Page 36 of Big Booze Boss

My gut tightens, and for a moment, I wonder what stupid things Blaze has done. Then Larry tells me. "He's no angel, Summer. He's screwed everything that wasn't nailed down."

I look out the window. Not wanting to hear this, but knowing I don't have a choice.

"But something happened to him that changed him. Set him on the straight and narrow. Turned driven into purpose. Turned lonely into solitude. Turn lost into found. He is no longer a man doing stupid things. Now, he is a man making smart decisions." He pauses, and I look back at him in the rearview mirror. "That's why those three pictures are in every bar he owns. You are his why."

I blink back the emotion his words stirred as we pull into the parking lot of the hotel. I open the door and tell him right before I get out. "Thank you for telling me that."

"You're welcome. I wanted you to know in the event you have to face his past. You changed everything for him."

"My only regret, Larry, is that I didn't kiss him the first time I saw him."

He smiles, "How long ago was that?"

"Ten years. I had just turned seventeen, and he was barely sixteen. But I promise you this, I intend to kiss that man every day for the rest of my life."

I step out of the car, close the door and walk into the hotel, feeling partially prepared to face Blaze's past until I am unofficially his future.

When I walk in, the concierge greets me. "The wedding party is waiting for you by the pool." He gives me directions, but as soon as I leave the lobby, I can hear them. When I walk in, Jenny is propped up in a lounge chair with a drink in her hand. Two of her three bridesmaids, Marti and Tracy, are old college friends and are sitting on the side of the pool with their feet in the water, chatting with her. The other one is LuAnn. She's works with Jenny and is in the deep end. She throws up her hand and yells, "SUMMER BREEZE just blew in like a Hurricane!"

I cringe. My name has always been the brunt of jokes, but the hurricane reference is over the top. But then again, it's LuAnn. She always takes everything to the extreme. I wave at her with a plastered grin on my face.

I head straight for the bride-to-be, having missed her and needing to read her body language. She stands up and gives me a big, tight hug. "Girlie, you're looking good!" I size her up.She's tipsy.

"I'm feeling pretty good too, bestie!" She says and sits back down in her lounge chair.

I speak to Marti and Tracy, "Hey, ladies, y'all doing alright. How was the flight?"

They walk over and give me cordial hugs, and we make small talk about the flight and about being excited about the wedding tomorrow.

LuAnn arrives, dripping water. Apparently, she couldn't find a towel to cover herself. Her slim, boney body is barely covered by her bikini. I glance away, not wanting to stare at her cold, taut nipples or her cameltoe. She's attractive, just over the top. "Pushy" is how Jenny described her before I met her the first time, and she was spot on.

She asks me, "Where's your swimsuit? We're having a pool party."

"Sorry, I didn't pack one." I make my point that I've been here working to make sure Jenny's day is perfect. "And I didn't get the memo."

"That's okay." She looks at Jenny. "She didn't want to get in either. So we've been buying her drinks."

"How many?" I ask, frowning.

"Three," Tracy confesses. "We've each bought her one. She's been tense."

LuAnn leans in. "I heard the guys saying at the airport that they were going out after the rehearsal dinner."

I find that hard to believe because Brandon isn't a partier. But I don't know the other groomsmen. Maybe they are.

"I thought," LuAnn starts, then redirects her words, "I mean, we thought." She includes Marti and Tracy. "That we should take Jenny out for an impromptu bachelorette party."

I glance over at Jenny. "What does she think?" I ask them.

"Well, we haven't asked her yet. We were waiting on you."

Marti whispers, "She'll only do it if you agree."

"Let's see how the rehearsal goes before I commit us. She's pretty tipsy right now. I'd hate for her to get wasted tonight and have a hangover tomorrow. Contrary to what y'all may think, she's been dreaming about marrying Brandon for a long, long time. And now that it's here, I don't want anything to fuck it up." I look back at Jenny. She is smiling at her phone. "So where are you wanting to take her? IF we do this."

LuAnn says, "A male revue strip show."

"Of course, how stupid of me." I laugh with their guilty giggles. "What time does the show start?"

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