Chapter 23
MEGAN
Our girlie get-together took place one week later. We were gathering at Reese's apartment.
On the way there, I kept calling Aunt Dana. We hadn’t caught up in a while. She called me back just as I arrived in front of Reese’s building, and I sat down on a bench next to the entrance to answer.
“Darling girl, I’m so sorry. I heard the phone but couldn’t find it. I’d left it in the bathroom. Tell me everything. How are the preparations for the competition going?”
“It’s taking up a lot of hours, but I do manage to have fun in between.”
“That’s good. It’s important to take breaks. What are you doing tonight?”
I took in a deep breath, preparing myself. I knew she’d disapprove.
“I’m meeting with two of Luke’s cousins and his brothers’ fiancées. We’re going to brainstorm for a bachelorette party.”
“You’re that close to your boss? Be careful, Megan.”
“Actually, Luke and I are dating.”
She inhaled sharply. “Oh, Megan. That’s not right, girl.”
“He’s a good man.”
“He’s your boss.” I knew what she was thinking, and normally I’d agree, but it wasn’t like that, and I didn’t know how to make her understand.
“Only until Christmas. My internship ends then.”
We hadn’t spoken about what would happen afterward, to my chagrin. I was planning to apply to jobs everywhere and see what panned out.
“Child, what did I always teach you?” Her voice was dripping with disappointment. “First build a career, then worry about a man.”
“I am building a career. I can do both at once.” I knew my aunt meant well, and I didn’t want to disrespect her, but I didn’t like being scolded like a child. “I only wanted to tell you because I don’t like keeping things from you.”
“I appreciate that. Be careful. I worry about you, you know.”
“I love you. I’ve got to go, Aunt Dana. They’re waiting for me.”
She didn’t even attempt to continue the conversation, which clearly meant she was very upset.
My heart was heavy when I hung up. I hated to disappoint her, but I truly felt like I was doing the right thing, and I had to live my life the way I saw fit, even if I made mistakes. That was what it was all about, right?
I got up, heading inside the building. It reminded me of Luke’s—it was fancy, with black floors and metal accents on all the fixtures. This one even had postmodernist paintings hanging on the walls.
To my dismay, I was the last one to arrive.
I wasn’t sure how we were going to brainstorm about the bachelorette party because Lexi was here as well.
Currently we were all in the living room, which was decorated in an eclectic style.
My favorite was an antique trunk that served as TV console, as well as an egg-shaped swing hanging from the ceiling.
A huge, fluffy pink rug was in the center of the room between two couches.
The dining area wasn’t big, but the kitchen and bar areas were enormous. It all looked warm and welcoming.
"This is a beautiful place," I told Reese, "and it's so big."
"It is. It has five rooms. I've got my bedroom, a guest room, and a workout room." Then her eyes clouded. "And one that’s still empty."
"Oh?"
"I bought this before, when I got engaged. I thought we were going to live here, and that was going to be the baby’s room.
I hoped we were going to start trying after we married.
But anyway, now it's empty, and I'm not entirely sure what to do with it.
" The hurt in her eyes was clear. I understood why Luke was so angry at her ex and the press that continued to hound her.
"Now, come on, girls," Reese said loudly, clearly wanting to move on from the topic. "What do you want to drink?"
Kendra and Liz got up from the couch. Lexi was sitting on the floor. Everyone hurried around the bar.
"I find it cool that everyone in the family has a bar," I remarked, "or at least Travis and Luke do."
"Tate is keeping us all supplied with wine. Not sure how it happened, but we all have a fully stocked bar.”
“Except me," Kimberly said. "I'm lucky my apartment in Paris has a bedroom separate from the kitchen. Accommodations in that city are seriously insane, lots to be desired."
"What is everyone having?" Reese asked. "Wine or cocktails?"
