Page 43 of Taming the Beasts (Crooked Point #3)

Saturday

Zoey

The guys hadn’t been thrilled about me talking to King behind their backs. That combined with their friends still being missing...it hadn’t been the most upbeat week.

I’d taken turns climbing into all their beds at night. I loved the one Ace had made for me, but I much preferred to sleep beside one of them. I had this image in my head of being with all five of them at once. It hadn’t happened yet. The mood was too sour.

To all of us, the days counting down to the wedding weren’t a positive thing. None of us believed in Kebe or the cure. We were all worried. For Emma. For Callum.

But I tried to squash all my fears as Emma and I walked toward the boutique to finish getting ready for her big day.

We’d already gotten our hair and makeup done.

And it was time to get in our dresses. The owner had needed every last minute for finishing touches on Emma’s dress. And I was so excited to see it.

The smile I’d plastered on my face finally felt real for the first time today. “I can’t wait to see your dress.”

“Me too,” Emma said. “I just hope the long bow makes it a little more modest.”

Well, I wasn’t sure about that. But it was going to be beautiful.

“Zoey! Emma! Wait up!” someone yelled behind us .

I turned to see a guy in a black tux and blue hair running across the street. “Grudge?” Oh my God, with everything going on I’d totally forgotten he was coming to the wedding.

“Hey, hot stuff,” he said when he reached the sidewalk.

He leaned down and hugged me. He was way taller than I’d pictured him.

And he smelled amazing. His tux was a little wrinkly, probably because of the drive.

But he’d ditched the bandana and there weren’t even any food wrappers falling out of his pockets. He looked good.

“You look even better in person,” he said to me.

“You clean up nice yourself.”

“And the sexy bride.” Grudge turned to Emma and gave her a big hug. “Callum’s a lucky invisible buddy. So, what are you two up to?”

“We’re getting ready for tonight,” Emma said.

“Cool, cool,” Grudge said. “Where are we heading?”

We? Um... “We’re getting our dresses.” It was the last thing we needed to do. I’d already checked in with the caterers. And the guys were helping check out the town square to make sure everything was being set up exactly how we envisioned.

“Awesome, let’s go.”

I laughed. “Grudge, I can’t hang out. We’re getting ready for the wedding right now.”

“I know. I’m not stopping you.”

Emma gave me a look.

“It’s kind of just supposed to be the two of us,” I said.

“But you’ll want a guy’s feedback, right? Where are we going after we grab the dresses? Some hair place? ”

Did our hair not look good? I tried to shake away the though. “Our hair is already done. Getting dressed at the boutique is the last thing on our list.”

He laughed. “I’m just messing with you. You girls look smoking hot. Is there anywhere around here that I can get an energy drink? I’ve been driving for hours.” He tried to smooth out a few wrinkles in his tux.

Perfect. That could distract him for a bit. As nice as it was to finally meet him in person, this wasn’t the best time. “There’s a market right there.” I pointed down Main Street.

“Awesome. I’ll go grab it and meet you at the boutique. I’m assuming it’s that one?” He pointed to the store one shop down.

It wasn’t exactly hidden. I nodded. He’d probably take a while at the store flirting with a cashier or something.

“Really, you look amazing in person, Zoey. Such a wet dream. It’s a shame you have five boyfriends, because we could have had so much fun today.”

“Grudge...”

“I was only saying. Need anything at the store while I’m there? Maybe a banana to entertain me with?”

“Stop it.”

He winked at me, turned around, and hurried down the sidewalk.

I was glad my five boyfriends hadn’t heard any of that.

Emma put her arm through mine. “I was really picturing finishing getting ready with just you. Can we maybe send him to hang out with Kebe instead? I think she’s at your place. ”

I’d originally thought that would be a good plan.

But I didn’t trust Kebe. I wasn’t trying to get Grudge killed.

He was inappropriate, but he was one of my best friends.

Emma seemed to be slowly trusting Kebe this week.

Apparently Kebe had been spending a lot of time at Callum and Emma’s house.

Gag. Also, Kebe probably wasn’t just chilling alone at my house.

She was probably with Callum straightening his bowtie or something else ridiculously inappropriate.

I kept my pesky thoughts to myself. “I’m sure Grudge will take a while. Let’s focus on seeing your dress!”

She smiled as we walked into the boutique.

The owner wasn’t quite ready with Emma’s dress. But mine was all set. I quickly changed. The blood red hue of the clingy silk just oozed sexiness. So did the low cut of the front. And since Emma had gone with a short dress, mine was short too.

