nine
The Best Friend
"Are you all set?" Victoria calls out impatiently from the living room.
"Yes!" I shout, struggling to zip my boot.
"Nice," she whistles, now standing in the doorway to my bedroom. "You look sexy as hell."
"Thanks," I mutter, standing and adjusting the waist of my jeans. "Vic, I really don't know about this plan… I'm starting to feel guilty, again."
"Hon," Vic scolds, shaking her head at me. "How many times do I have to remind you of that conversation you two had at the coffee shop last week? He wants you to do this."
Sighing, I scrub my hands over my face and nod. "You're right, as always. I just start picturing myself in her place and the guilt sets in."
"Well, imagine if she was in your place. What do you think she'd do?" Victoria fixes me with a pointed stare.
Lip trapped between my teeth, I nod. She's right, again. If roles were reversed, that bitch would be all over Edward. "Okay," I tell Victoria, squaring my shoulders. "Now I'm ready."
"Good," she says with a smile. "Let's go get your man."
-Hallway-
After checking in for the flight, I roll my carry-on bag over to our agreed upon meeting spot – the designated security check point for our flight. From afar, I can tell the gang is all there – including her.
As I approach, I can't hold back my smile as I watch Emmett whoop and shout exaggeratedly about Vegas before pulling his signature "neck breaker" move on an unsuspecting Jasper. The two scuffle for a minute – Jasper struggling to unwind Emmett's arm from around his neck – before I decide to cut in.
"Hey, you buffoon!" I call to Emmett, who immediately releases Jasper and wraps me up in one of his bone-crushing hugs.
"Fuck, you smell good, girl!" Emmett murmurs close to my ear before setting me back down on my feet. Smiling at his praise, I pat his arm before turning to kiss Jasper on the cheek in greeting.
"Nice seeing you," Jasper mutters, wrapping one long arm around my waist in a loose hug before stepping back and clearing his throat.
"Likewise," I tell him with a grin. "You guys ready to get this party started?"
"As always!" Riley cries from behind Emmett.
"Riles," Emmett laughs. "You're so fucking quiet I almost forgot you were even there!"
Riley shrugs before nodding his head to something behind me. The four of us all turn in unison and observe as Edward and his lady engage in a quiet argument.
"Trouble in paradise already?" Jasper laughs.
"Who woulda thunk?" Emmett responds suggestively. "I would be shitting my pants too if I realized my man was taking off for a weekend in Vegas with a fox like this one." Emmett playfully nudges me.
I roll my eyes and shove Emmett back. "Leave it to me," I advise them. "I don't want Edward to be in a bad mood going into this – it's his bachelor party, after all."
With as much sway as I can muster, I saunter toward the quarreling pair and plaster a smile on my face. The moment I reach them, she tilts her head in my direction and glares at me. Unaffected by her cold gaze, I turn to address Edward. "You ready for your last weekend as a bachelor, Ed?"
Watching her narrow her eyes out of the corner of my eye, I step closer to Edward and smile my flirtiest smile. This definitely gets the reaction I want – her lips flatten into a thin line and her arms cross haughtily over her chest.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Edward laughs, eyes warming as he wraps an arm around my shoulders and squeezes.
Deciding to put her out of her misery, I tilt my head and address her. "We'll take good care of him." Dropping my lids, I quirk my eyebrow at her in challenge.
Standing there with her fists clenched under her pits, she looks like she's about to explode. With a deep frown marring her pretty, freckled face she mutters out a sharp "I'm sure."
Damage done, I saunter back to the group of groomsmen. Emmett shakes his head once I've reached them and ruffles my hair roughly. "She looks like she wants to kill you," he mutters, nodding toward the now full-on arguing couple.
We watch in silence as the two of them heatedly exchange words before Edward suddenly grasps her thin arm and hauls her around the corner. "Yikes," I laugh, crossing my arms across my chest.
"Some damage control you did there, hottie." Emmett mutters, nudging me with his elbow. "Now he's definitely going to be in a foul mood today."
"Nah," I say, watching as they reemerge from their face-off in the alcove. Smirking, I observe their tightly entwined hands. "They're good."
"How do you do it?" Emmett asks, pinching playfully at my waist.
"Do what?" I laugh, swatting his hands away.
"Fix everything? You're like the Edward whisperer!" Jasper laughs, nudging me with his elbow.
"It's a blessing and a curse." I deadpan, winking at the two of them. Then, noticing the time on my watch, I turn to address the group of us. "We ready to go?" Brows raised for emphasis, I continue. "Our flight boards in less than an hour and security seems pretty jammed."
