Page 56 of The MC's Surprise
Skylar scoffed. “After this party? Are you sure?”
Which was probably why he wasn’t invited. Charlotte wanted to embarrass me and treat me like trash. She couldn’t get away with that if Vegas was here. It almost made me want to call him and ask him to join us. I’d save that plan for the end of the party, though. Right now, I wanted to see what happened next.
“You’d haveto measure three of me to be as big as her!”
I didn’t know Charlotte’s friend’s names, so I was just calling them Blonde Brat 1, 2, and 3 in my head. The comment came from Blonde Brat #2, who had somehow found a ball of yarn in one of the community center closets and was attempting to recreate the game where you try to guess the pregnant person’s belly size by measuring out some string and seeing if it’d fit around my waist. I was keeping a tally of all the snide remarks these girls were making to try and make me feel bad about myself. I ticked one more as she wrapped the string around her body three times before cutting it off and handing it to me.
“Here. See if this fits you.”
I did because I was playing along for now, and they burst into giggles when it almost didn’t reach. The Blonde Brats were all probably size zero or smaller, so using their own waistlines was never going to work.
“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” Blonde Brat #1 asked innocently.
Not a chance. Blonde Brat #3 had been sent to the store to pick up snacks for the party and came back with everything a pregnant woman couldn’t have. Soft cheeses, deli meats, and even a tray of sushi. It was pathetic how hard they were trying to upset me.
“I’m good. Not really hungry,” I answered blandly. That wasn’t a lie. I’d been feeling a little nauseous all day. I assumed it was just stress from having to be around this group for a long period, so I’d asked Skylar a couple minutes earlier to call Vegas and ask him to come join us. I wanted this thing to be over. I would’ve made the call myself, but if I took out my phone, they all complained that I wasn’t participating. It was easier for Skylar to make an excuse and step out.
“You sure? You look like you could eat a whole cow,” Blonde Brat #3 teased.
“She is a whole cow,” Charlotte muttered. She was having the least amount of fun. My lack of reactions was getting to her.
“Moo,” I said with as much boredom in my tone as I could muster. In truth, I was trying not to laugh. They were like middle schoolers trying to bully me. It was pathetic.
The muscles in her jaw clenched a little tighter. I was curious on how long she could hold that expression before cracking a tooth. She probably should have studied her opponent a little more before trying a stunt like this. If she knew me even a little, she would’ve known it takes a lot more to get to me than jokes like this.
A hand on the back of my chair drew my focus, though I could’ve guessed who it was when Charlotte blanched and stared wide eyed at whoever was behind me. I tipped my head back, smiling at Vegas, who was looking around with a deep frown on his face.
“Hey, you. Glad you could make it. Want to join us?”
“Yeah, I think presents were next,” Skylar said as she sat on my other side.
That almost made me laugh. Charlotte looked like a deer caught in headlights. If I were to guess, she either didn’t get any presents, or got purposely awful ones just to screw with me. The question was, would she admit that to Vegas or pretend she forgot them like she forgot to invite my friends and family?
“Uh, sure…” Vegas said slowly, sinking into the chair next to me. While Charlotte started to scramble, looking around for help, Vegas leaned closer to me to ask, “Where’s your mom? Or the other old ladies? I thought they’d be here.”
“Charlotte forgot to invite them,” Skylar answered for me. “Honestly, I think she was a little ill prepared for this thing because she had to send someone out for food too.”
She gestured to the snack table, which had barely been touched. Vegas, sharp as ever, narrowed his eyes on the spread.
“Can you even eat any of that? I know for a fact you can’t have sushi. It’s on your list of hospital foods.”
I grinned at that, shrugging at Skylar, who had a playful smile on her face. “It was my mom’s idea. She told me to pick something that I can’t eat right now and she’ll bring it to me after I give birth.”
“Hey, I did that too!” she beamed. “I think Butch made me the fanciest sandwich on the planet, and brought a cheese tray with him too. It was amazing.”
Vegas was less amused by the conversation, still frowning at the room. Or more importantly, at Charlotte. For the first timesince I came back to town, he wasn’t look at her like she could walk on water. Vegas had trusted her with this party. And he wasn’t happy with the way it’d turned out.
33
Vegas
Ididn’t know what I’d expected for this party, but it sure as hell wasn’t this. The place looked worse than a middle school dance. It couldn’t have been the time frame. I’d seen Charlotte pull off really elaborate events with only a few days of planning, so I knew she was prepared. And it wasn’t a money thing. I gave her cash to pay for everything when she mentioned it wouldn’t be very elaborate because it was too expensive. I doubted she spent much of anything on this party. So what the hell had she used all that money on?
Sierra, for her part, looked unfazed by the whole thing. She sat in an uncomfortable looking metal folding chair, ignoring the spread of food she couldn’t eat and smiling politely at Charlotte when she came closer. I felt bad for her. I wanted her to have a big party to celebrate how amazing she was for growing my kid. This wasn’t at all what I’d wanted for her. I could’ve done better myself, and I wasn’t an event planner. The most I’d ever done was help with parties at the clubhouse. Even those would have been better than this.
Anger boiled just under the surface as Charlotte offered me an uneasy smile. “What are you doing here? I told you no men allowed.”
Before I could respond, Sierra put her hand on my knee, squeezing gently. “I called him. I’m starting to feel a little sick and I wanted a ride home.”
