AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stood up and took her hand in mine, those damn little tingles and sparks traveling through my skin when our hands touched again. I held firm as she pressed a hand on my shoulder, and then when she bent down low enough, I grabbed her by the waist and set her on the floor.
“Hi.” She smiled as she got her bearings.
“Hi.” I smiled back. “So, you’re having fun with the girls?”
“Oh, my God, yes!” She practically burst with excitement. “So much fun! They are all amazing!”
“Yeah. They are really good girls. I’ve known Jenna and Jo forever since we all grew up here, and they’re both awesome. Tami, Nancy, Trish, and Allison I met a few years ago, and they feel like family now too. Really a fun crew, huh?”
“So fun! I’ve honestly never had a ton of female friends. This is my first bachelorette party, and I’m glad it’s with them. They are all making me feel so welcome.”
“Good. I knew they would. So, your first bachelorette party, huh? Lots of firsts for you this week.”
She grinned and passed a glance to Tami, who stood just beside her with a sly, knowing look. Deep crimson crawled up Ivy’s cheeks as she diverted her gaze.
What is that all about?
I couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened while we’d been apart. What other first could Tami be secretly hinting at ... very badly secretly hinting since I’d caught on in seconds. Had Ivy kissed another guy? Was another thing on her list making out with a random guy at the bar for the first time? My stomach twisted with jealousy at the thought of another man’s lips on hers. And jealousy wasn’t a feeling I was very familiar with. It had been ages since I’d thought enough of a girl to care who she’d been kissing. And hell, I’d never felt jealousy rev up to turning my blood to boiling like it did picturing Ivy in another man’s arms.
“What was that about?” I finally asked, unable to shrug it off like I normally would.
“What was what about?” she answered, but she looked nervous.
Oh, God. She kissed someone else. I’m about to lose my shit.
As I contemplated throat punching some random dude, my stomach flipped over.
“The look Tami gave you. What other first did you have tonight?”
“Huh?” She dropped her gaze again, and her cheeks cranked up to another shade of red. “Nothing. Nothing at all. We just did a lot of dancing and some drinking and played some bachelorette games. That’s all.”
“Okay,” I answered, though the anxiety tearing apart my insides still didn’t let go. Clearly, she didn’t want to talk about it, and I wasn’t going to press her more. All I could do was try to push the image of another man kissing those lips I’d gotten just a taste of on the train—the lips I wanted to taste again, and again, and again.
“Come on, girls! Shots!” Allison called.
“Uh, I guess I gotta go back to the girls. But I’m not doing any shots tonight. I had enough of those in Paradise Isles to last me for quite a while.”
I laughed. “I remember.”
She made a sour face, and then Jo grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away to the table the girls started gathering at. I watched her walk away, my eyes glued to her every step of the way.
“I know guys in Recon who don’t even watch a target that hard,” Hayden joked. “The Marines would be happy to recruit you for your skills in locking onto a target like that.”
“Would you guys shut up?” I chuckled and finally convinced my eyes to unglue themselves from Ivy.
“Oh, our boy is a smitten kitten.” Matt grinned.
I leveled him with a glare. “I will seriously punch you if you call me a smitten kitten again.”
He fought his smile but lost the battle quickly. After a few moments of chuckling, his smile softened, and he leaned in. “For real, though, dude. What’s the problem? Why don’t you make a move on the girl?” Before I could open my mouth, he lifted a hand. “And don’t say you’re just friends. That’s such a cop-out. You barely know her. Jo and I ... we’re just friends. Have been for decades. Making a move on Jo would be catastrophic if it went bad. You making a move on the girl you’ve known for three days? That’s nothing, man. What’s the worst that can happen? She says no. So what? You’ll probably never see her again, so I’m just not understanding the loss. I haven’t seen you this tripped up on a girl in years ... Ever, actually. So, what’s the problem for real?”
I wanted to argue back and tell him and the other guys listening that we really were just friends, but this time I couldn’t force my tongue to twist out that lie. “I dunno, man. She told me rule number one was no kissy stuff, and I guess I’m just trying to respect her wishes. But yeah ... it’s fucking killing me, okay? I’m completely spun on the girl, alright? She’s smart, funny, sweet, and gorgeous. There’s just something about her that I can’t understand. I admit it. I don’t just want to be her friend. You happy?”
They all grinned at me like a pack of Cheshire cats.
Evan clapped a big mitt on my shoulder. “The first step is acceptance.”
I laughed and shrugged it off. “Shut up, dude.”
