Chapter 19 #2
“Meet Blake! He’s here on his bachelor party, too, and he’s getting married the same day as you!
” Evie says, stretching out her arms in a ta-da!
gesture, revealing a random guy wearing a baseball cap that reads “Blake’s Vegas Bach” next to a picture of his face.
In fact, all of them are wearing those caps.
“Oh, hi!” I say, getting to my feet and pulling Blake in for a brief hug. “Congratulations!”
“Congratulations to you, too! I think we may have possibly just been kidnapped by your friends. Sorry to intrude,” he says with a laugh as he draws back from me.
Melissa plucks an open bottle of champagne from an ice bucket and says, “Let’s cheers!”
“No, no,” one of the guys from Blake’s bachelor party objects, already reaching into his swim shorts for a wallet.
“Champagne will be on us. Hang fire!” He and one other guy head off to the bar, and when they return ten minutes later with two bottles of champagne, they pour out glasses for each of us.
“Congratulations to Blake and—” Bachelor Party Friend looks to me for help.
“Adelaide,” I say.
“Congratulations to Blake and Adelaide on getting hitched soon!”
We all clink our glasses together with cheers of celebration, and then Blake and I are ushered together for a photo.
I fold my arms over my chest, looking tough and macho with Blake’s silly baseball cap on my head, and he poses girlishly next to me with my sash wrapped around him and his hands sweetly cupping his face.
It’s all in good spirit, just two people celebrating the same milestone in life.
“What are you doing?” I hear Liam snap, and the easy smile on my face instantly disappears as my eyes flash to Liam in panic.
His tone is hard, cutting, and that’s never good.
When he reaches me, he roughly snatches the baseball cap off my head, messing up my hair, and shoves it into Blake’s chest. “Give me that sash back.”
Blake furrows his brows in shock and lets out a breezy, awkward laugh of confusion. “Uhh, okay? Here,” he says, slipping off the sash and passing it back to me.
“This is my fiancé, Liam,” I explain, stepping closer to Liam and touching the small of his back.
My chest tightens with humiliation when I scan the faces of everyone around me, and not one person is smiling anymore.
Everyone is wondering what the fuck is going on, and I don’t blame them. “He’s here on his bachelor party, too.”
“Oh, congratulations, man!” Blake says chirpily, offering out a hand to shake.
Liam’s fierce eyes lower to Blake’s extended hand. He doesn’t shake it, only takes a threatening step closer to him. “Why don’t you and your buddies celebrate somewhere else?”
“Liam,” I hiss, begging, as I pull on his shirt. “Stop.”
“Jesus, insecure much?” one of the guys from Blake’s bachelor party mutters.
Blake backs away from Liam, not looking for a fight.
He rounds up his buddies, and as they turn to leave, Blake catches my eye one last time.
The small smile he gives me is full of pity, and I want the ground to swallow me whole when he calls back, “Good luck with your wedding, Adelaide!” because I sure as hell need it.
Liam stands protectively in front of me, his eyes tracking Blake and his friends like a sniper all the way across the pool until they blend in with the crowd and out of sight. I glance at Melissa and Hailey, who sip awkwardly on the dregs of their champagne and stare at the ground.
Evie is the only one who has the nerve to say something. “That was kind of unnecessary, don’t you think?” she mutters, casting Liam a disgusted look as she brushes past him to fetch herself a new drink.
The rest of Liam’s bachelor party must have stopped off at the bar on their way over here, because finally they all appear, drinks in hand.
“The fuck was that about?” Theo asks, taking a swig of his beer as he sits down on the couch next to Hailey. He looks to her in hope she’ll fill him in, but she just grimaces.
“Looks like Addy was entertaining some fucking weirdos in dumb hats,” Liam retorts. He turns around now, fixing me with a seething look, like once again I have done something wrong.
“Oh, c’mon Liam, that’s not fair,” Melissa mumbles, looking uncertainly from him to me, like she’s wondering where the boundary is when standing up to your best friend’s fiancé.
And usually, there would be a boundary, but not today.
I was having the best time until Liam showed up, and now I’m pissed that he’s ruined the good vibes—again.
Usually, he manages to keep his temper in check, bottles up whatever feelings of disapproval he has toward my behavior, and then addresses it with me later in private.
But after that? Everyone is staring at us.
I just know there’ll be questions later, and the dread swirls in my stomach.
“That guy is literally engaged!” I tell Liam through gritted teeth. “It was just some guys on a bachelor party having fun with some women on a bachelorette party. That’s normal. Why’d you have to storm over here the way you did?”
Liam’s eyes darken further, furious at being called out in front of everyone. “Because I’ve been standing in fucking line for over an hour and when I finally get in here, the first thing I see is you flirting with some other dude.”
“I was not flirting, oh my God,” I groan in exasperation. In every argument, I end up feeling like I’ve done something wrong . . . but not this time. This time I’m entirely sure of what happened: Liam is the unreasonable one.
“Liam. C’mon, man,” Connor says carefully, taking a step toward us and holding out a hand in front of Liam’s chest. It’s subtle, the barrier he creates, but I notice and appreciate it. “You’re being a dick right now.”
“Yeah,” Theo chimes in, falling into line next to Connor. “How about you don’t talk to Addy like that?”
Liam angrily shoves Theo away and fixes his gaze solely on Connor instead. “How about you stop riding my ass all weekend?”
“Wouldn’t have to if you could keep yourself in check,” Connor says in a steady tone of voice, completely unfazed by Liam’s bubbling rage.
He may look calm and collected, but there’s an edge to his expression, a slight clench in his jaw, like he’d put all of his boot camp training to good use if pushed to.
It’s so bizarre, watching Liam snap at Connor.
They’ve been best friends all their lives and never once have I heard of any disagreements between them.
It’s so out of character for both of them to act like this, but Liam is on the defensive, something relatively foreign for him, and Connor wants to protect me.
“Oooookay!” Melissa loudly interrupts with a sharp clap of her hands. “Everyone chill out, please? We’re here to have a fun day out and celebrate Addy and Liam. Let’s draw a line and get some drinks in, okay?”
Liam releases a long, deep breath and glances around the group.
“Yeah. Sorry, guys. I think I’m just dehydrated and pissy.
I’m going to go get some water, actually.
” Sweat beads around his temples and he wipes a hand over his face.
Turning back to me, he gently frees my sash from my stiffened grip and helps slip it back around my shoulders.
“I’m sorry, babe. That was an overreaction. ”
I’ve learned by now that Liam’s accountability doesn’t mean much when his actions never change, but we have an audience, and I want nothing more than this entire overblown moment to be quickly swept under the rug and forgotten about before the end of the day.
“Go get yourself some water and then a real drink, okay? And then come back here and dance with me.”
Liam manages only half of a smile, the corners of his mouth barely lifting, and he nods. Squeezing my hand goodbye, he heads off to the bar with John trailing behind him for company.
“That was so fucking weird,” Tyler mutters once Liam is out of earshot. “I’ve never seen him act like that before. Is that something new, Adelaide?”
It’s clearly a question the others are also dying to ask, because everyone listens eagerly for my answer, raised eyebrows all around.