Eruption (The Hunted Series Book 3) (19 page)

"I can't get Marie back because she's already married.
But the rest of you? Your bachelorette parties are going to be the absolute
worst."

"Sounds good to me," Kendra said. "The sexier
the better, I always say."

"Ugh."

"Just think about what James is doing right now."

I did not want to think about what James was doing right now.
At all. Bee gave me a sympathetic smile. I sighed and walked over to the guy
they had pointed to. The whiskey had made me a little more confident. The
compliments from the guy who had bought me a drink didn't hurt either.

"Hey, you."

He smiled at me. "What are you drinking?"

"All sorts of stuff. Whiskey most recently."

"I wouldn't have pegged you as a whiskey kind of girl.
But I like it. Let me get you another."

"Oh, no. I didn't like it. Actually, I came over here
because I'm on a mission."

"Is that so? What's your mission, sugar?"

"Well, it's my bachelorette party."

"I can see that." He nodded toward my friends.

"Mhm. Well, I noticed that you look very strong."

He smiled. "Well, I can certainly pick you up."

That was the worst pick up line ever. I laughed awkwardly.
"I bet. So, I'm supposed to see if you'll let me see your abs."

He raised his eyebrow. "Do you want to see my abs?"

No
. I shrugged. "Are they worth seeing?"

"How about you tell me." He lifted up his shirt to
reveal his perfectly sculpted torso. "What's the verdict?"

"I don't know if I can tell without touching them."

He laughed. "I don't bite. Well, sometimes I bite."

I internally rolled my eyes. Before I could chicken out, I
put my hand out and brushed my fingers against his abs.

He grabbed my hand and pressed my palm firmly against his
torso, moving my hand down to the waistline of his jeans.

I quickly pulled my hand away.

"How about we get out of here? I can make your last
night as a single woman a night to remember."

"Thanks for the offer. But I really just had to touch
your abs." I walked away without saying anything else. This was entirely
inappropriate. I didn't want to be doing this. The thought of James running his
hand along some random girl's stomach made me feel nauseous.

"You got really into that one," Marie said.
"And I don't blame you. God, those abs are amazing."

"They weren't as nice as James'. Can we get going? I'm
not feeling very well."

"That's because you need another drink." Melissa
slid me a shot glass. There were at least a dozen on the table. I had a feeling
they were playing a drinking game at my expense.

"Drink, drink, drink," Kendra said and slammed her
fists on the table.

I quickly downed the shot and tried to ignore the burn down
my throat. I was already tipsy. This was going to probably put me over the
edge. I shook my head back and forth.

"Here," Marie said and slid a napkin with a penis
cookie on it toward me.

I laughed. "I'm really not hungry."

"Okay, then that triggers number five. If Penny passes
on the cookie, she needs to convince a guy at the bar to eat said cookie."

"I'll just eat it." I lifted up the cookie.

"No way, missy," Melissa said and grabbed my hand.
"Number five has already been triggered. Who at the bar looks hungry for a
penis?"

"How about that guy," Bee said. She was pointing to
a guy in the corner with a plaid shirt and hipster glasses.

"Hipsters probably don't think it's cool to eat penis
cookies."

Bee laughed. "I'm giving you an easy one. Hipsters will
do anything to fit in. Just tell him eating normal shaped cookies is so
cliché."

"Fine." I sighed and slid off my stool. God this
was humiliating. I walked over to the hipster and took a seat next to him on
the couch.

"Hey," he said as soon as I sat down. "Having
a fun night?"

"Actually, it's been mortifying."

He laughed.

"Could you eat this cookie?"

He lowered his eyebrows. "Are you trying to drug
me?"

"No, no. It's just a normal cookie shaped like a
penis."

He laughed again.

I held it up for him to see.

"Oh, wait. You're serious?"

"My friends have this weird list of stuff I have to do.
One is getting a guy to eat this cookie. I promise there's nothing wrong with
it. Besides, normal shaped cookies are so mainstream, don't you think?"

