Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
Shutting the door, Kasey leaned with his forearm braced above his head, his forehead pressed into the wood of the door and took deep, steadying breaths until he heard her footsteps fade down the hallway.
He’d agreed to stay in the bridal party house for the night at Free’s request, but it was turning out to be pure torture.
She was going to be in the same house, just a room away.
And sometime today or tomorrow that douche bag was going to show up, put his hands all over her, kiss her, probably make love to her in that big bed with that amazing view of the mountain…
he couldn’t stay and be a witness to it, when he wanted nothing more than to be the one doing those things to her.
Fucking Christ, if purgatory were a place, this was it.
He hadn’t had the balls to ask Free when Tommy would be showing up, but he knew it had to be before the ceremony tomorrow. The idiot had missed the engagement party, but only a fool would choose to miss a wedding of the family he was marrying into.
And then Kasey would have to endure the entire wedding watching her being fondled and kissed by that useless tool.
From inside the door, he heard the women of the house convening in the great room to head over to the main lodge for a spa excursion. He was grateful that Shaun was going to be gone most of the day. He wouldn’t have to see her again until the rehearsal.
Fuck, he thought mulishly as he padded over to his suitcase, pulling out a fresh pair of clothes.
He pulled on a pair of boxer briefs, then shoved his legs into a pair of jeans.
Tugging a white Henley over his head, he ruffled the towel over his still damp hair as a knock sounded on the door, then a second later it opened and Free entered.
“The girls all left for their spa afternoon,” he said and shook his head. “You’d think they’d won the lottery with how excited they all are.”
“Something about a sauna, hot tub, massages, and champagne just makes women batty,” Kasey chuckled, running his fingers through his hair to push it away from his forehead.
He sat down on the foot of one of the beds, pulling a clean pair of socks on his feet before sliding them into a pair of black work boots.
He tied the laces and then stood, stretching his arms high over his head.
“What’s the plan for us manly men while the women get pampered? ”
Free laughed and said, “Levi said for us to meet at the bar at the resort in a couple hours. We’re eating lunch and then I guess there is a lounge with billiard tables and darts.
After that we’ll come back and get ready for the rehearsal dinner and then meet everyone at the main lodge around six o’clock.
” Freeman glanced over at him and eyed him knowingly.
“Please don’t be an ass to Shaun until after Jodi and I leave for our honeymoon. ”
Kasey crossed his finger over his chest, drawing a large X.
“I swear, I’ll behave.” Free gave him a dubious look, and Kasey laughed as he turned toward the closet, where he had hung up his tux for the following day and a pair of dress slacks and two button-down shirts.
Changing the subject, he asked, “Dress code for tonight?”
Free shrugged, walking toward a garment bag that had been draped over the foot of the other bed.
He picked it up and carried it to the closet, too, where he unzipped it, rifling through the clothes on the hangers.
“I’ve got black slacks and a white button-down for tonight. I’m not wearing a tie for rehearsal.”
Kasey held up the two dress shirts he’d brought with him, holding first one up to his chest and then the other.
The first was a grayish blue, the second was a simple white.
Free pointed to the grayish blue one, and Kasey nodded in agreement.
The slacks he had chosen for the evening were a deep navy, his shoes a cognac brown leather.
A matching belt was inside his suitcase.
Stepping back over to his suitcase, he unrolled a t-shirt, revealing a bottle of twenty-five-year bourbon, handing it over to Free, who took it with a long, low whistle of appreciation before passing it back. “Jesus, Kasey. That’s some good stuff.”
“My cousin and best friend only get married once,” he said, opening it and taking a deep inhale.
Crossing to the dresser where he had placed a couple highball glasses from the kitchen downstairs, he poured a finger into each glass, then held one out to Freeman.
“To the same woman every night for the rest of your life.”
“Damn straight,” Free said and laughed, then they both took sips of the amber liquor. Free made an appreciative hum in the back of his throat and Kasey nodded in agreement, taking another swallow. “May your wedding be the next one we have.”
Kasey laughed, shaking his head. “That’s farfetched, Free. The closest I got was with Savannah, and we both know how that ended.”
“Have you seen her since y’all split?” Free asked, taking another sip.
Kasey shook his head. “Nah. She’s somewhere in California with her new hot-shot fiancé. Good riddance. Models are a fucking nightmare.”
Finishing the bourbon in their glasses, they made their way down into the great room, where the men of the house had started to gather.
Levi and his younger brother Micah Kendall, who was married to Serenity’s younger sister, Summer, had claimed two large recliners in front of a massive stone fireplace that had a roaring fire already built in it.
Four younger guys, who Kasey had been introduced to as Jodi and Shaun’s brothers and cousins, were fighting over the remote of the tv. Summer and Micah’s youngest, a six-year-old little boy, was running around with a toy car, zooming it across every conceivable flat surface in the place.
