Page 40 of Devoted

“I kind of figured by the way you spoke about her the other night at the park,” Cooper adds.

“Well, now everyone knows. She asked me to be her date for the wedding too, so it seems we’ll all be seeing more of each other,” I add sarcastically.

Our group all stands and begins the descent of the mountain as Cash comes up beside me and throws his arm around my shoulder. “I think I can handle seeing more of your mug around here. It’s nice to add more good men to the group. But don’t hurt Jess, okay? Otherwise, more than one of us will be knocking on your door. Jess is a catch.”

I nod agreeingly. “Believe me, the last thing I want is that. But thanks. And thank you for the invite. It’s been nice hanging out with a decent group of guys today. I haven’t done that in a while. Feels good to be home.” I don’t want to sound too emotional, but it’s clear to me that these men are the type of friends you count yourself lucky to have, adding the growing list of pros that have resulted from me moving back home, even though my mother’s cancer was the true reason.

“You think we’re decent? Oh, boy. Just wait until we start drinking. You just might change your mind.” Cash winks at me and then drops his hand. “And if my theory is correct, the women are probably about halfway to drunk town as we speak.”

Jess

“Piper!” I shout across her house, trying to walk in a straight line and failing miserably. “It’s only one o’clock in the afternoon and I am drunk!”

Champagne sloshes out of the top of my glass as I make my way back into the living room where the other girls are spread out on the furniture or sleeping on the floor. Snoring comes from one corner where Perry and Amy, two of Olivia’s best friends, are curled up in balls with pillows wedged under the heads.

“That’s what happens when you decide to have a bachelorette brunch instead of going out at night,” Piper slurs as she settles down next to me.

“I, for one, supported this idea wholeheartedly.” Olivia leans over the back of the couch between us, teetering her drink in her hand. “You can get a good buzz going, ride it out, take a nap later, and still have part of your day left. As a parent, I believe day-drinking is the best because then you don’t have to worry about being woken up early the next day by a toddler who doesn’t care if you’re hungover or not.”

“True story,” Perry adds from the floor, wiping drool from her cheek.

“Yeah, I’d have to agree,” Rachel declares from the chair in the corner. She’s leaning back against one arm and her legs are thrown over the other one. “I mean, I’m not an actual parent, but now that I take care of a kid every day, I can attest that they wake up at their normal time with no consideration about what your night was like. When I have to close at Tony’s, the next morning is always so rough when Grayson wakes up at six, no matter how late I got in.” Rachel bartends at Tony’s a few nights a week as well as taking care of Luke’s son.

“You guys are not making me any more enthusiastic about this kid coming out anytime soon.” Clara waddles into the living room, the only sober one here obviously since she’s weeks away from giving birth.

“It’s true though, Clara,” Olivia adds, her drunkenness attributing to her honesty. “They stretch out your body in more ways than one, deplete your boobs of their perkiness, rob you of sleep, and ruin your ability to get drunk and enjoy it.” She stands up from her perched position and then smiles wistfully, tears forming in her eyes. “But the joy they give you makes you crazy enough to do it all over again in a heartbeat.”

“Olivia, you’re gonna make me cry and I’m not even pregnant or close to having a baby,” I whine as Olivia rushes over and hugs Clara, the alcohol making everyone a tad more affectionate than normal.

“You’ll get there one day.” Rachel pulls my attention to her. “Maybe with Brooks even,” she says while bouncing her eyebrows up and down.

“Brooks? Brooks Bennet?” Clara shouts, waking up anyone who was trying to sleep and alerting all the women of the status of my dating life.

“Uh…” Many words are firing off in my brain, but my lips are too numb to form them.

“Oh, girl! You’d better spill! I saw Brooks last week at the park while Cooper and I were walking Roark, and I could sense that something was going on between you two with the way his face lit up when I mentioned you in conversation.”

“Aw, that’s so cute!” Piper squeals as she nudges me. “Fill them in, Jess. Come on, you know you can trust everyone here.”

I look around the room at Piper, Rachel, Olivia, Clara, Perry, Amy, and a few of the other nurses from the hospital—all women that have become such a supportive group of girlfriends I never thought truly existed. So many women spend time tearing each other apart instead of standing behind one another. And I never knew that true empowerment among women existed until I met all of them.

“Well, we’re sort of dating,” I reveal as everyone screams in excitement and then bursts into a fit of giggles. I spend the next several minutes filling everyone in on the progression of our relationship and our date, down to the bag of mints and the zip lining experience.

“Damn. He’s really laying it on thick, isn’t he?” Olivia prods as everyone soaks up each morsel of information I provide.

“Yeah. And damn, I really like him. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about a guy before.”

“Been there!” Olivia and Clara both raise their hands simultaneously and then laugh at each other.

“But…” I bite my lip, wondering if I should share my reservations about my ‘curse’ with the entire group. I know they won’t judge me, but it seems the more that I discuss it, the sillier I find it to be. I mean, I believe it to an extent, but part of me just wants to let go of it so I can convince myself that Brooks won’t be the fifth victim.

“But what?” Perry asks while everyone is perched on the edge of their seats, waiting.

Suddenly phones start chiming with notifications, interrupting our conversation as we struggle to get out of our seats and move across the room to our purses.

I swipe across my screen and see a text from Brooks with a picture attached of all the guys, the group of them standing on top of the mountain I know they were hiking this morning. My eyes focus in on Brooks of course—his blinding smile, his height that makes him stand head-to-head with the rest of the guys except for Ethan, his muscular arms on display from the sleeveless blue shirt he’s wearing on top of his black athletic shorts. The man is sex personified and suddenly the buzz and warmth of the alcohol I’ve consumed travels south and warms up the space between my legs.

I saunter down the hallway, still extremely intoxicated, but wanting some privacy so I can call him. I want to hear his voice. I need to talk to him to remind myself that he’s real and he wants me—a notion I still have trouble accepting some days.

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