The hipster stared at me skeptically.

"I'll do it." Someone had flopped down on the couch
on the other side of me. His arm was behind me on the couch, but he wasn't
touching me. He was dressed similarly to the hipster. Maybe they were friends.

"That would be amazing, thanks."

"Take a bite first so I know it's not poisoned. Anton
made a good point." He nodded toward the hipster.

"Fair enough." I took a bite. "It's actually
really good." I handed him the cookie.

"So can I just eat it, or do I have to suck on it
weirdly or something?"

Anton laughed.

"You can just eat it," I said.

The guy shrugged and bit the balls off.

Anton started laughing again, egging his friend on.

"Mmm mmm good," he said and put the rest of the
penis in his mouth.

I couldn't help but start laughing too. He had just devoured
that penis cookie.

He was having a hard time swallowing while he was laughing.
His arm had fallen off the back of the couch and landed around my shoulders.

Awkward.
I immediately stood up. "Thanks for
that, guys." I quickly walked away before they said anything else to me. I
was a little out of breath when I made it back to the table. I didn't want
random guys putting their hands of me.

"Nicely done," Bee said. "The hipster's friend
seemed to really enjoy that penis. You probably should have asked him if he
liked it."

"I wasn't going to ask him that."

"Well, you need to. Number six is verifying whether or
not he liked that dick," Kendra said.

"What is wrong with you guys?"

Kendra laughed and slid another shot toward me.

"You're really going to make me go back over
there?"

"Do the shot and you'll be fine."

"So I just need to ask if he liked it?"

"You have to ask if he liked that dick."

I shook my head. "Can I pass on that one?"

"Trust me, you need to save your veto," Bee said.

God.
I grabbed the shot and downed it. I took a deep
breath and walked back over to the guys on the couch. "Hey," I said
very unseductively. I was totally channeling the scene from The House Bunny
where the manly girl told a guy she was dropping off some timber.

The guy who had eaten the cookie looked up at me. "You
ran away pretty fast."

"Yeah, sorry about that." I sat down on the arm of
the couch. "I came back over to see if you liked that cookie."

"I liked making you laugh." He gave me a charming
smile.

I laughed awkwardly. "But did you like...that
dick?"
Geez.

He laughed. "I'm not gay if that's what you're asking.
Trust me." His eyes had landed on my legs.

"Oh, no, I didn't think you were." I quickly stood
up. "Have a good night, guys." I made my way back to my table despite
him calling after me. My heart was beating fast. "This is so
awkward," I said and sat down in my chair. "Please can we just go
home?"

"We'll give you an easy one next," Marie said.
"Let's skip to number nine. All you have to do is make googly eyes at
someone until they send us a round of drinks."

"You still have a million shots on the table."

Kendra laughed. "Honey child, we're only just getting
started."

I sighed.

"How about him," she said and pointed to a guy at
the bar. "He's been staring at you all night."

I turned to see who she was pointing to, but immediately
looked away when I made eye contact with him. "Some random guy isn't going
to send us all drinks. Don't be ridiculous."

"You have years of being single at a bar to fit into one
night. So put your hand through your hair and casually look back over at
him."

"Ugh." I tucked my bangs behind my ear and looked
back over at him as discreetly as possible.

He smiled at me and I immediately turned away.

"He really can't keep his eyes off you," Kendra
said. "And he's handsome. I bet he's great in the sack."

I laughed. "Is that the thing I have to veto? Done. I'm
not hooking up with a stranger."

"We would never put that on the list," Bee said.
"Well, Kendra wanted to but I told her no."

"Thank you." I shook my head.

"You know what really make guys possessive?" Kendra
asked. "Seeing a girl they want with another guy. If we really want that
sexy man to buy us drinks, we should make Penny do number ten."

"Perfect," Melissa said. "You have to dance
with that first guy who bought you the drink."

"He already thinks I'm going to sleep with him at the
end of the night. Please don't make me talk to him again."

