Rain isn’t such a deal-breaker for Thatcher and Jane’s bachelor and bachelorette parties today. Their best man and man of honor booked the event at a fucking humongous Montana lodge, set on a ranch with acres and acres of land. Also complete with a brewery and a spa.
The people at the front desk even handed me a map.
I told Jane that I hoped she didn’t choose Montana just out of convenience for me. If she wanted her bachelorette party in Vegas, I would’ve flown there. But she said they’d been looking for a resort-style place like the lodge, and it fit everything she wanted.
It’s five-star worthy luxury.
Considering I’ve been roughing it in a tent and then RV trailer for almost a month, I’ll gladly take some pampering.
Jane’s bachelorette party has been morning mimosas and pedicures, and now afternoon mud facials, and soon, a dip in a mud bath. Staring at my unshaven legs reminds me that I haven’t used a razor in a solid week. One day of no shaving and I’m a fucking cactus. So my hair has grown.
I remember the hot springs.
Five days ago, where my legs brushed up against Banks, then Akara under the water. And neither one took their hand off my leg. Banks actually pulled my legs on his lap.
I smile.
Those memories are scorched in my brain. I want to be with Banks.
But I want to be with Akara.
You can’t have them both, Sulli.
The thought always sinks my stomach and spirits. I know I can’t be in two relationships at once. It’s different while we’re here. It’ll always be different in the privacy and beauty of the wilderness.
Home has never felt so uninviting.
I want to stay out here forever. But I’ll need to pick soon. I can only procrastinate for so long before I’m being totally unfair to Akara and Banks.
Shaking away the stress of choosing, I try to just enjoy this time with the bride-to-be.
Moffy asked me to plan a game for the party. My one task as a bridesmaid: I had the lodge staff print out pictures of dicks. They side-eyed me, but in my fucking defense, some were vegetables.
During pedicures, the Dick or Not? game landed Moffy first place.
No one was surprised, since he’s the only guy at the bachelorette party. He’s stared at his junk his whole life.
We all fawn over Jane. As it fucking should be—she’s always doting over us, but it’s really hard to get Jane to concentrate on herself.
Even on a day we planned for her. She fuels all the stories about us as if we’re the center of the universe.
Like now.
“My brother said he’s been talking to you more,” Jane says in an effervescent smile that sparkles her blue eyes. The brother she’s referring to is Beckett. Mud masks on our faces, we walk together to the poolroom inside the spa. Our next stop is the mud bath. She asks, “Have you two patched everything up?”
“Not exactly.” I pick at the dried mud on my cheek. It feels weird when I scrunch my nose. “I just call him more often.”
“You should call him today,” Jane suggests. “He might be feeling left out since he couldn’t make it here.”
I haven’t called him yet today. But I planned to do it after the bachelorette party. “Today is your day—”
“I don’t mind,” she cuts in. “Seeing you two be friends again would make me happy.”
It’d probably make a lot of people happy. Including me. But I’m not sure I can click my heels and go back to the way things were.
At her persistence, I say, “Alright, I’ll be just a sec. Don’t play Never Have I Ever without me.” I slip out of the poolroom while she heads to the mud bath. And I find some privacy in an empty massage room.
What is glaringly different: the temp bodyguard hovering around me. No Akara. No Banks. The temp is older, mid-forties, and buff like a pro-wrestler.
“I’ll probably be a few minutes,” I tell him.
He nods, scoping out the hallway.
Very professional, very vigilant. I’m pretty proud of Kits for finding a way to hire Michael Moretti. So far, from my perspective, the temp guard that Michael trained is really confident in his abilities. Which makes me feel safe.
I shut the door, and the temp waits outside in the hall.
Wearing a bathing suit and a towel tied around my chest, I hop up on the massage table. Full-length windows have eerie views of a mountain range. All rain and fog.