoy every second of this night, and as I handed the phone back to her, I said, “That’s going on Twitter, isn’t it?”
“Hell yes!” She grinned.
Alison laughed. “I need to persuade Michael to move here. The clubs here are insane.” She glanced around at the women hanging off the ceiling doing aerial gymnastics, while others gyrated around poles at the edge of the dancefloor. “I mean, it looks dangerous, but it’s mesmerising!”
“I always thought it was weird,” Freya said, following Alison’s gaze. “When you’re dancing, okay, you can see the pole dancers, but those girls up there… who’s gonna notice them?”
“People like us,” Izzy pointed out. “We can see them just fine from here.”
“I don’t think we have places like this in Boston,” Stacey said. “Maybe we should all move here. Billy would love the chance to hang out with Radleigh again.”
I giggled, remembering how starstruck Billy had been when he met Radleigh in Boston. “Radleigh mentioned him the other day, actually, when I said you were coming here. He liked him.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to tell him that! Or maybe I shouldn’t. When we come to the wedding you’re probably going to want to be able to talk to Radleigh without Billy following him around!”
“I remember talking to you about Radleigh,” Alison said with a grin. “You told me you didn’t like him, but there was no hiding the chemistry between you.”
“You say that, but you didn’t see how mad she was when she found him sitting on my sofa! I thought she was going to kill him!”
That weekend in Boston was a game changer for Radleigh and me, and as much as I’d tried to deny it at the time, I knew all along that it would be. When I saw him sitting in Stacey’s living room I was furious, and I told myself it was because it was so inappropriate for him to be there, especially since all we’d done in recent weeks was fight. But deep down, I was angry because I knew there was every chance I’d give in to him if left alone with him for long enough. It just worked out that it happened after he’d opened up to me a little. After he’d started to let me see who he really was.
“I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t like him,” I said, laughing. “Most of the time, I couldn’t stand him. But he’s always been sexy as hell, and that night… alcohol and honesty took over.”
“About that,” Alison said. “You still haven’t told me what he’s like in bed…”
I burst out laughing. Alison was the sweetest, calmest person in the world, but as soon as alcohol passed her lips, she said all the things she suppressed when she was sober.
Freya covered her ears with her hands. “Nope! I don’t need to hear this.”
“Why not?” Bree giggled. “Don’t tell me you’re not curious.”
