Chapter 12 Bed Buddies
Calder
There are two words on my mind as I watch my brother and his fiancée rehearse their wedding vows with the civil officiant
at sunset on the beach with all of us watching them.
Sex. Club.
I glance over at Dakota who’s standing in the audience section of the bride’s side while I’m standing in the audience section
of my brother’s side. It took a lot of fucking willpower all afternoon not to pester Dakota for more details about her sex
club interest. And my mind has scrolled through endless possibilities ever since.
First of all, I’m relieved Randal wasn’t there. I wouldn’t have put it past that asshole to have his kink be to divorce someone
and still sleep with them afterward. The fucking twat.
And I’m not ashamed to admit I breathed a little easier after she confirmed he wasn’t with her there. I’d rather see Dakota
fuck a stranger than Randal.
I close my eyes and try to shake any thoughts of him out of my head. I really shouldn’t be thinking about Dakota either. I
should be focused on this wedding. On my family. On the reason I’m here.
I glance at Luke, who’s standing beside me, and my mom, who’s adjusting Stevie’s floral dress. There’s no groomsmen or bridesmaids
standing up with Wyatt and Trista. They said it felt unnecessary since this is such an intimate ceremony, and there’s something
kind of beautiful about just the two of them up there, starting their journey together.
Not that I want to ever get married. Honestly, I don’t see the need for it.
I’m comfortable in my own skin, and people typically irritate me.
I get all the human contact I need by living next door to my brothers and working with them every day.
And when I’m horny, that’s what the dating apps are great for.
.. when they’re not being hacked, that is.
You can clearly lay out what you’re looking for, and for me, it’s always just sex. So the boundaries and expectations are
out there on the table.
The one woman that I considered opening my heart to ended up fucking over me and both my brothers, so who’s to say love is
worth all that hassle?
Truthfully, I’m not sure I knew what love was back then. I just assumed the fact that I considered more with her at all meant
love. That was until we found out the truth about her, and goddamn if that didn’t fuck me over in more ways than one.
If I stay single, then I get to continue to do all the things I want without needing to factor someone else’s schedule into
the mix. And for what? So you can have someone to watch a movie in bed with? I have Milkshake for that. I’m good.
Though, there was something mildly comforting about how easily Dakota fell asleep next to me this afternoon during our second
movie. She has this soft little snore that reminded me of Milkshake’s purr.
I guess a little extra human contact isn’t all bad. But I don’t need to get married to have it.
Trista turns to look out at us in the audience and gasps at something off in the distance. All heads turn, and my forehead
wrinkles when I see an unfamiliar couple walking down the beach toward us.
The man is a giant bear of a guy with brown skin and black hair. The woman walking with him looks familiar, but it isn’t until
she draws closer that I realize she’s the spitting image of Trista.
“Vada!” Trista squeals and runs down the sandy aisle to wrap the woman in a hug.
I glance across the aisle and see Cozy’s eyes filling with tears. I frown my silent question at her, and she mouths “Trista’s sister” back at me.
Oh shit, Trista’s sister? The one she hasn’t seen in years? The one who she doesn’t have the best history with? We’ve all
grown close to Trista the past year, and she’s opened up about the thorny past with her family. Her parents abandoned both
her and her sister when they were teenagers, and Trista’s sister did the same thing when she met some guy and moved to Hawaii
with him. Trista was only sixteen years old at the time and had to basically finish raising herself.
I hate to say it, but I’m not real excited about this new wedding guest.
Trista drags her sister and the man around to everyone, introducing the guy by the name of Kai. She seems happy, with tears
in her eyes, but I feel protective of my soon-to-be sister-in-law. Her family has fucked her over more than once, and I don’t
want to see her hurt again.
When she makes her way over to my mom and Stevie, I feel my fists clenching at my sides. Stevie is ours. Not theirs. They
don’t get to claim her the way we do, and if they try, I’m going to have a real problem with that.
Luke elbows me, snapping me out of my brooding. “Chill the fuck out, man.”
I frown and shake my head. “Why are they here?”
“I flew them in,” Max hisses from the other side of me. “It was Cozy’s idea, and Wyatt was good with it.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it,” Max says firmly. “Trista clearly likes it.”
Trista holds her daughter proudly in front of her sister, pressing soft kisses to our girl’s head of curls as her sister leans in close and touches her cheek.
