CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER SEVEN
After Sadie had finished with the presents and the party started to wind down, she came over to join me. I was seated at a table, keeping a close eye on Brandy. I had expected she might try to leave and score a drink somewhere else, but whatever Mandy had said to her earlier was keeping Brandy in line.
“Everything has gone so well!” I said, trying for a light and cheery mood. Sadie seemed a bit worn down, and I couldn’t blame her. Most brides had enough to deal with when it came to events and obnoxious relatives without Sadie’s added difficulty of her Instagram livestreaming. “You must be really happy.”
“Things are going well,” Sadie said, letting out a sigh as she sat. “Sometimes that worries me. Like the calm before the storm.”
“I get that.”
“So let’s talk about happier things. Like how glad I am that you and Camden have been hanging out.”
This is not the time to roll your eyes and make a gagging noise, I reminded myself. “The guy who thinks I’m a spy. Yeah, that’s going really well.”
She ignored my sarcasm. “You guys were laughing. I was waiting to come in with my mom and I saw you two.”
We had been laughing about her stepdad and his soon-to-be child bride. I certainly couldn’t tell Sadie that. “Just because we shared a laugh doesn’t mean anything. I have a really strict personal policy about not dating guys from weddings. I’m a big believer in the separation of work and date.”
Krista chose this moment to join us, sighing happily as she sat down and kicked off her heels. I’d hoped the presence of a new person might deter Sadie, but no such luck.
“I would consider it a huge favor if you could bend your policy just a little bit this time. You’re here to make me happy, right? Knowing that Camden had someone to hang out with would make Dan happy, which would make me happy.”
“Why would Dan care?”
Sadie smiled sadly. “Dan worries about his best friend. He thinks Camden is lonely and a workaholic.”
“So you decided to foist him off on me?”
“Oh come on,” Krista said. “You’re a workaholic, too. You literally picked a job that you could do twenty-four hours a day.”
Sadie tried to make it better. “If you could just help him have fun and not focus so much on work, that would mean a lot to me. Dan and Camden are basically like brothers. They were raised together.”
I couldn’t help myself. “They were?”
“You should ask him about it. Get to know him better. You don’t have to date him. Just be friendly, please.” I knew Sadie meant well and she seemed so sincere.
As if she sensed me wavering, Krista chimed in. “You don’t really have a choice now. Customer satisfaction is our number-one priority.”
This was how they wanted to play it? “The two of you planned this. You guys are setting me up.” I should have known better than to let them talk as Sadie opened her presents.
“Us?” Krista said in exaggerated shock. “Never!”
“It’s my fake birthday,” I grumbled, knowing I would do as she asked. “Shouldn’t I get to choose who I want to hang out with?”
“Sadie’s wedding trumps your fake birthday,” Krista said with a sorry-not-sorry expression. “And it must be oh-so-hard to have to spend time with a charming and extremely handsome man.”
Feeling obstinate I muttered, “He’s not that good-looking.”
That caused a heavy silence to descend over the table as both Sadie and Krista stared at me like I was stupid.
Krista was the first to speak. “If the world was about to be destroyed and I had to pick one man to repopulate the planet, he’s the one I would choose.”
Then you hang out with himwas the reply that sprang to the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it. Mostly because I’d been trying harder lately to not be rude or snappish, but also because of the inexplicable jealousy that had bubbled up inside me at the idea of Krista flirting with him.
Sadie had her phone out and was texting. “Speaking of your celebration, I’ve got it all planned out. There’s a club in Honolulu who wanted to sponsor an event for the wedding but because of my exclusive contract, I couldn’t be in my stories drinking any other brand of liquor. Since this is your birthday and technically not part of my wedding, we can go. My social media agent is setting up the whole thing. This will be so fun. And I could really use a night off.”
I stifled a groan. It was my job to give her as many nights off as she wanted. “Fine. I’ll do it.” I would go to my pretend birthday party and I would be nice to Camden.
Sadie squealed and got up to throw her arms around me. “That is so great! Trust me, you won’t regret it!”
Too late.
Krista and I shared a cab to the club. Sadie wanted to go over a bit earlier to make sure everything was set up and ready. I offered to take care of the details for her, but she insisted that since it was my “birthday,” I should let her do it.
“I still can’t believe you brought a present,” I said to my friend. “You know it’s not my actual birthday.”
Krista looked highly offended. “Of course I brought a gift. I’m not rude. Now let’s get inside, you international woman of mystery.”
I never should have told her about the spy thing. A bouncer at the front door asked for our names and then told us to follow his associate, another large and burly man. The front door was opened for us and the EDM sound waves hit me square in the chest. The thumping techno beat was so loud.
The second bouncer led us into a private room where you could see the dance floor, but it was soundproofed enough that you could hear yourself think. It was then that I realized Krista and I were the last to arrive, a feeling I did not enjoy. Five minutes early was ten minutes late in my world.
