Page 134 of Taming the Beasts

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.