She looks like a proud mama bear showing off her cub, and I guess if having her sister here makes her happy, I’ll try to chill the fuck out.
But I’m keeping my eyes on both of them.
The rehearsal resumes, and I glance over and see Dakota watching me curiously. Honestly, I’ve been trying not to look at her
since the moment she stepped out of the palapa earlier this evening. She’s dressed in a long emerald green and pink floral
satin dress that dips low in the cleavage. And the slit that shows off her muscular legs when the wind catches her dress is
enough to make me salivate. After lying next to her earlier, seeing those smooth legs, hearing her breathe, visualizing her
naked under my T-shirt, it was no wonder I needed to jerk one out in the shower.
Tonight, she looks good enough to eat, and it’s going to make sharing a bed later even more uncomfortable. If I wake up with
morning wood tomorrow, I know for a fact she will never let me hear the end of it.
Dakota
“So where were you all day?” Cozy asks quietly as we sit down at dinner being served by the pool.
“In bed fighting for my life. Please tell me you felt the same.”
She winces. “I don’t think I did as many shots as you did last night.”
I roll my eyes. “A true friend would have stopped me.”
She shrugs. “You needed to blow off some steam. You earned it. This trip is as much for you as it is for the bride and groom.”
I laugh and glance over at Wyatt and Trista who are all heart eyes at each other tonight. Wyatt is supposed to be the grumpy
one of the four Fletcher brothers, but he’s been smiling nonstop.
“Trista seems happy her sister is here.”
“Thank God,” Cozy says with a sigh. “It was a bit of a risk flying them out here for this, but Wyatt really wanted to make
it happen for Trista.”
“God, they are so cute and in love.” I sigh as I look back at them again. “Did I ever look at Randal that way?”
“You sure did.” Cozy looks almost sad and contemplative at that answer. “But don’t worry. You’ll find love again.”
I bark out a laugh and wince when all heads turn to look at me and Cozy at the end of the table. My eyes snag on Calder’s,
and he frowns quizzically at me. Like somehow our shared afternoon of peace entitles him to know my innermost thoughts.
I clear my throat and take a sip of my water. “Trust me, girl. I’m not looking for that again.”
“What are you looking for?”
My traitorous eyes move to Calder. Damn them. “Just... myself again.”
I turn back to find my best friend frowning at me.
“I lost a lot of myself, and I’d like to find that girl again. The one who opened her own T-shirt shop fresh out of college
and renovated her house all on her own and just... killed it at life, ya know?”
“How will you find her again? Do you have a plan?”
I lick my lips as I ponder her question. This is not the time or the place to get into the specifics of my post-divorce plan
with my best friend. I’m not sure Cozy would approve anyways. She’s in such a different place in her life. Cozy is in busy-mom
mode and sister-in-law mode, and I love that for her. But it makes me sharing the inner workings of my crazy plan a bit awkward.
It feels seedy and dangerous and like it might taint the perfect bubble she’s living in. And I don’t know if I really want
advice from someone who’s smack-dab in the middle of her happily-ever-after. Hell, I’d probably get more relatable advice
from Everly these days.
I have to figure this out on my own. I’ll plan to find Cozy on the other side when it’s all said and done, hopefully feeling
more like myself than I have in years. Not this tired, insecure, splintered shell.
The clinking of glass on the other side of the table draws my eyes as I see Johanna stand up from her seat, holding her flute of champagne and waiting for everyone’s attention.
Everly holds a sleeping Stevie in her arms beside her, and Trista tears her attention away from her future husband to grin up at her future mother-in-law.
“I think it’s customary for the father of the groom to make a toast at the rehearsal dinner, so I hope you don’t mind ’ol
Ma doing it instead.”
Trista reaches up and rubs Johanna’s arm encouragingly as her lip quivers. Both of their eyes fill with tears as she pauses
and focuses her attention to Wyatt and Trista. “First of all, I want to welcome Trista’s sister Vada and her partner Kai here
with us this evening. Thank you so much for making the trip all the way here from Hawaii. We love your sister very much, and
she means the absolute world to us.”
Vada smiles and nods, her eyes finding Trista’s across the table before refocusing on Johanna who breathes heavily, as if
preparing herself for the next bit.
“And Trista... my little mountain woman. The number of times I’ve thanked my lucky stars you came into Wyatt’s life is