The room had been decorated with red balloons and streamers, my favorite color. There was a cake with red icing roses on a table. It wasn’t much, almost like a last-minute kid’s party, but I was touched by the effort.
Camden was sitting on a couch by himself, in a darkened corner of the room. He had his phone out and was pushing a lot of buttons. Again I had that thrill of excitement at seeing him, glad that I got to be near him.
I had to stop doing that.
Sadie ran over to hug both Krista and me.
“No camera crew?” I asked.
“Not tonight,” Sadie said. “I promised the club to take some footage with my phone and to mention them in a post, but we don’t need to do anything more than that. Come on, let me make introductions.”
She took us by the hands and led us over to where the other men had congregated. “You know my incredibly handsome groom, Dan, obviously. This is Rick, his cousin and one of the groomsmen. And here’s Vance, the other groomsman. He’s also a programmer at Dan’s company.”
I said hello and nodded as the men waved back. They were all huddled around Dan’s phone, and I wondered if they were looking at college basketball scores. Sadie sat next to Dan, linking her arm through his and resting her head on his shoulder.
Before I could ask the men what they were doing, Mary-Ellen joined us. “You already know me. In case you forgot, I’m Sadie’s cousin. The other bridesmaid. My name’s Mary-Ellen. Although some of my friends back home call me Melon.”
My eyes flicked between her head and her breasts, which both seemed average, and I wondered why she had been given such an unfortunate nickname.
At my apparent confusion she added, “It’s because they squish Mary and Ellen together. Melon. Isn’t it the cutest?”
I was pretty sure I was never going to call her that. “It’s definitely something.”
She noticed Krista laying her present down next to two others and announced, “When Sadie told me this was a birthday celebration, I briefly considered getting you a gift but ...”
After I realized Mary-Ellen wasn’t going to finish her sentence I said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s the almost thought that counts.”
Rick left the group and approached Krista, offering her his hand, to properly say hello. They started chatting and I realized that she and Sadie had left me alone with someone who wanted to use the same nickname as a cantaloupe.
“Hey.” Mary-Ellen scooted closer to me and I took a step back at her invading my personal space. “You’re friends with that Camden guy, right?”
“Friends is a generous word.”
She blinked, as if she didn’t get my meaning. “Right. You have to help me out. Be my wing woman. I’ve been trying to talk to him for the last couple of days and he keeps blowing me off.”
“Did you tell him people call you Melon?” I shouldn’t be snarky right now, but it was like it was just pouring out of me. More jealousy? I refused to self-reflect.
She didn’t seem to pick up on my sarcasm. “That’s exactly what I’m going to tell him. I bet he’ll think it’s cute. Us bridesmaids are such a great squad. We should have our own motto. Like ‘in squad we trust.’”
The desire to say mean things threatened to overwhelm me, so I let her grab my hand and pull me over to where Camden was seated.
She said, “Hi!” brightly to him and sat down on his right. There was no room for me to sit next to her, and I was forced to sit down on his left side.
The look on his face when he saw me ... I was trying to forget it. How he looked genuinely glad to see me, excited even. I willed the tropical butterflies in my stomach to calm down and to stop flapping their massive wings so freaking hard.
“What are you up to?” Mary-Ellen asked, leaning over to play with one of the buttons on his shirt. It took all of my willpower not to slap her hand away.
“Responding to a text.”
That made me smile. “Does it take you like, ten years to reply?”
His mouth twisted to one side, as if he were trying not to be amused. “You get pretty fast at getting the right letter from each button.”
“Yeah, I mean at least the person getting a text from you can appreciate how much you have to work at it. You want to use the letter Z? You’re going to have to press the 9 button four times. That’s commitment.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m not texting about grizzly buzzards who like pizza.”
My breath hitched for a second as my pulse thumped. I so liked how his brain worked. To distract myself from my wrong impulses and reaction, I asked, “So what happened? Did your carrier pigeon get lost and you had to use this instead?”
He put his left arm along the back of the couch and physically turned his body toward me. I wondered if Mary-Ellen noticed.
“If you knew anything about how tech works, you’d get rid of your smartphone right now,” he told me. “It’s listening to you, tracking you.”
“I know it listens to me. That’s a convenience. Whenever I want to buy something, I talk really loudly about what I’m looking for and just wait for the ads to show up in my social media feeds.”
He could tell that I was teasing him and he responded to it by leaning even closer. “I think I liked it better in the olden days when phones were dumb and people were smart.”
“Good times,” I agreed, realizing that I was moving toward him, too. I straightened out my back, inching away slowly.
He totally noticed and that lazy smile of his gave me actual goose bumps. He slipped his phone into his pocket, apparently ready to focus his attention on me.
But not for the reasons I wanted him to.
We were interrupted then by a waitress. “Good evening! My name is Carol and I’ll be taking care of you. Are you guys celebrating something tonight?”
