Page 36 of Seven Year Itch
“I’m not ashamed. I just don’t need to have your unit looking me in the eye.”
“He likes to look.”
“Calder!”
He chuckles and thankfully throws a pair of shorts on. “Not to rush you, but the rehearsal dinner is starting in an hour, so if you’re feeling up for it, you might want to start getting ready.”
Shit, he’s right. I need to get ready. I guess our little palapa siesta is well and truly over, and it’s back to reality.
And the reality is... Calder Fletcher has an anaconda.
Chapter 12
Bed Buddies
Calder
There are two words on my mind as I watch my brother and his fiancée rehearse their wedding vows with the civil officiant at sunset on the beach with all of us watching them.
Sex. Club.
I glance over at Dakota who’s standing in the audience section of the bride’s side while I’m standing in the audience section of my brother’s side. It took a lot of fucking willpower all afternoon not to pester Dakota for more details about her sex club interest. And my mind has scrolled through endless possibilities ever since.
First of all, I’m relieved Randal wasn’t there. I wouldn’t have put it past that asshole to have his kink be to divorce someone and still sleep with them afterward. The fucking twat.
And I’m not ashamed to admit I breathed a little easier after she confirmed he wasn’t with her there. I’d rather see Dakota fuck a stranger than Randal.
I close my eyes and try to shake any thoughts of him out of my head. I really shouldn’t be thinking about Dakota either. I should be focused on this wedding. On my family. On the reason I’m here.
I glance at Luke, who’s standing beside me, and my mom, who’s adjusting Stevie’s floral dress. There’s no groomsmen or bridesmaids standing up with Wyatt and Trista. They said it felt unnecessary since this is such an intimate ceremony, and there’s something kind of beautiful about just the two of them up there, starting their journey together.
Not that I want to ever get married. Honestly, I don’t see the need for it. I’m comfortable in my own skin, and people typically irritate me. I get all the human contact I need by living next door to my brothers and working with them every day. And when I’m horny, that’s what the dating apps are great for...when they’re not being hacked, that is.You can clearly lay out what you’re looking for, and for me, it’s always just sex. So the boundaries and expectations are out there on the table.
The one woman that I considered opening my heart to ended up fucking over me and both my brothers, so who’s to say love is worth all that hassle?
Truthfully, I’m not sure I knew what love was back then. I just assumed the fact that I considered more with her at all meant love. That was until we found out the truth about her, and goddamn if that didn’t fuck me over in more ways than one.
If I stay single, then I get to continue to do all the things I want without needing to factor someone else’s schedule into the mix. And for what? So you can have someone to watch a movie in bed with? I have Milkshake for that. I’m good.
Though, there was something mildly comforting about how easily Dakota fell asleep next to me this afternoon during our second movie. She has this soft little snore that reminded me of Milkshake’s purr.
I guess a little extra human contact isn’t all bad. But I don’t need to get married to have it.
Trista turns to look out at us in the audience and gasps at something off in the distance. All heads turn, and my forehead wrinkles when I see an unfamiliar couple walking down the beach toward us.
The man is a giant bear of a guy with brown skin and black hair. The woman walking with him looks familiar, but it isn’t until she draws closer that I realize she’s the spitting image of Trista.
“Vada!” Trista squeals and runs down the sandy aisle to wrap the woman in a hug.
I glance across the aisle and see Cozy’s eyes filling with tears. I frown my silent question at her, and she mouths “Trista’s sister” back at me.
Oh shit, Trista’s sister? The one she hasn’t seen in years? The one who she doesn’t have the best history with? We’ve all grown close to Trista the past year, and she’s opened up about the thorny past with her family. Her parents abandoned both her and her sister when they were teenagers, and Trista’s sister did the same thing when she met some guy and moved to Hawaii with him. Trista was only sixteen years old at the time and had to basically finish raising herself.
I hate to say it, but I’m not real excited about this new wedding guest.
Trista drags her sister and the man around to everyone, introducing the guy by the name of Kai. She seems happy, with tears in her eyes, but I feel protective of my soon-to-be sister-in-law. Her family has fucked her over more than once, and I don’t want to see her hurt again.
When she makes her way over to my mom and Stevie, I feel my fists clenching at my sides. Stevie is ours. Not theirs. They don’t get to claim her the way we do, and if they try, I’m going to have a real problem with that.
