Chapter 19
Fern drinks champagne.
“Hurry up!” Liv called out the window.
Fern bounded toward the Subaru, her backpack slung around front as she shoved a pair of flip-flops on top and struggled with the zipper.
“Hey there, little mama.”
Scowling, Olivia reached across the passenger seat to fling open the door. “You’re in a great mood.”
“Fuck yes. I’m excited for this bachelorette night, but I can’t wait for this wedding to be over. Mating, moving in…”
“That’s so rude. What about Ren?”
Grinning, Fern chucked her bag in the back seat and reached for her seat belt. “I don’t know how I’m going to manage.”
“Manage what? Moving in with Elliott?”
“No, I’m excited for that.” He wanted to start sharing a home, officially, the moment their mate bond was complete.
The only downside she could think of was that her commute would get three minutes longer—a perfectly fine trade-off for the life she’d live with him.
Scratching her new, long nails along the textured plastic of the door frame, she asked, “How do you stop yourself from spilling the beans to humans?”
“You just can’t,” Liv said matter-of-factly, clicking on her turn signal. “It would put our lives at risk.”
“But I wanna tell Ren. She won’t say anything.”
“Not intentionally, but what if she let it slip to someone else? They might decide she’s bonkers and think less of her, or worse, they’ll believe her, and we’ll end up underpaid stars of the next TLC special.”
“Would that be so bad? It’s called the Learning Channel, Liv.”
“Have you watched it in the last twenty years? It’s exploitative.”
“Whatever, boss.”
“It’s alpha.”
“So, I can’t say anything to my best friend?”
Liv cocked a brow.
“My other best friend?”
“No. You can tell her you have a boyfriend.”
Fern huffed.
“Tell me everything before we get there. You have about three-and-a-half minutes. Go.”
She went, breezing through the high-level details of all the good food and great orgasms Elliott had given her that week. She’d spent a sum total of zero nights at her apartment, though she did take a couple naps and a few showers there.
“All of that seems safe to share with Ren.” Cranking her wheel to the right, Olivia pulled into a spot at the Lodge and put her car in park.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t tell you how I’ve been trying to be discreet about it. But Anita winks at me every freaking time I go into the bookstore. And Ros—fucking Ros—she keeps wanting to talk about the super compelling and demands details every morning. I only give her a few.”
“The same ones you just gave me?”
“Less.”
“Good.”
“Fucking shifters and your super senses! I can’t wait to be one.”
Laughing, Liv pulled her keys out of the ignition and shook them in Fern’s face. “Got it all out of your system?”
“Not really, no.”
“Too bad. Keep your mouth shut about shifting until after Ren marries Scott.”
“Fine, let’s go.”
“That’s my line. Let’s go,” Liv said, throwing open her door.
Liv pulled open the heavy doors to the Lodge, and they found Ren standing in the lobby, speaking to a woman at the desk who Fern didn’t recognize. Liv waved to the staff member while Ren pocketed her keycard and turned to face them with a grin.
“You’re here! Hi, hi!” Looking every bit the bride-to-be, her flowy white sundress hugged her ample curves and highlighted her tanned, olive skin.
“Lovey!” Liv called, racing forward as Fern took up the rear to jump in a moment late on their group hug.
“You look phenomenal,” Fern announced, running her fingers through Ren’s thick black waves as they twirled slowly like an off-kilter top. “I’ve never seen your hair this long.”
“I’m so sick of it,” Ren said with a laugh, pulling away from her girls. “Scott loves it though, so I said I’d grow it out for the wedding.”
“Speaking of, how is that turd? How’s your family?” Fern asked as Ren retrieved her belongings and they started toward the elevator.
“He is not a turd,” Renata retorted, though Fern remained unconvinced.
Ren and Scott had been together for years—a decade, maybe—and while he didn’t seem awful, he was just bleh.
Ren knew how Fern felt, and she’d still asked her to be in the wedding party, which Fern took as a good sign.
Not that she’d wish eventual divorce on anyone, but…
He was a turd.
“Your sisters?” Liv prodded, clearly trying to change the subject as they rode the elevator in silence.
“Coming tomorrow with my mom and dad. Is it bad I’m happy they didn’t come in for this bachelorette?”
Fern shook her head. “No. We need this. I missed you too much. You can see those two any time.”
“Okay, good. I felt guilty.”
“Don’t. When’s Scott getting here?” Olivia asked.
“He’s driving up with his groomsmen in the morning. They’re supposed to be here around eleven, but I bet it will be more like one.”
“Dinner?” Liv checked.
“Room service,” Ren confirmed.
Fern chuckled, prodding with, “You don’t want to go out tonight?”
Renata’s nostrils flared as she frowned. “Ew, no. You know I hate restaurants.”
Liv laughed. “I’ll order for you, take all the stress out of it.”
