“Nailed it. Nice memory. It’s good. How about you? Juls told me something about your bakery getting broken into or some shit a few months back? That’s fucked up.”

“Yeah well its fine now. They caught the psycho that did it and there wasn’t any permanent damage.” Heather was apprehended by the police a few weeks after the break in. Her prints matched the ones on the brick and she admitted to everything, getting charged with breaking and entering and also getting moved out of the city by her parents. Juls had relayed the information from Ian when he found out about it.

“So, any man in your life or have I finally caught up with you when you’re single?” I smile sweetly at Tony but shake my head. He is definitely not my type and even if he was, I have no interest in dating anybody right now. Especially when the man that broke me is sitting no more than ten feet away from me, continually staring at my profile.

“Oh please, like you could even handle me,” I playfully respond and he nods in agreement. “It was good to see you. I’ll catch up with you later, okay?” I turn to go back around the table but see a major pile up of bodies at the end I want to walk down and grunt as I have to make my way towards the other end. I walk behind Trent and Billy’s chairs, giving them both smiles as I quickly push past Reese’s and feel his hand grip my elbow, halting me to his side.

“What the fuck was that?” he growls up at me.

I snatch my arm out of his hand and scowl back down at him. “What the fuck was what?”

“You know what. Are you seriously going to blatantly flirt in front of me? Is that how this shit is going to play out?” Is he serious? I am in no mood for any Reese style tirade and this is definitely not the place for it.

I bend lower to get my face nice and close to his and see him back up a bit. “You think that was flirting? I’ve known Tony for ten years; he’s like a brother to me. But if I did want to flirt with him, it wouldn’t be any of your God damned business now would it?” My tone is clipped and I’m fuming, feeling Ian move quickly out of his seat.

“Okay. Wow, that didn’t take long. Umm, Dylan, why don’t you go over to your seat, and Reese, just calm the fuck down, man.” Ian ushers me past Juls. I quickly pull out my chair and plant myself down in it, glaring over in his direction as Reese narrows his eyes at me.

“Jesus, what the hell was that?” Juls asks as Joey leans in.

“Actually, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. I had money on you kicking him in the nuts at the church,” he adds. I wave my hands at both of them to back them off me.

“Nothing. He accused me of flirting with Tony. Fucking prick,” I say through clenched teeth. I was definitely not flirting with him. I’ve never seen Tony as anything other than an acquaintance, even though he’s asked me out more times than I can count. My eyes glance down the table and I see Ian leaning in and talking to a tense looking Reese. Ugh. Stupid men.

“You and Tony? That’s fucking hilarious,” Juls says and continues cutting up her chicken. “And even if you were, he has no right to act like that.”

“I know,” I agree loudly and get quickly shushed. “Acting all holier than thou. I’m sure he waited a whole five seconds before he threw another girl into his bed after I left it.” I shove a piece of chicken in my mouth and start chewing as Brooke leans across Joey’s lap.

“I heard him tell you that you looked beautiful. That was really sweet,” she whispers and earns herself the evil eye from all three of us.

“Shut up, Brooke,” we all say in unison as we continue eating our meals. I don’t look down the table again for the rest of the night and keep my conversations with anyone other than Juls and Joey to a minimum. This evening has been exhausting and I’m emotionally drained and unsure how the hell I’m going to handle tomorrow. I’m reassured that I’ll only really have to deal with Reese during the ceremony and that once we’re at the reception, I can stay as far away from him as I’d like. But it’s the mere fact that we’ll once again be at a wedding together, where this whole fucked up situation started that is going to have me in knots. I need to focus on making sure that everything runs smoothly for Juls so that’s what I’ll do. It’s my job as her maid of honor and it will keep my mind off unwanted memories of falling into laps and bathroom sex romps. Speaking of bathrooms, I plan on avoiding the ones tomorrow at all costs.

Twenty Three

Juls and Ian’s big day has finally arrived and miraculously, everything is running smoothly. I got up early and delivered the cake with Joey to the reception hall before we headed over to the bridal suite where we are all currently getting ready. Juls is glowing, Joey is routinely sneaking out to get a peek at the men who are dressing at the other end of the church and Brooke is completely sober and has her wits about her. After slipping into my stunning chocolate brown floor length strapless dress, I help Juls into hers along with her mother.

“Oh, sweetheart. This dress,” Mrs. Wicks says, tears filling her freshly painted eyes as I try to hold mine back. My makeup is looking pristine and fabulous and I have no desire to ruin it with unwanted tears. We finish buttoning her up and step back. She’s stunning, absolutely gorgeous in her wedding gown and I bite my lip to hold my emotions in.

“Damn, Juls. I have money on Ian losing his mind when he sees you at the end of the aisle,” Brooke says as she smooth’s out her dress. Joey comes bustling back into the suite and drops his jaw on the floor.

“Holy fuck. You look amazing.”

“Joseph! You’re in a church,” Mrs. Wicks sternly informs him, both hands flying up to her hips. “Easy on the language today please. And that goes for all four of you. Especially you, Dylan.” She flicks her daggers at me.

“Me? Please, I’m such a lady.” I shrug and catch a wink from Juls in the mirror as the suite door swings open again, this time revealing a very handsome and slightly nervous looking Mr. Wicks.

“Oh my. Darling, you look so beautiful.” He moves and stands in front of Juls, grabbing both of her hands in his and pulling her off her stool. “That’s it, weddings off. You’re too pretty for that man.”

“Daddy,” she says through a huge smile and he softens in front of her. I move up to the mirror and take a good look at myself as they exchange a private father-daughter moment, Joey joining me at my side. My hair is pinned up into an elegant twist; a few pieces pulled out and tucked behind my ears that are adorned with the amber stud earrings Juls gifted us with this morning. My makeup is sophisticated but subtle, a light dusting of rose lip gloss that I’m somehow managing to pull off without looking like I belong on a street corner, and my dress is perfect, hugging me across my chest and showing a classy amount of cleavage if there ever was such a thing. I feel Joey’s hand on my lower back.

“Look at us. We almost look too good for this wedding. I’m afraid we might just upstage the bride,” he whispers as we both glance over at Juls who is hugging her father.

“Not a chance,” I say and he nods in agreement. Mr. Wicks backs away from his daughter and turns towards all of us.

“It’s time people. Let’s move this along before I lock my daughter in this room and refuse to let Ian have her.” We all giggle at his comment, hearing the hint of seriousness in his tone as we file out of the bridal suite and down the back staircase that leads towards a hidden area where we’re supposed to line up. I haven’t seen the inside of the church since we arrived here hours ago and I’m a bit nervous at the number of people in attendance who will be watching me walk up the aisle. My heels are insanely high, dark brown sling backs that I’ve scuffed the bottoms of to prevent any major slip up. But I’m still nervous about walking in them. Karma could easily give me a right shove in the back and send me falling flat on my face given the amount of hate she’s shown me lately. All this animosity. And for what? Because I fell in love with a man that only cared about fucking me? Nice Karma. Way to stick with your fellow woman.