Page 145 of Shade

Do you ever have those days, or weeks in my case, where your mind is all over the place, and you can’t focus on any one thought to decipher where they’re going?

I haven’t exactly been a good friend. Mila and Caleb are getting married this winter, but Izzy, she’s marrying Gigantor in a few days and guess who’s the maid of honor?

Me.

Guess who didn’t do anything to help her friend?

Me again.

Thank God for Mila. In all fairness, or to make me feel better, Izzy knew what selecting me as a maid of honor meant and in turn eventually gave the job to Mila.

Two days before the wedding, I call Willa to make sure it’s okay that I fly back for the wedding and then I’ll fly back to LA the next day. Then we leave for Spain the following evening.

Willa’s cool with it because the guys’ calendars are free as they’re training for the event in Madrid this week.

It’s when I tell the guys I’ll be gone for a couple days where shit gets interesting. Not to mention Tiller and Shade have their dirt bikes inside and they’re doing wheelies up the stairs, then nose wheelies down the other side of the circular staircase.

“I have to go to Seattle,” I tell them, standing in the foyer when they both stop in front of me.

“What for?” Shade asks, taking off his helmet. You know, I have to hand it to them that they’re even wearing their helmets. You’d think guys like them, daredevils and all, they wouldn’t be much into safety, but they are. Helmets on all the time. And by the box of condoms that gets delivered to the house each week that I order, their safety is across the board.

I’m distracting myself. Back to Shade and the helmet on his lap now. He asked me a question.

“My friend Izzy is getting married,” I tell him, jumping to the side when Tiller revs his bike, wheelies out of the foyer and into the kitchen. I’m still amazed they ride their bikes in the house, but then again, I’m not. They’re all crazy like that.

Shade’s lips curve into a smile as he pulls out his cell phone from the pocket of his board shorts. “I thinkIshould come with you.”

My stare meets his, my heart skipping with it. “No,you shouldn’t.”

“Yes, I should.” He shrugs one shoulder and pockets his cell phone again. The smirk’s still present as he tugs his helmet back on, the sounds of Tiller’s bike upstairs now echoing through the house.Brap Brap.“Besides,” Shade yells over the pinging of his own bike running again. “I have a photo shoot for the street tour. I need a plane ticket, assistant. Preferably one next to you. I wouldn’t want to fly alone. You never know what kind of trouble I could get intoalone.”

I want to smile, but I can’t. I shouldn’t. I look down at my phone. I checked his schedule. Twice. They don’t have anything planned all week leading up to Spain. “No, you don’t.”

“Yes, Ido.”

I swipe my finger over my phone and open his calendar. “Goddamn you, Shade. You scheduled that just now, didn’t you?”

“Yep. I love Seattle. I can be your “plus one” at the wedding.”

Just in case you didn’t notice, or maybe you were looking the other way, but he totally just air quoted the word “plus one.”

“And how do you think Izzy will feel about that? She didn’t invite you.”

He waves me off. “She’ll love me, and I lookamazingin a suit. Just wait.”

Oh, believe me, I’ve already imagined him in a suit. I once saw a picture on Instagram of him in a suit, with no shoes and wearing his helmet. I think it was to advertise an awards show or something where he performed some stunts. Anyway, the picture was the screen saver on my phone for like a damn month, or longer. Probably more like six months.

I play it cool and twirl a curl of my messy hair around my finger playfully. “I think you’re forgetting you destroyed her hotel the last time you were there. You burned some bridges.”

Shade stares at my hair, the smile never fading from his lips. “Not true. I was there in July and was the perfect gentleman.”

I’m no longer smiling. “Do you even remember being there in July?”

He shrugs, shifting his weight on the bike from his right foot to his left and raises his foot to the peg. “Not really, but I know I didn’t destroy anything.”

Except my heart.

Why did you pull out? Why don’t you remember me?

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