"I want a cocktail," Kimberly said. "Actually, you know what, sister? You can sit there, and I'll prepare the drinks for everyone. Just tell me what you want, and I'll find the recipe online. And if you don't have the ingredients, I'll just improvise."
I loved Kimberly's energy. She seemed like she was up for fun at any time.
"I want a margarita," I said. "I like simple drinks, and a margarita is great.”
“I'm pretty sure I've got frozen berries. I've got a lot of frozen fruit. I mean, I've got ice cream as well, but I don't think that counts as fruit," Reese said, and we all laughed. "Lexi, I also have some fresh fruit in the pantry. Do you mind helping me bring some?"
I pressed my lips together. This was the second time tonight that Reese was trying to get Lexi away from the group so we could plot.
Lexi started giggling. "Okay, the jig is up. I know you want to plan my bachelorette party tonight."
I gasped. Kimberly stopped in the act of pouring frozen berries into the mixer. "How do you know that?"
“Tate said something about me not having strippers. And then I started to question what he knew."
"I can't believe it. The guys blabbed about this?" I was shocked. "Do they always do this?”
"No clue. I believe they consider this to be a special occasion," Kendra said. "Tyler was also very bossy, insisting I shouldn't even think about strippers."
"Who do they think they are, bossing us around like that?" Liz asked. "And yeah, Declan gave me the speech as well."
Reese burst out laughing. Kimberly shook her head. "Girls, we're sorry, but this does sound like our cousins' bossy nature." She put her hand on her hip, tapping her foot. "But you know, this gives me an idea. I mean, we could bring a stripper, just to see their reactions."
"I think not," I said, "because I believe their reactions would be to throw everyone over their shoulders and carry us home. Luke, at least, might do that."
"Yeah, Declan too,” Liz said. “You should have seen him a couple months ago when I burned my hand and still wanted to go to work. He went all bossy on me, and we weren't even dating at that point."
Kimberly started making cocktails. I moved behind the bar too, following her lead so we could be quicker. I mostly did prep work, crushing ice in a blender and slicing limes.
After we were done, we toasted the evening together. "Lexi, we're going to talk another time about your party."
"Let’s do it now. I don’t like surprises."
“Really?" I asked.
"Yeah. That was Tate's excuse for talking to me about the bachelorette party.”
“I organized one before, and I have a couple ideas about locations and activities we could do. The first thing we have to decide on is whether we want it to be a one-day event or a weekend thing."
The more I thought about it, the more I liked the fact that Lexi wanted to be part of the planning. Sure, the element of surprise wasn't going to be there, although we could sneak something in that we didn't tell her about. But like this, you knew the bride was having fun.
"Okay, everyone," Kimberly exclaimed, "brainstorming officially starts now.
You're all good to go with cocktails. The pizza is going to arrive in about five minutes.
If you want to be sensible, wait for the pizza and drink after.
I'm definitely not going to be sensible. Besides, it's got fruit in it, right?"
"Counts as food," Reese said.
"Here, here," I exclaimed. I ate a croissant on the way here, so I wasn't too hungry. I sipped from my cocktail, humming. "This is delicious."
We started brainstorming right away. When the pizza arrived, we immediately opened it. Even though I wasn't hungry, I got down half a pizza in less than ten minutes. It was delicious.
"Hey, I think we have a good plan," I said, writing all the ideas on a piece of paper. I'd declared myself the official organizer somehow, but this was fun, and I wanted to do it. We had plenty of ideas. We just needed to arrange them in a schedule that would fit.
Lexi leaned in closer to me. We were all on the floor, and I was lying on my belly with my feet up in the air.
"You’re not writing straight anymore."
I held the paper a bit farther away. "You're right. I think this might be the tequila talking—or, in this case, writing."
"You didn't even have so much," Kimberly said with a shriek of laughter.
"Right, then definitely enough." I giggled and then covered my mouth with my hand. Holy shit, how was I even going to make it home? I realized I was swaying a bit. "Please tell me everyone's in the same state and not just me?"