"You won't be talking. You'll be dancing," Melissa
said. "And make sure you walk by the guy who's going to be buying us
drinks later."

"Should I shove a penis cookie in his mouth while I'm at
it?"

"That's not a terrible idea. I can add that to the
list," Marie said and lifted up her purse. "Just let me find a
pen."

"Don't you dare." I got up before any of them could
add another stupid thing I had to do.

"A whole song, Penny!" one of them yelled after me.

I walked toward the guy who had bought me a whiskey, making
sure to pass the one they wanted to buy us a round of drinks. I smiled shyly at
the guy. It looked like he thought I was going to stop and talk to him. I noticed
him frown as I leaned against the counter near my future dance partner.

"Back already?" he said with a smile. "How'd
you like the whiskey?"

I laughed. "It was awful."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

"Oh, it was. Thanks for that."

"Anytime." He seemed please with himself.

"You said you'd be willing to help with..."

"Do you have something else fun on your list you want me
to do for you?" he said, cutting me off.

"Yes actually. Will you dance with me?"

He smiled. "I'd love to." He downed his drink and
whispered something to his friends before walking with me toward where the DJ
was set up in the back of the bar.

Unfortunately it was a slow song. He grabbed my hand and
pulled me in close. I could smell the whiskey on his breath and it made me
ridiculously uncomfortable. I tilted my head to the side so I was staring over
his shoulder.
Just one song.

"Whoever you're marrying is a very lucky guy," he
whispered in my ear.

"Thanks." Did James think he was lucky? I had
thought so before yesterday. But I wasn't sure anymore.
Does he even love
me?
The alcohol and my friends' laughter had momentarily distracted me from
the notes he had written to Isabella. He loved her so much. I didn't want to be
here right now. I just wanted to go home.

"You're beautiful, you know."

For some reason his words made me want to cry. I didn't say
anything. I just turned my head away from him even more. The song would be over
any second.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

I suddenly felt even more uncomfortable. "I miss
him." All I wanted was to be in James' arms. I needed to hear him say that
everything was okay. And that he loved me.

"You don't have to go home alone tonight." His
hands slid down to my ass.

I pushed on his chest and stepped back. "I'm sorry, I'm
not...I'm not looking to go home with anyone."

"Let me buy you another drink."

"No, I've already had too much to drink. I'm
sorry." I quickly walked away from him and ran directly into the guy I was
supposed to be making googly eyes with.

"You okay?" he asked.

I looked over my shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine. I
just..." I shook my head.

"Bad night?"

"Honestly, I miss my fiancé. His friends kidnapped him
for his bachelor party this weekend. So my friends decided to throw me a
bachelorette party. All I really wanted to do tonight was watch a movie."

"Honestly, I'd rather be watching a movie too."

I smiled. "I'm not interested in going home with anyone
tonight. I'm just going to go back over to my table."

"I'm not trying to sleep with you. I mean, you're
gorgeous. But I'm not an asshole."

I looked up at him.

"You're engaged."

"I am."

"I was merely going to try to get your number in case
things went south."

"Things aren't going to go south." I wasn't able to
admit that they had already started to. James and I were still fine. We had to be.

He shrugged. "I was engaged once. I didn't think that
would end either."

It was like he knew what I was going through. "What
happened?"

"I don't think commitment really means the same thing
today as it used to."

I thought about the pictures of James with Rachel and
Isabella. I thought about all the love notes. "You're probably right. It
still means something to me, though."

"So how about I just buy you a drink and casually slip
you my number?"

I laughed. "Actually, I could use your help."

"And what do you need help with?"

"My friends have this list of stupid stuff they want me
to do. Including getting someone to buy us a round of drinks."

"Let's go see what they're drinking then." He
touched the small of my back for just a second to direct me back to the table.
When we got there, he put his elbows down on the table and smiled.
"Ladies."

They all giggled.

"Can I offer you some refills?"

"That would be fantastic," Kendra said.