I walked out of the dressing room. “What do you think?” I did a little twirl.

“I think Grudge would drool.”

I laughed. “My boyfriends would.”

“All six of them.”

“Grudge is not one of my boyfriends!”

She laughed. “That sentence is very loaded. And are you sure Grudge knows that? He even offered to grab you whatever you wanted at the market. That’s boyfriend material.”

“He was just making a joke about phallic fruit.”

“If you say so.”

“I do. Now can you please stop and tie my bow?” I turned around .

We’d added a big bow to the back of my dress too to mimic the one on Emma’s. Emma tied it and stepped back. “You are the most beautiful maid of honor in the world.”

I smiled.

“Grudge is seriously going to lose his mind when he sees you in this.”

“Stop.”

She burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. I’m just messing with you. I’m sure Grudge knows where the line is.”

“Right,” I said. I was glad she was sure. Because I wasn’t. I sat down on the plush loveseat and pulled on my matching red high heels.

Emma sat down next to me. She started fidgeting with her hands.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah. I just keep thinking about the cure.”

I pressed my lips together. As soon as the reception was over, Callum had plans to take the cure. I knew Emma was trying her best to believe the cure would work. And I didn’t want to be the one that had her feeling unsettled on her wedding day.

But she already looked unsettled. I knew what was running through her head, even if she wasn’t voicing it. “I know,” I said and dropped my head onto her shoulder.

She took a deep breath. “One thing at a time. Do you think the owner is almost ready? What time is it?”

I pulled out my phone. “You’ll be walking down the aisle in a little less than an hour.”

Emma started fidgeting with her hands again.

“You’ll be ready in time,” I said.

“I know. ”

I stared at her hands. So her nerves were all about the cure? I got that. “Want to practice your vows?”

She shook her head.

I needed to distract her somehow...

Grudge walked into the boutique chugging an energy drink. He finished it off and then crushed it against the coffee table. “Okay,” he said. “I’m ready now.”

“Ready for what?” I asked.

“I know why you really invited me to your wedding.” He loosened his tie with one hand as he scrolled on his phone with his other.

“What is happening?” Emma whispered.

I had no freaking clue.

“Your wedding was so last minute that you didn’t have enough time for a proper bachelorette party,” Grudge said.

I shook my head. “Emma didn’t want one.”

“Sure she didn’t.” He winked at her and then rap music started playing from his phone. “Besides, Zoey’s done it so much for me. I owe her a few shows.”

“What are you talking about?” I shouted over the music.

“This.” Grudge twirled in a circle and then thrust his hips forward as he tore his tuxedo pants clean off. Grudge was wearing just a gold banana hammock underneath his tear-away pants.

Emma screamed.

I mean, I was shocked too. But she was acting like she’d never seen an impressive member wrassled into a banana hammock before.

Grudge twirled around again and slapped his bare ass.

“Grudge, what are you doing?” I yelled .

He turned back toward us and threw his tie at me. “Which one of you naughty girls booked a striptease?”

“Neither of us!” Emma shouted and covered her face.

I laughed.

Grudge shimmied his shoulders as he walked up to Emma. He put one foot up on the couch and thrust his banana hammock in her face.

Emma screamed again.

I laughed. Had she been peeking through her fingers?

Grudge pulled his dress shirt apart, popping the buttons everywhere. And then he grabbed Emma’s hand that wasn’t covering her face and pressed it against his six-pack. Trailing her fingers down his abs, stopping dangerously close to the gold material.

And then he swatted her hand away. “Touching the package will cost you extra, you naughty girl.”

Emma shrieked again as he turned around and shook his ass in her face. “Make it stop!”

I couldn’t stop laughing.

“Are you the one that booked the striptease?” Grudge asked and turned to me.

I held up my hands to show my innocence.

He put his hands behind his head and thrust his banana hammock dangerously close to my face.

I was barely breathing I was laughing so hard. But I was a little worried that Emma might start crying and ruin her makeup. “Put that away,” I said.

“Put what away?”

“This whole thing, Grudge.” I gestured to his half-naked self .

He stopped dancing. “Wait, is this seriously not why you invited me?”

“No.”

“Then why did I buy those tear away tuxedo pants?”

“I have no idea why you do anything you do,” I said through my laughter.

The owner of the boutique walked out of the back room and screamed bloody murder.