AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Damn. They grow them hot in Door County.
“Wow. Hi.” Tim waved first. “It’s, uh, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Ivy.”
“You brought a girl?” Ian, who looked like a younger version of Ethan with a scruffy beard, spun to look at Ethan. “Like a living, breathing girl?”
“Dude. Shut up.” Ethan elbowed him in the ribs.
Ian rubbed his side. “Does Mom know? She’s gonna freak out that you, Mr. Stag, have an actual date to the wedding.”
“No. She doesn’t know. And Ivy isn’t like adatedate,” Ethan said, looking at me, then twisting his face as he struggled for words. “She’s a ... she’s, uh, she’s a ... friend.”
It felt like we were so much more than the word friend encapsulated, and I understood why Ethan struggled to label our relationship without going into the long version of how we’d come to be here together.
“Well, it’s really nice to meet you, Ivy,” Matt, the first one who’d spoken, stepped forward and shook my hand.
“Great to meet you,” Jake, the one with the dark hair, hypnotic blue eyes, and face like a movie star, followed suit.
“Hey,” Hayden said as he lifted his heavily muscled and tattooed arm to give me a short wave. He seemed more stoic than the other playful guys, and if I had to guess, I’d say he was a military guy from the rigid way he stood. With his rugged beard and the hardness in his green eyes, something about him felt dangerous.
“And I’m Evan,” the last guy with the soft brown hair and kind smile said as he waved.
“And he reallyisEvan, in case you get confused. Ethan.” He pointed to himself. “Evan.” He pointed to Evan.
Heat raced to my cheeks as I remembered that I’d kept calling him Evan that first night we’d met and was drunk out of my mind.
Ethan started laughing and ignored the confused looks on his friends’ faces.
I laughed with him, shaking my head, then saying, “Well, it’s really nice to meet all of you.”
“So.” Ethan clapped his hands. “Now that introductions are done, I just have to grab my wallet, and I’m ready to go. You sure you’re going to be okay here alone?”
“Yes. I promise. I’ll be fine.”
“You just got here, and already he’s ditching you? Mom would slap you upside the head.” Ian shook his head.
“Hey, I don’t want to, but we got in two days late, and I figured you’d kill me if I skipped the bachelor party to stay here with Ivy.”
“I would,” Tim noted. “I definitely would.”
“See!” Ethan waved a hand at him. “So, I don’t have much choice other than to leave her here unless you guys don’t mind me bringing her along?”
They all froze up and shot worried looks back and forth.
I started to laugh. “Seriously, guys. It’s fine. I’ll be completely content here by myself. You just go out and have fun, and don’t worry about me.”
“You sure?” Ethan asked. “I do feel terrible about the timing of this.”
“I’m sure.” I lifted my wine glass. “I’ve got wine. I’m good.”
“Actually,” Matt said, lifting his finger. “The girls are on a different trolly tonight for Tami’s bachelorette party. Maybe Ivy could jump on with them and get out to have some Door County fun.”
Ethan turned to look at me. “You know, that may be really fun. That group of girls is an absolute blast.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.” I shook my head as anxiety about jumping on a trolley with a bunch of strangers twisted my stomach into a knot.
“Seriously,” Jake added. “You’ll have fun with them. And Door County isn’t that big, so I’m sure we’ll all end up together later on in the night.”
I wedged my teeth between my lips.
