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“Good,” I said calmly as I looked at all the men now standing in the room. “You have five days to sort everything out and set it up. I’m not waiting any longer. If you need my help with anything, all you have to do is say so and I’ll give it to you. Otherwise, I’ll expect you to figure it out on your own, and I expect it to be perfect.”

“Five days?” Damien whispered in horror.

“Perfect,” Tyson whispered reverently. “Since you’re perfect, I figure we can make just one day perfect for you.”

Aww, it was sweet he thought I was perfect. Misguided at best, but definitely sweet.

I laughed at him, he was so adorable. “That’ll work for me. Thanks, babe.”

“Babe,” he murmured happily as a bright, blinding smile crossed his face.

That smile was a rare, beautiful sight that robbed me of the ability to speak. It blinded me and made me stupid.

I needed to get the hell out of here before I said or did something that might embarrass me in front of my father.

I was getting married in five days, and I had shit to do. Important shit.

I blew them kisses on my way out the door.

It took a lot, but I managed to walk away without looking back.

21

Ihad a plan and a bag packed with everything I thought I’d need—not that I knew what the fuck I was doing, because I sure as shitdid not—and I was ready to roll.

There was just one tiny little problem. Wasn’t there always?

Or one person, really.

Finn.

I needed his expertise, but not one single person knew where the little rat was. I’d looked around every corner, and in every nook and cranny, and I still couldn’t find him. So frustrating.

Because I was still too chicken shit to go over to Marcus’s house, I called the landline over there. The phone was passed from stranger to stranger while I asked each of them about the two guys who’d been in the tent the other day with Finn. I thought that if I could find them, then they would lead me right to Finn.

None of them even paid any attention to my questions. They kept saying things like, “Whoa, is this really Ariel Kimber? You’re like, famous.” I got frustrated with every single one of them until the phone was passed to Brighton.

Good ole Brighton.

Apparently a few days away from him had me forgetting entirely about that Alexander attitude he was packing.

The little shit.

“Ariel, is this really you? You’ve got everyone in a tizzy over here. And aren’t you just right next door? What, are you lazy now? You can’t walk across the front yard?”

That was it. I was going to ground him as soon as I felt I had the right to do so. And I was going to make him clean all the toilets in the house every time he was grounded. It’d be like torture, boys were disgusting. Dash made sure our bathroom was pristine at all times, and I really ought to thank him for it.

I’d recently used the bathroom closest to the living room and decided I wouldn’t be going back there again anytime soon.

Maybe just more than Brighton could do some chores around here. Hell, I’d even pay them allowances. Teenagers loved money, especially when they didn’t need to do something fucked up for it.

“Shit. I think Trenton knows it’s you on the phone, and I really—”

I hung up on him before I could tell him swearing was still bad and I just couldn’t wait to wash his mouth out with soap.

I needed Trenton and Simon all over me right now like I needed some nasty STD. That was to say, Ineverneeded that.

Poor little Brighton had just moved his way up to the very top of my shit list.