"It's not just you," Reese said, blinking a few times, shaking her head, and then immediately putting her hand on her forehead. "Crap. I need to lie down."
"I’m way ahead of you," Liz whined. She was lying on one side with her head propped in her hand. "I didn't know why it felt comfortable to lie down like this, but now I do."
"Anyone still think we’re going to be productive tonight?" Kimberly asked.
"Nah, I think we should relax," Reese said. "Besides, our official planner said we have enough activities, right?"
"Yeah, we do," I said. "We really do. I'm going to play around with this a bit and come up with a proposal and email all of you."
"You're thorough," Kimberly exclaimed. "I like you."
Reese frowned. "But do you have time? I know that competition is coming up."
I scrunched my nose. "No, no, no, please don't remind me. This was supposed to be a competition-free day. I'll make time. This will be fun."
"So, tell us the truth. Is our cousin taking care of you, making sure you’re relaxed?"
"Oh, yes, he is," I said, smiling from ear to ear.
"Okay." Reese laughed. "We get it from your smile. We don't need any more details."
"I wasn't going to share any," I said. "It would feel a bit weird. The important question is how are we getting home?"
"You're all welcome to crash here," Reese said. "The couch is a pullout. And someone can sleep in bed with me. And two of you in the guest room."
We all protested at the same time.
"Oh, I get it," Reese cut in. "You all want to go home to your guys."
"I'm staying with you, sister," Kimberly said.
"Yeah, but you always stay with me."
"Way to make me feel special. Besides, isn't your Englishman up now? You could do some sexting. Drunk texting is the best."
"No, I'm way too drunk for that," Reese said. "Besides, I'm not sure if he's up. How are the time zones working, hours forward or back?" She frowned.
I racked my brain and couldn't come up with an answer. Holy shit, I was truly drunk if I couldn't even think about that.
Reese snorted into her glass. "Yeah. I think it should be a general rule. If you're too drunk to realize how time zones work, then you should not engage in sexting. Things might go wrong."
Kendra shrugged. "I can't figure out European time zones even when I'm not drunk."
In the end, we all agreed on texting our guys.
It wasn't even that late, just barely past midnight.
This had been a very quick party, but it was fun.
Since the guys usually kept their phones on silent, we could text them, and if they didn't answer, it meant they were sleeping. To our astonishment, they all replied.
"You know what?" Reese said. "I can imagine all of them staying up with their phones nearby, waiting for any news on whether a stripper's part of the plan or not."
I burst out laughing. "I can see that happening."
All of them agreed to come and pick us up. They were great men. I mean, who did something like that on a Friday night? I could have gone to Luke’s place in an Uber, but if he wanted to pick me up, I wasn’t going to say no.
Since he lived the farthest away, I was the last one with Reese and Kimberly.
"I'm starting to sober up," Reese said. She was leaning against the couch, crouched in a yoga pose. "This was a fun evening. Thank you for coming. And thanks for wanting to organize the party. But if it gets too much, please tell us, okay?"
"I will," I assured them as Luke stepped inside.
"I'm here, ladies." He looked around at us suspiciously.
Reese pressed her lips together. Kimberly just started laughing. "Okay, I've got to say it. You guys are insane. Every single one of you had this look like you’re ready to attack."
"What are you talking about?" Luke asked.
"You're sniffing around on the stripper topic," she said.
He blinked. "Fair enough, I am."
I jerked my head back. What? I had not picked up on those vibes. To my defense, though, Kimberly had known him longer.
"There is no stripper," I said.
His shoulders relaxed. He was jealous. I enjoyed it.
Luke came over to me, giving me a hand. I got up pretty easily. Yeah, I was definitely sobering up. I smiled sheepishly. "I'm not really drunk anymore, but thanks for coming to pick me up."
"Anytime, babe." He had an interesting glint in his eyes. I couldn't wait to figure out what it meant.