Vegas with my Brother’s Best Friends (Vegas Temptations #2)

Chapter 1 Cassidy

When the new year started, I had a feeling that I would be attending a bachelorette party in the following months.

I just thought it was going to be my bachelorette party.

A loud pop fills the huge hotel suite as my best friend and the bride-to-be opens another bottle of champagne. She climbs on top of a coffee table, stepping over silver, plastic tiaras and white and pink confetti.

“Who wants another round?” Sarah calls out as she lifts the open bottle in the air.

Cheers from her bridesmaids and friends surround her, empty champagne flutes rising.

Sarah smiles and tips the bottle, sloppily pouring champagne in whichever glasses she can reach.

That’s my cue.

I slip between Gina and Tessa to reach Sarah, plucking the bottle out of her hands before she can dump champagne on their heads. “I’ll take over from here.”

Sarah wraps her arms around me, her cheek pressing against mine. “You’re the best maid of honor a bride could ever ask for.”

She’s always giggly after a few too many drinks, but she’s the best to party with. No one else lifts spirits like her, and she deserves to be celebrated.

She deserves to be a bride, even if the thought of a wedding crushes my spirit like it’s made of tissue paper.

I take her hand and guide her closer to the others. “How about you get off this table before you break something?”

Sarah pecks me on the cheek before holding her hands out. “Love you.”

“Love you,” I tell her with a warm smile.

Becca and Kara take Sarah’s hands and help her down before the three join the small group of girls dancing to the pop playlist that I put on.

“She’s right. She couldn’t have gotten a better maid of honor,” Tessa says as I manage to step down from the coffee table without snapping a heel.

I adjust the low neckline of my silver mini dress, my eyes scanning the suite for anything that needs to be done.

There’s somehow still plenty of alcohol left, and the kitchen island is still full of catered trays of food.

The balloons I filled up and the streamers I hung earlier remain in place, and the sash decorating station has more materials if anyone messes theirs up.

“I just want her to have a good time. The best time.”

Tessa glances at her phone and laughs. “Well, it looks like the groom is having fun too.”

When she shows me the screen, I immediately spot my older brother, Ryan, in the middle of the photo. His face is flushed, and there are already a few buttons of his shirt undone. There’s a shot glass in one hand, and his other arm is wrapped around one of his groomsmen’s shoulders.

It looks like the bachelor party is just as wild as the bachelorette party.

That’s what happens when the bride and groom decide to party in Las Vegas on the same night.

“My brother cannot handle alcohol,” I say, my lips curling up in amusement. “And neither can his fiancé.”

“I don’t think anyone in the wedding party can.”

Before I can laugh, my eyes land on a man in the background of the photo, my voice locking up in my throat. My smile plummets off my face, all of the joy draining from my body.

Derek Adams used to always make me smile.

When we met a few years ago, he made me laugh all night long with his funny stories and ridiculous jokes. He wooed me with surprise flower deliveries, long goodnight texts, and movie tickets every other Friday night.

He got me. He loved me.

Or I thought he did.

Instead of being the bride, I’m the ex-fiancé who was dumped three months before I was supposed to marry Derek.

I’m so glad I get to see him for all the wedding festivities since he’s my brother’s best man.

Instead of walking down the aisle to him, I’ll be walking down it with him.

This feels like a sick joke.

“Are you okay?” Tessa asks as she lowers her phone.

“Yeah, great.”

My voice comes out strained, and my smile is just as brittle. I excuse myself and step out of the suite, letting the door shut behind me with a soft click.

My stomach twists and turns as I walk away, pressure weighing heavily on my chest. Derek is in another suite in this same hotel having the time of his life, and I can’t even fully enjoy my best friend and brother getting married because he shattered my heart.

There aren’t even any pieces left to put back together. They all turned to dust when he posted his new relationship status a week later.

Heat gathers in my cheeks as I take the elevator down to the lobby, frustration burning under my skin. I should’ve known things were too good to be true. He acted like he was infatuated with me until the day he told me that he didn’t want to marry me.

If he didn’t hurt me so badly, I’d be impressed by his ability to lie and act like he was in love with me.

The elevator doors slide open, and I go straight to the fancy hotel bar, preferring to drown my sorrows alone instead of ruining Sarah’s party. I’ve put on a brave face in front of her and Ryan to not make things awkward during the wedding festivities.

“Vodka cran, please,” I tell the bartender once I take a seat.

Everyone must be out partying because there’s only one other person seated at the bar, and he’s all the way down on the other end.

“You got it,” the bartender says before grabbing a glass and flipping it around in his hand.

I lower my head to stare at the sleek wood, the glow of the golden lighting shining off its surface. I’m in Las Vegas. I should be having fun and giving myself memory loss like all the others.

But not even an exciting party and a fun trip can take away this heavy, exhausting sadness that has consumed me for the past three months.

“No freaking way.”

