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Or… maybe you’re wondering about Baja. You’ll have to wait on that one. I’m gonna keep you hanging on for a bit.
Time is flying by. Before I know it, it’s the end of August and my life is a blur. Just a month ago I was engaged to another man. And now here I am planning another wedding.
Not mine. Don’t freak out. Roan and I may be completely irresponsible in some aspects of our relationship, but we’re fully aware of the fact that we need to take this slow.
I’m talking about Scarlet’s wedding to Shade. While Roan trains with his brothers for the Baja 1000, Willa, Amberly, and I help a very stressed-out bridezilla plan her wedding. It’s a lot of work pulling a wedding together in a short time frame, but it’s a good thing I have experience with it. That sounds so bad, but it’s true.
Scarlet loves Halloween. It’s her favorite holiday ever. That being said, their wedding day is you guessed it, October 31st. The following month, the Baja 1000. And two weeks after that, the Roof of Africa race that Roan is scheduled to compete for. Let’s just say the next six months will be crazy busy.
Even with all that, I had a sudden onset of extreme anxiety. What would all this traveling mean for our fragile relationship that’s just starting out? What if I find a job and can’t travel with him? Will he… be mad? I have such fear for what all this entails that I find myself not eating again.
As I’m contemplating, okay, obsessing over this, Roan sends me a Snapchat. He’s recently discovered this as opposed to texting because he only has me on his account. This way he doesn’t inadvertently send a dick pic to Willa, or worse, the very Christian and married Honda rep who still can’t look at Roan without her face turning bright red and her eyes landing on his crotch. Anyways, he sends me a snap of him covered in sweat, shirt off in the desert. In the distance I can see Shade doing a backflip off a berm.
I smile at the Snap and then am disappointed it’s gone within seconds. Very not so discretely I send him one of my cleavage hanging out of my dress.
Scarlet scowls at me as if she’s jealous.
“What?” I ask, tucking my phone away.
Beside me, Willa snorts. “At least he’s not sending them to me anymore.”
I’m the youngest out of the “girlfriends” as Willa calls us and the only one without a job. Scarlet works for Willa managing the guy’s schedules. Amberly runs their S3 apparel company now and basically takes care of Tiller, which in itself is a full-time job. Not to mention caring for River.
Then there’s me. The one sleeping in Roan’s bed every night, refusing to move in with him and so completely in love. I’m telling you, I have it bad. I think about him constantly. Every second of the day. It’s… pathetic. About as pathetic as me having a bachelor’s degree from NYU in business law and no job. The moment I called off the wedding, I had no job. I can’t say I’m disappointed by it because, let’s be real, I would have felt so out of place working for his family after all that.
To say I’m feeling useless is an understatement.
It’s during brunch with the girlfriends at my mom’s restaurant in Palmdale that Willa presents the idea of working for her. “Scar works for you,” I tell her, picking at my toast I haven’t touched yet.
Scarlet stares at Willa, her cheeks red, her hair extra frizzy this morning. “Are you firing me?”
Willa rolls her eyes and lifts her coffee to her lips. “No, I’m not firing you.” Her eyes find mine again. “I’m just thinking of more along the lines of the legal aspect of our PR team with the boys. Tiller is constantly in trouble. We have Baja coming up and a ton of endorsement deals to wade through. We need a contract specialist.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to work for Roan because when you think about it, because my dad worked for him, he already paid my way through school. How could I show any kind of independence while working for him?
Willa withdraws a stack of papers from her bag beside her. “Look this over and let me know your decision.”
I take it from her and two things capture my attention right away. The first, Roan, Shade, and Tiller have already signed it in blue ink. The second, the weekly salary. It’s more money than I would have seen in a month working for Perez Law.
My jaw practically drops to the table. Willa winks at me. “Think about it.”
Think about it?
The rest of the afternoon I do think about it, along with dreaming of marrying Roan when Scarlet is trying on wedding dresses.
Scarlet’s wedding dress is black. All black. And believe it or not, it looks incredible on her.
“Are you sure you want to go with black?” Amberly asks, smiling at the dress as she tries to calm Scarlet’s curls. “You’re getting married, not attending a funeral.”
“It is a funeral. Shade’s,” Scarlet snaps, still bitter than he’s so nervous about getting married. “I don’t see why he asked if every time I talk about the wedding, he gets that ‘what the fuck’ look on his face.”
Do you notice the redness to her cheeks? The paleness of the rest of her face? She could be on the verge of a panic attack. Willa, Amberly, and I stare at her. Scarlet bursts into tears. We try to comfort her, but there Scarlet is, sitting in what looks to be a black cloud of lace and satin, crying with her face in her palms.
“Okay, stop crying,” Willa says, patting Scarlet’s head while trying to get herself out of the deep purple bridesmaid dress. “He wants to marry you. He wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t.”
Scarlet focuses her teary eyes on Willa. “Did he tell you that?”
“Oh my God.” Willa groans and looks to me, and then Amberly for help, her phone ringing in her hand. “I can’t deal with this at the moment.” She leaves the room, her phone pressed to her ear. “I swear to God, Tiller, if you’re in jail again, I’m going to murder you.”