Mary-Ellen spoke up. “We’re sort of celebrating a birthday, but the real reason we’re all here is to pregame for my cousin Sadie’s wedding!”
While I wondered how someone “sort of” celebrated a birthday Carol said, “Congratulations! Can I get you a bottle of complimentary champagne?”
“Yes, please!” Mary-Ellen said, and then added in a really bad British accent, “I just love champers.”
Be nice, be nice, be nice.
“I’ll take a gin and tonic,” Camden told Carol.
“Can I get a strawberry-banana virgin daiquiri?” I asked and Carol said, “Of course!” They could lead this horse to a nightclub, but they could not make me drink. Although tonight wasn’t technically a wedding event, I wanted to stay on this side of sober. I did not need my inhibitions lowered around Camden.
As Carol went to take everyone else’s orders Camden asked, “Virgin fruit daiquiri, huh? Isn’t that basically a smoothie?”
“Maybe I’m on a health kick. Or trying to cut calories.”
“You don’t need to.” I drew in a sharp breath. How did he do that? How did he say something so simple and utterly meaningless and turn it into a molten stab of liquid heat that I felt in my stomach?
Mary-Ellen, apparently tired of being left out, put her hand on Camden’s shoulder. “So, Mr.Gin and Tonic, what is it you do?”
“I work at a tech company,” was his answer. I noticed that he didn’t pepper her with questions. Although to be fair, I don’t think anybody would ever suspect Melon of being a spy.
Carol was standing next to Dan and Sadie and I heard Sadie order a club soda. Carol seemed confused. “You’re the bride, right? Are you sure I can’t get you something a little stronger?”
“No, thanks. My mom’s an alcoholic and I usually try to steer clear.”
That broke my heart a little. Carol seemed uncomfortable by Sadie’s proclamation, but she covered it up with a smile and promised she’d return quickly. Sadie turned and caught me looking at her. She pointed at Camden and at me, then gave me two thumbs up. I smiled back weakly. At least I was making the customer happy.
My nerve endings were also pretty excited, sparking with delight at being so close to him again.
Since I was sitting right next to them, I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on Mary-Ellen and Camden’s conversation. Or more accurately, Mary-Ellen’s monologue. She was talking about a British reality show she loved called The Only Way Is Essex, and while she was describing the premise of it she had somehow lapsed back into that mangled English accent.
Camden briefly turned toward me and mouthed the words, “Help me.”
I tried not to laugh and had to put my hand over my mouth. Personally, I thought he deserved to be a little bit tortured after jumping to such an outlandish conclusion about me.
Carol returned with the drinks and passed them out, taking care to pour Mary-Ellen her “champers.” Camden looked like he was ready to knock back his entire drink in one gulp. I took a big swig of my drink and made a face—both because the strawberry taste was a little overwhelming and from the brain freeze. Carol told us she’d be back to check on us and left some extra champagne glasses.
Having the drink gave me something to do. Mary-Ellen was downing her champagne like her liver was on fire. I wondered how responsible I should be for her. She was still a bridesmaid and Sadie’s cousin. Why wasn’t she as concerned as Sadie about becoming an alcoholic? They came from the same gene pool.
Camden took this opportunity to try to talk to me again. I couldn’t blame him for attempting to disengage with Mary-Ellen. “Look at them.”
He had nodded toward Sadie and Dan, who were still intertwined with one another. “They are adorable,” I said.
“Yeah ... I think they go into convulsions if they’re farther than six feet apart.” It was a sarcastic remark, which I always appreciated, but I could hear the affection underneath it. He liked that they were so in love. Most guys I’d dated, when they were around a committed couple, freaked out about it and ran in the opposite direction. Like they were going to catch it.
It was refreshing to be sitting with a man who sounded like he was longing for it in his own life.
Upset that Camden had stopped paying attention to her, Mary-Ellen poured a bit of her champagne on his lap.
“I’m so sorry!” she said. “Let me get that!”
She reached for a cocktail napkin and started blotting the liquid in a way that might have gotten her arrested in a Bible Belt state.
Camden quickly stopped her, taking the napkins. “I’ve got it. Thanks.”
“Now where were we?” she said and then launched back into explaining the TV show to him. Camden raised his eyebrows at me, like he expected me to save him, but I was enjoying my frozen fruit. He was a big boy. He could handle himself just fine.
Mary-Ellen had started describing the second episode of the first season when Vance came over and asked her if she’d like to dance. I caught a glimpse of the sneaky look on Sadie’s face and knew that she’d put him up to it. But why? Did it matter who Camden was hanging out with as long as he was having fun? Did it have to be me?
Although, to be fair, he had looked like he wanted to gnaw off his own leg to get away from Mary-Ellen.
After Vance and Mary-Ellen left, Camden moved in closer so that his words were hot against my neck, sending tingling shivers dancing across my skin. “Alone at last.”