My head snaps up at the sound of a familiar voice. Is that who I think it is?

I turn on the barstool, my eyes widening as I’m caught off guard even more by the sight of three familiar men. Not just one.

“What are you guys doing here? I figured you’d be with Ryan?” I question them, my heart rate spiking.

It has been years since I’ve seen Jackson, Tyler, and Marcus.

Not only are they my brother’s high school best friends, but they’re also his groomsmen.

Ten years not seeing them and now I’ll be stuck for a whole week at the wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with the same guys who used to relentlessly prank me and give me rides home from school.

Tyler slips onto the barstool to my right, his hand breezing down my upper arm. “We could ask you the same thing, maid of honor. If you’re here, who’s keeping Sarah out of trouble?”

An uncontrollable smile crosses my face, warmth fluttering in my chest as I take in the sight of him.

I’ve known these guys since I was a teenager too. A shy, heart-eyed teenager who couldn’t help but secretly crush on her older brother’s hot friends.

Somehow, they look even hotter now.

Tyler flat out looks like a heartbreaker. He’s tall with gorgeous bright blue eyes and killer dimples. His dirty blonde hair is styled to look messy, and if anyone is going to pull off that look, it’s him.

The flashy watch on his wrist and the designer clothes he’s wearing certainly help too.

And is that an eyebrow piercing?

“I think you broke her, Ty,” Marcus comments as he takes the bar stool to my left.

I snap out of my daze, my eyes moving to Marcus’ dark brown ones. “Trust me. There’s no keeping Sarah out of trouble tonight.”

Marcus chuckles, and his smile is just as captivating as the colorful tattoos peeking out of his fitted white t-shirt. They adorn both of his arms, and I can tell that he has large pieces on his back and chest because there are hints of ink on the back of his neck and near his collarbones.

I’m pretty sure Ryan mentioned him being a tattoo artist, which totally makes sense.

“What are you doing at a bar all by yourself, Cass?”

“I’m just…” I trail off as I glance between the three of them.

Jackson remains standing behind my barstool, his brow slightly furrowing as he peers at me with those same hazel eyes I used to daydream about in math class.

“Did something happen?” Jackson asks me, stepping closer.

He’s taller and broader than the others, which doesn’t surprise me. He’s a firefighter, so I can only imagine how much exercise he gets.

I can certainly see the result of it, though, even beneath his black bomber jacket.

“No, I’m fine,” I say, parroting the same line I’ve given everyone for the past three months.

Tyler gives me a wry grin. “Sorry, sweetheart, but you’ve always been a shit liar.”

My jaw drops. “That’s a lie.”

Marcus’ hand grazes my back, making goosebumps rattle up the back of my bare arms. “He’s right. You tried to convince Ryan you snuck out of the house to take a run.”

“At eleven o’clock at night,” Tyler adds.

All I wanted to do was go hang out with my boyfriend at the time, but Ryan was more of a father to me than our own dad. He sent me right back upstairs after he caught me halfway out the front door.

“As you know, Ryan chose Derek as his best man. Derek and I broke up a few months ago, and I’m just not looking forward to seeing him at all the wedding events,” I admit, knowing they’ll hold me hostage here until I spill.

Then again, they’re certainly not bad company.

Jackson’s lip curls a little like he tasted something bad.

Marcus rubs my back, soothing the ache in my chest. “I’m sorry you have to be around him. That must be uncomfortable for you.”

Marcus was the one to console me after that high school boyfriend cheated on me with one of my friends. He’s just that kind of guy.

“Ryan should’ve taken that into account when picking his best man,” Jackson mutters.

I shake my head. This is the type of drama that I didn’t want to stir up. “It’s his and Sarah’s day. They get to choose who they want at their wedding. I’ll just have to deal with it.”

Tyler drums his fingers against the top of the bar for a few seconds before straightening up. “Well, Derek is halfway through a bottle of vodka, and we stepped away because things were getting a little too wild. Come hang out with us for a little while.”

My eyebrows dart up. “You’re not going back to the bachelor party?”

“I think we’re done playing Derek’s crazy drinking games,” Marcus replies. “We’d rather hang out with you if you’re down. It’s been so long. We need to catch up!”

The thought of hanging out with my teenage crushes alone makes me want to take a shot to calm my nerves. But we’re older now, and I can say with certainty that I have far more control over my hormones than I did as a teenager.

Plus, a little fun tonight while forgetting about Derek sounds perfect.

Jackson takes my hand, but he doesn’t pull me. He just holds me, our eyes locking.

“For old times’ sake. Or we can just throw you over our shoulder and whisk you away like we used to.”

Laughter bubbles from me as an onslaught of memories hit me from when they’d haul me out of my room when I was sad about a boy or bummed about a bad grade. They refused to let me sulk because they knew they could cheer me up one way or another.

“I’ll walk on my own two feet for now,” I say as I slide off the stool to stand between them. “Lead the way.”