“Guys,” Levi barked when the teen boys’ bickering got louder, and the lot of them went silent. “Come on. You’re not kids anymore. Can we not do this? Are you all ready to go in a bit?”
Kasey grinned. He really liked Levi Kendall. He was a no-nonsense, call it like he sees it kind of guy, and he respected that immensely. He reminded him of his own dad.
An older, white-haired gentleman had fallen asleep in a lazy-boy recliner, snoring gently.
Kasey knew that was Paul Storm, Shaun and Jodi’s maternal grandfather.
Levi woke him several minutes later to ask if he was joining them, but the older man declined, saying he’d rather stay in and enjoy the quiet of the house.
It seemed like moments later that Levi’s booming voice thundered through the room to announce that the resort shuttles had arrived to transport them to the main lodge, and the whole group of them filed out and climbed into the transit vans waiting for them.
Depositing them at the front doors of the massive log cabin inspired resort, it didn’t take them long to locate the lounge.
Billiard tables, dart boards, shuffleboards, air hockey, foosball…
you name it, and they had it. Kasey could hear old fashioned pinball machines along the farthest wall, and a wide bar made of one massive tree slice had polished, black leather barstools tucked up to it.
Too many beer taps to count and hundreds of bottles of liquor sat along a mirrored wall behind the bar.
Kasey could smell burgers, hot wings, and freshly made popcorn. It was a man cave on steroids.
The hours passed quickly, pool games won and lost, someone’s finger got caught between an air hockey puck and the side of the table, and after the third beer Kasey declined another from the smartly dressed bartender.
When Levi sidled over toward him and Free as they set aside their billiard sticks, the older gentleman said gruffly, “We should start rounding up and heading back. The girls will shoot me dead if we’re late to rehearsal. ”
After the lot of them clambered back into the shuttles that returned them to the massive vacation rental just down the road, they all climbed the wide staircase up to the second floor to their respective rooms to shower and change for the evening.
The girls had returned from the spa all giggly, rejuvenated, and relaxed, and when Kasey passed Shaun in the hallway, he nearly lost his mind at how fucking good she smelled; like coconut lime verbena body oil and pink Himalayan sea salt.
Even the hint of chlorine that still clung to her skin from the hot tub smelled intoxicating.
Her hair was curlier than normal, tied up on the top of her head in a loose knot, tendrils falling freely around her face and the back of her neck.
Kasey made quick work of the erection that ensued while taking a brief shower, positive that he was going to lose his ever-loving mind by the end of the weekend.
Dressing in the dusty blue button-down shirt and navy slacks he’d set out earlier, he was putting on his shoes just as Free was sliding his feet into a highly polished pair of black cowboy boots.
Crossing to the dresser where he’d left the bottle of twenty-five-year bourbon earlier, he poured some into the two glass tumblers he’d snagged earlier and turned, handing one to Freeman.
“Nervous yet?” Kasey asked after they clinked glasses. Raising it to his lips, he took a swallow, humming in appreciation at the aged bourbon. Free did the same, swirling it in his glass several times, shaking his head.
“Not at all,” his best friend said quietly, and Kasey could hear in his voice the conviction of his words. “I’ve never been more sure of something. Jodi is everything I’ll ever need in this life. I pray that I can always be that for her, too.”
Kasey clapped Free on the back, squeezing his shoulder tightly before dropping his hand. “If the way that woman looks at you is any indication, I’d say you’re doing just fine, my friend.”
They drained their glasses and set them down before heading out the door together. They’d just made it to the top of the stairs when Kasey realized he’d left his watch on the counter in the bathroom and said, “I’ll be down in just a second.”
Strapping the watch to his wrist as he walked, he nearly barreled into Shaun as he exited the room.
The audible gasp that escaped her as his hands circled her upper arms went straight to his dick and he nearly groaned; a lot of good that jerk off session had done.
The little navy-blue dress she wore should have been outlawed.
Releasing her as soon as they both had their balance restored, she stepped back, her eyes flying to his.
“I’m sorry—”
“I wanted to—”
They both stopped talking at the same time, and Kasey said gruffly, “Sorry, go ahead.”
Shaun bit her bottom lip, a sheen of shimmery gloss coating them, before sticking her hand out to him as if to shake his. He stared down at her extended hand, one brow rising quizzically.
“I promised Jodi that I would behave this weekend. This is her wedding, and she deserves nothing but the best. I am willing to put aside whatever this—” she waved at the space between them, “—is, if you are. No snarky comments, no sexual innuendos, no shitty attitudes.”
Taking her hand in his, he said, “Deal.”
She made to pull her hand out of his grasp, but he held tightly, pulling her slightly closer as his lips tilted up into a grin.
Leaning down until his lips brushed against her cheek, he murmured, “But the second those two leave for their honeymoon, deal is over, darlin’.
I’m not leaving this mountain without tasting you at least once. ”