Cheeks pink, Edward's fiancée narrows her eyes at me infinitesimally before snuggling deeper into Edward's side. "Yeah," Edward says, wrapping his arm around her. "I'll text you when we land, babe."
Nodding, she delicately turns in his arms and tilts her face up for a kiss. Nauseated, I have to look away as they paw at each other lest I lose my lunch on the airport floor.
After a minute or so of whispering and kissing, Edward bounds toward us with his bag in hand. Leading the way, he shows his ticket to the TSA agent at security and joins the long line.
"We'll be lucky to make it out of this mess in time to make our flight." Riley mutters grumpily from behind me.
Rolling his eyes, Emmett throws his arm around my shoulder and guides me through the sectioned off area that makes up the line until we have to stop. In front of us, Edward and Jasper are engaged in what seems to be a hilarious conversation about a mutual friend that drunkenly proposed to a stripper.
"Hey," Emmett murmurs close to my ear, bringing my attention back to him. "So here's the reservation," he motions to the email that he has pulled up on his phone. "I could only get us a suite with two rooms – one has a king and the other has two doubles. There's also a pullout in the living room. I don't really know what your preference is… but I figured since it's his bachelor weekend, we'd give Ed the king and have the rest of us duke it out for the remaining beds."
"That's cool with me," I tell him, watching as Edward peers at us and frowns at the way Emmett's arm is draped over my shoulders. "I can always just share the king with Edward. We've shared a bed plenty of times – side effect of being friends since birth."
Emmett's eyebrows raise into his hairline, but if he has any comments, he holds them back. "Sure, whatever you guys want. You probably should work it out with him first, though. Would hate to assume."
"Yeah, I'll talk to him about it." I tell Emmett reassuringly, patting his arm.
"Talk to who about what?" Edward interrupts, brows low over his eyes.
"Talk to you, fool." I say, ducking out from under Emmett's arm in order to sidle up next to Edward. "You down to share a bed with me? It's a kiiiing."
Edward's face scrunches up in thought for a moment before he shrugs. "Yeah, that's cool." Smiling, I wink at Emmett before glancing toward the airport exit. There, standing on the other side of the window, is Edward's fiancée. We lock eyes for a moment, hers wide and searching while mine are narrowed in challenge.
Then, because timing is just so damn perfect, Edward mumbles my name and leans down to speak lowly in my ear. "I'll share a bed with you if you swear you'll keep a lid on the farting." Smiling, I think back to our childhood sleepovers. Things were so simple back then, when all we were concerned about was who would get the top bunk.
"Mmm," I hum teasingly. "As I recall, it was you that had a penchant for Dutch-ovening, you sicko."
Cackling madly, Edward wraps me up in a painful bear-hug. "That's a lie and you know it!" his voice is playful as he wiggles his fingers into the sensitive spot under my ribs.
Howling with involuntary laughter, I wriggle in his arms. "No, no, stop!" I laugh, twisting against him and tucking myself under his chin. "You're such a fucking shit."
Laughing, he leans down and kisses my forehead softly. "Yeah, but you love me."
Throat suddenly dry, I lift my hand and place my palm over his taught stomach. "You know I do," I tell him, feeling his heart pound against my chest as I slide my palm up his torso – savoring the feeling of every dip and curve – and around his neck. Eyes focused on the sparse chest hairs left exposed by his V-neck shirt, I sigh. "So fucking much, Edward."
Edward takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly before squeezing me harder against him. "I love you, too," he murmurs just low enough so that only I can hear. "So fucking much."
Eyes clenched shut against the searing sting of fresh tears, I press a soft kiss against his throat. His hands, which hold me at my shoulder and waist, squeeze into fists at the contact.
"Hate to break up this chummy moment," Emmett grumbles from behind us. "But you two are holding up the line."
"Oh," Edward gasps, jerking away from me suddenly. "Yeah, sorry." Cheeks pink, he picks up his bag and jogs to where the line is stopped ahead of us.
Behind me, Emmett mutters lowly so that only the two of us can hear. "I see what you're doing, hottie. Are you trying to kill him?" Shrugging off the comment, I grab my bag and follow behind Edward.
If that's what it takes, then yes – I am.
Happy almost Friday! Hope you all enjoyed today's chapter (: did you all notice the subtle differences in perception? The Fiancee thought she was projecting calm coolness but it seems Bestie saw right through that. Also - Fiancee thought she saw the worst of it during her window creeping sesh, but clearly she missed that neck kiss. Things are HEATING UP!
Are you team Fiancee or team Bestie? (I know everyone's team Bella - I promise she's one of these ladies!) I know you all have a few questions about the length of the story. I'm anticipating about 25-30 chapters.
See you Monday!
xo
