Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 107453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
She turns on her booted heel and struts down the hall. I can’t do a thing but watch her walk off, all badass and bold as she gets the last word in.
What a glorious sight. I watch her till she turns the corner, and when she does, my anger has vanished. It’s replaced by white-hot admiration for the woman.
When I turn around, I just smile and shake my head. “Man, you were this close to having her. You really fucked up,” I say.
Dev chuckles, curling a hand around Aiden’s bare shoulder. “It’s all downhill from here, bro.” He takes a pause, then lifts his brow. “Also, a mandolin?”
“They sound cool. Women love them,” Aiden says, and who’s embarrassed now?
Dev laughs harder. “No, man. No one does.”
We turn to go, leaving a giant dick with a giant dick.
Outside the hotel entrance, Aubrey’s pacing. Her cheeks are glowing, her eyes are sparkling. When we push open the brass-paneled door, she rushes over, grabs my shoulders, and says, “You’re my hero.”
She dusts a quick, thank you kiss on my cheek. It knocks the breath from my lungs.
“Oh,” I say, startled and aroused.
I’ve leveled up in today’s game—my attraction to Aubrey is officially unlocked.
Her lips are so damn soft. When she breaks the kiss, Dev’s watching us, his assessing eyes missing nothing. He’s a goalie, so his job is to be a hawk. To read all the action on the ice. Pretty sure he’s reading me loud and clear right now, just like he read me when we met Zahra in Los Angeles several years ago, and Dev knew before I did that we both wanted her.
He’s too fucking astute.
She spins around, grabs his shoulders, and stares at him, beaming. “You’re my hero too,” she says, then brushes a kiss onto his bearded jaw.
He has the benefit of seeing it coming, so he lifts a hand in record time and covers her palm on his shoulder, buying himself a few extra seconds.
When she ends it, she draws the biggest breath in the world. “Thank you. I feel like I can face my family now. I need to talk to my mom before—”
But then her smile disappears. The sparkles in her eyes flicker off. She winces, then slumps against the brick hotel wall, dragging a hand through her gorgeous red locks.
“What is it?” I ask, worried.
“Are you okay?” Dev seconds.
Her brow is furrowed, her lips twisted.
“Tomorrow,” she gasps like she’s short on air. “I’m supposed to leave for my honeymoon tomorrow. We have non-refundable tickets.”
9
THE JILTED BRIDE REFUND
Aubrey
The lights of a plane high above us wink on and off against the night sky. “So, yeah. That was the plan for our honeymoon,” I say as I lie on the hood of the car, staring at the jets taking off at the nearby airport. I don’t want to move. Partly because I just can’t even with this day. Partly because Dev’s lying on one side of me, Ledger on the other, and it’s comfy with them. Cozy in its own way. They’re just listening, like they’ve done all day. “I wanted more of an adventure. Spend the day outside exploring, go to a ghost town, and see new things I never expected to see. But he wanted to do touristy things and wine tastings. I mean, I like wine, but I’m more of a stomp-on-the-grapes girl than a swirl-a-glass-and-talk-about-the-oak-and-berry-and-bacon-leather-taste one.”
“Bacon leather?” Dev asks.
Ledger shifts his gaze toward me. “What kind of wine have you been drinking, Aubrey?”
“It all kind of tastes like that, though,” I say. “Don’t you think?”
“Red wine, sure. Now that you say it,” Dev says.
“And our flight leaves tomorrow afternoon,” I say with another heavy sigh. “I saved up for months for the week-long trip. Well, we both did. But I was making more, so I paid more.” And now I’m annoyed that I’m stuck with two tickets, and a room at the inn Aiden wanted to stay at because McDoodle Island has two pie shops, including one that had become an Instagram sensation. Yeah, that was a fun reason to pick a honeymoon destination. To scout its work potential. “Maybe I can call the airline and see if they have a jilted bride refund?”
Both men are quiet for several seconds. No jokes. No teasing. Dev sits up and shoots Ledger a stare I can’t read.
Ledger pushes up too, his blue eyes directing question marks to his friend.
Ugh. I hate silence. It reminds me too much of nights at the dinner table when I was younger. When Claire and Garrett were busy with their friends, and I was the only kid there, tasked with single-handedly keeping the conversation alive during the years when my parents barely spoke to each other. “Airlines really should have one if you think about it,” I say, all cheery.