Ren’s eye roll was interrupted by the elevator’s ding, and the doors slid open to reveal a pine-paneled wall featuring a painting of a bear hiding behind a rock.
“That looks a little like Elliott,” Fern blurted.
“Who’s Elliott?” Ren asked, sticking the keycard in their door.
“Fitz,” Liv answered quickly, shooting Fern a private glare. “He’s super tall, and he has a beard.”
Frowning, Ren turned to Fern, who clarified, “He’s my boyfriend.”
Ren’s smile lit up her whole face, making her dark eyes shine and her cheeks flush with excitement. “Get out of here! Liv comes here, boyfriend within a week. You move to town, same.”
“Week and a half,” Fern said with a smirk, aware Ren would lose her shit if she knew the whole of it.
“Still counts. Do I get to meet him?”
“Of course! He’s my date to your wedding.”
“Is he coming to the rehearsal dinner tomorrow?” Renata checked as she tossed her duffel bag on the bed and went to hang her dress in the massive closet. “You can invite him if you haven’t already.”
“Are you sure?” Fern asked, already digging for her phone in her overstuffed bag.
“I hateeeee you right now,” Renata slurred, swaying her personal champagne bottle in Liv’s face.
“Don’t be a meanie to Mama.” Fern did a high kick and nearly fell into the TV.
Olivia scowled. “Don’t call me that. And you—Renata—why do you hate me?”
“You’re going to feel so good in the morning, and I’m going to feel like shittttowski.”
Snorting so hard bubbles popped in her nose, Fern flopped into an armchair and retrieved her personal bottle of champagne.
“I’m not going to feel great tomorrow,” Liv countered. “It’s two a.m. I should’ve gone to sleep hours ago, but instead I’m spending my night watching the two of you put on choreographed dance routines to Kidz Bop songs, and I don’t know how I ended up here.”
“Oh, now you’re just being mean.” Fern swigged her drink, and Olivia cackled.
“Your dancing’s great, lovey.”
“Thank you,” Ren answered for Fern, then pointed at her phone on the nightstand, its screen bright. “Oh! Look! My beebee!”
“It’s Scott,” Liv clarified, sitting close enough to see.
“Hi, hi!” Ren said cheerily as she accepted the call on speaker.
A thump thump and a soft exhale greeted them in reply.
“Scott?”
There was a feminine giggle and a male laugh. Liv’s brows lifted, her jaw clenched, and a soft growl escaped her chest—her cat.
Ren didn’t even notice. “Scott, are you okay?”
There was more thumping and a recurring squeak.
Running her tongue over her teeth, Fern inhaled slowly as rage built in her belly.
“Scott?”
Another muffled sigh.
Ren tapped the red button on her phone so hard the tip of her finger turned white as she ended the call and stared down at the side table.
“I’m—” Fern cut herself off and gave Liv a helpless look, silently screaming at her friend to say something, to tell her she was misinterpreting what they’d just heard.
“Ren…” Liv said softly, moving to stand from the bed.
But Renata’s back stiffened, and she laughed, her giggle tight and high-pitched.
Fern set her champagne down, bracing her hands on the chair arms. Confusion was basically a fourth person in the room, playing tug-of-war with Fern’s and Liv’s expressions.
“Oh, Scott.” Ren waved a hand flippantly. “He’s always pocket dialing me. What do you think he was doing? Probably walking around with the guys. Maybe they were pushing a cart or something? Did that sound like a shopping cart to you?”
“Uh…” Liv’s mouth hung open until Fern tapped her own chin, and Liv snapped her jaw shut.
“I dunno, Ren. I’m not sure I heard a shopping cart,” Fern offered gently, crossing to her side.
“Hmph.” Renata shrugged and paced away toward the bathroom.
“I’m going to brush my teeth. Let’s get to bed.
Tomorrow’s going to be so busy with our families showing up and the rehearsal dinner.
I just need a big glass of water and a few hours of sleep.
” Nodding quickly to herself, she closed the door and twisted the lock.
“What the hell?” Fern whispered to Olivia.
“I don’t know,” Liv mouthed.
“He was fucking someone, right?”
“It sounded like it.”
Plopping down right next to Olivia at the end of the bed, Fern hissed, “We can’t let her marry that cock.”
Liv splayed her palms wide as if at a loss.
“Olivia!”
“I think she has to come to the conclusion herself.”
Grinding her teeth, Fern tried to swallow away the bile overtaking her stomach. “We have to help her get there, then. If she doesn’t change her mind before noon tomorrow, I’m telling her what I think I heard. Will you back me up?”
With a resolved sigh, Liv agreed, and they climbed into bed.
Fern woke to Ren whimpering alone beneath her blankets.
“What’s wrong?” Fern asked stupidly, rolling out from beside Liv and padding the three feet to Renata’s side as she poked her head out and winced at the sunshine.