Page 18 of My Ex-Best Men (Ex Marks the Spot #4)

***Claire***

T wo mimosas in and Madeline’s sly critiques stopped bothering me.

I’d eaten a troubling amount of bacon and had practically turned up a syrup bottle to get the last drop of the sticky goodness in my mouth and I was feeling good about the morning.

Soph was next to me, her hand over her belly as she continued to push bite after bite of french toast into her mouth.

“And then Sophia looked at me and we both nearly died laughing. Mr. Billingsly was so angry but we couldn’t help it!

The woman was farting in every room of the house we were showing her like she was marking it as her own!

” Lizzie wiped tears from her eyes and finished her third mimosa.

“I’ve never seen anything like it and I pray to god I never do again. ”

I laughed along, happy to finally be around people who weren’t so serious all the time.

Working in a publishing house in London meant I didn’t get many chances to hear a woman snort while telling a story about farting.

It was refreshing in a way I hadn’t known I needed and I could feel layers of tension falling away.

“Oh, no, Claire. It looks like we’re out of drinks. What a bummer!” Madeline flipped her perfectly styled blonde hair over her shoulder and pouted. “If you’re not used to planning events, it’s so hard to get everything perfect.”

I waved her off. “There’s more in the kitchen. I’ll just go ask them to bring more out.”

I had a little more pep to my step after seeing the gleeful light in her eyes dim just slightly.

I wasn’t going to let her ruin things. I was just going to ignore her and make sure Sophia had the time of her life.

It seemed like two mimosas was the perfect amount of alcohol for me to be laid back about Madeline’s shitty attitude towards me.

Turns out it still wasn’t enough for me to be laid back about my temporary roommates, though.

I made it back to the patio and saw that all the women had migrated to the edge closest to the beach. They were all leaning forward, watching something. When I got close enough to see what they were staring at, I stumbled and landed on my hands and knees in the sand.

Madeline giggled. “Wow. You might want to cut back on the drinks, Claire.”

Okay, so I learned quickly that besides alcohol, the sight of my three exes running shirtless down the beach towards me was also a good way to forget about Madeline.

They looked like the cast of Baywatch as they jogged with the rest of the groomsmen.

Muscles flexed, skin shined like it’d been oiled, and things swayed inside swim trunks that had the women around me fanning themselves.

I was sure Jake and his other groomsmen were just as hot but I couldn’t look beyond Will, Zane, and Anthony.

The three of them looked like gods kicking up sand as they jogged our way.

I was so blown away by all the skin on display that I hadn’t even realized I was still in the sand.

I struggled to my feet but by that time the other bridesmaids had recognized Zane Wilson as the rockstar he was and they were all so focused on getting closer to him that I was knocked over again.

Sophia pulled me up, a laugh bubbling out of her. “You okay? You got in the way of those women getting closer to muscles. They ran you right over.”

I tore my eyes away from the men and faced Sophia. “I’m guessing Zane is a surprise to them, too?”

She nodded. “Oh, I found out about Anthony being here, too. I’ll tell you later.”

Jake swooped in and picked up his soon to be wife. “Consider your girly lunch crashed! Feed us women! We’ve been playing volleyball all morning and we demand sustenance!”

I rolled my eyes at him and peeked back to see that Zane wasn’t the only man being swarmed.

Madeline was hanging onto Will’s arm as she gazed up at him like he was a superhero.

Lizzie was grinning up at Anthony with her breasts squeezed together in the tank top she wore but he was staring blatantly at me.

When I looked closer, I realized that all three of them were staring at me.

I squeaked and spun around. That was too much attention. No matter the bolt of jealousy I felt threatening to burn through me, I couldn’t handle that much attention in front of the whole bridal party. I quickly sat back down in my seat and shoved another piece of bacon in my mouth.

The hotel staff was painfully efficient and had more chairs at the table before anyone could even ask.

It was silently decided that the men were joining the party.

In honor of that turn of events I drained my third mimosa and nodded to the staff member bringing out more food and alcohol.

We were going to need a lot more alcohol.

Anthony sat down next to me and left no space between our bodies. He wrapped his arm around the back of my chair and leaned in to whisper to me. “I wasn’t finished with you this morning.”

I choked on a bite of bacon and then looked up at him with wide eyes. I didn’t know what to say so I just forced yet another slice of bacon into my mouth and chewed it aggressively.

“Don’t think you get to hog the maid of honor, Anthony.” Zane took the seat next to me and slid his hand over my leg to grip the inside of my thigh. “In case you were wondering, I dominated at volleyball.”

Will managed to sit directly across from me and he leaned forward with his elbows on the table and his gaze locked in on me. “Bullshit. He just about cried when the ball slightly bent his fingers backwards.”

My glass was refilled and I drained it once more.

Zane still had a tight grip on my thigh, Anthony had moved his hand to the back of my neck, and Will was doing his best to undress me with his gaze.

I cleared my throat and tried to think of something to say but instead of coming up with anything, I just took another bite of bacon.

Zane laughed even as he let his pinky finger stroke higher up my leg. “My fingers are worth a lot, fire boy. But I didn’t almost cry.”

Anthony tightened his grip on my neck. “My fingers are worth a lot, too, aren’t they, Claire?”

Will’s gaze narrowed and moved to Anthony. “Really?”

I was almost grateful to see Madeline as she sat next to Will and leaned into his side.

That flare of jealousy popped back up but I stomped it back down.

Madeline had been after Will since before he and I were together.

If he wanted her, he would’ve had her already.

That thought didn’t quite sit right with me, though.

“Wow, Claire. You must really get around. Sophia just told everyone. Three exes at one event?” Madeline laughed and tipped her glass in my direction. “You were with them before they got rich and famous, right?”

Instead of focusing on the insult, I honed in on the number of exes. “Three? What? I don’t have three exes here.”

Will scowled but kept his lips shut.

“The two sitting beside you and the guy who dumped you but still came for the vacation?” She rolled her eyes. “Surely there aren’t so many that even you have lost track?”

Anthony let out a dark sounding laugh. “Careful. People are going to think you’re jealous of Claire if you keep prodding at her.”