Sinfully Ever After, page 11
part #4 of The Escort Series
“I’m not worried about boring. You always seem to keep me on my toes. There’s a surprise at every corner when it comes to you,” I say with a chuckle.
More silence. “Yeah, well, that’s me. The springer of surprises. I hope you enjoy them.”
“I enjoy everything about you, Em. And when this wedding is over, I want to enjoy every inch of you every day for at least a week. We’re gonna hole up in the house, just the two of us, and really spend some quality time together. I feel like I’ve been sharing you a lot lately, and you know I don’t like sharing,” I tell her, my voice dropping. “I’m gonna strip you out of your clothes and worship that sexy body of yours. We’ll get drunk, because I know what alcohol does to you,” I say with a low laugh. “I love how uninhibited you get. I love hearing all those dirty requests come from that beautiful mouth of yours.” I grunt and adjust myself. “I can’t talk about it anymore.”
I hear her sniff, but then a small giggle comes through the receiver. “You’re crazy. But I can’t wait. I love you so much.”
“I love you, baby. I’m gonna go check on Jace and then wait for the guys. I’ll text you later.”
“Check on Jace? Is he okay?”
“Oh yeah. He’s fine. He’s just waiting to hear from his mom.”
“Ahh,” she says. “Yeah. Okay, well, I’ll talk to you later. Bye, baby.”
“Bye, boo.”
I toss the phone next to me before swinging my legs over the ivory-colored comforter. Jace’s voice carries into my room, so I know he’s on the phone. I choose to give him some time, so I pass the off-white leather bench at the foot of the bed, choosing instead to go to my own personal living room. The dark gray couch matches the embroidered chair that all face a flat-screen TV. The curtains are open on both balconies, allowing me to see the spectacular view of downtown LA and the Hollywood Hills.
I flip through the channels until I land on a sports recap show, and then prop my feet up on the coffee table.
A few minutes later, Jace knocks on my door before walking in. “Hey.” He sits on the chair and watches a few seconds of the show. “Nico called and wants to know if we’re drunk yet.”
I look at my watch. “It’s four o’clock.”
Jace shrugs with a grin on his face. It’s Nico. He also said him and Kade are gonna try to get here as fast as they can, but that we should just start the night and he’ll hit us up when he’s here.”
“Cool.”
“Marc said Nathalia made reservations for us at a restaurant here in the hotel for six.”
“Okay, so that’s where we’ll start?” I question.
“Yeah, and then—”
He’s cut off by the sound of knocking. We both get up and cross the expansive main living room to get to the main door. When Jace pulls the door open, we’re met with the excited faces of Marc and Garrett.
“Hey, guys,” Jace greets them. “Where’s Linc?”
“He’ll be here soon. He’s on the phone in the room,” Marc answers.
Garrett goes directly to the bar and pours a drink. We all watch him until he lifts his head and notices us. “What?”
Marc laughs. “Thirsty?”
“Is this a bachelor weekend or not? I’m disappointed I don’t see a drink in the groom-to-be’s hand already.” He looks to me and shakes his head. “And you. Where’s your drink?”
“You sound just like Nico.”
“I don’t take offense to that. Where is he?” he asks, taking a drink.
“He’ll be here later.”
Garrett nods and lines up five glasses and starts pouring what I think is Vodka into the glasses like he’s a bartender. He reaches back into the bar and inspects the label on a bottle before pouring that into the glasses as well. After pouring one more ingredient into each glass, he starts passing them out to us.
“What’s this?”
“It’s the beginning of our bachelor weekend,” he says with a mischievous grin.
A knock on the door interrupts Marc as he was about to question his brother. Marc walks off with his drink in hand and comes back with Lincoln. Garrett promptly hands him a glass as well, and lifts his in the air.
“To Jace, our bachelor, and the reason why we’re all here this weekend. May you have many happy years with Adrienne. There will be ups and downs, but as long as they’re in the sheets, you won’t have any problems. You’ll make many memories together as husband and wife, but as long as I do my job right, we won’t remember anything that happens tonight.”
He puts the glass to his lips and gulps down the entire drink. The rest of us shrug and drink our very own, Garrett made shots.
“Oh damn,” Jace exclaims, puckering his lips.
“Oh yeah,” Garrett says, a smile on his face. “It’s time to party, gentleman.”
EMILIE
“Did you know that your feet can actually grow in size when you’re pregnant? I’m not talking swelling. Like they actually get bigger. And if you breastfeed, your nipples can crack and bleed. I thought pregnancy and having babies was supposed to be some beautiful, magical time, but bleeding nipples, huge feet, and shitting while pushing the baby out don’t sound very magical to me.”
“Are you going to greet me with facts about pregnancy every time?” Adrienne asks as she opens her door to let me in.
“Probably. You’re the only one who knows. I have to talk to someone about this!”
She laughs and walks to the living room. I close the door behind me before following her.
“Besides freaking out, how are you feeling?”
“I feel okay,” I answer, folding a leg underneath me as I sit down. “A little queasiness here and there, but no throwing up, so that’s good.”
I chew on my thumbnail and she notices. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, I spoke to Troy and he was telling me about all these plans he has for us, and how he can’t wait to spend undivided time with me and not share me with anyone.”
“Yeah, well, that sounds nice,” she says with a smile.
“Definitely, but I couldn’t help but think about how I’m gonna shit all over his dreams, because I’m pregnant, and all that means is that he will have to share me with a baby. We won’t have all this alone time.”
Adrienne tilts her head and her lips turn down at the corners. “Aww, Em. I really don’t believe he’ll think of it as you shitting on his dreams. Yes, it’ll be a huge shift in y’all’s lives, but having a baby is gonna be great. You two will be great parents, and you’ll have this tiny little person you created, and you’ll watch him or her grow right in front of your eyes, and that’s a dream for many people.”
“I know. I just don’t know if that’s his dream right now. I’m afraid he won’t be excited with me. It will make this pregnancy bittersweet. How can I be excited if he’s gonna be upset about it?”
She places her hand on my knee. “You’re getting ahead of yourself. You don’t know that he’ll feel that way.”
“Yeah, I know,” I respond, biting on my nail again. “I just want him to be happy. I want us to celebrate, and be that annoying couple who posts extravagant pregnancy announcement and gender reveal videos on social media. I want to complain everyday about pregnancy symptoms and then gloat about how my baby is the cutest and smartest baby on earth when he or she is here.”
Adrienne throws her head back and laughs. “And I’m sure you will.”
“Anyway,” I say, waving my hand through the air. “Enough about me. How’s everything going?”
She takes a deep breath and blows it out. “I think everything is okay. Catering has been handled. I’ve had the menu down for a while. The florist has quite the task, but I’ve told her every flower arrangement I want on the tables, and she knows what I want for my bouquet. Plus, we’re gonna have a massive floral arch for the ceremony. I’m really worried it’s not gonna come out the way I have sketched out.”
“You actually sketched it out?”
She looks at me like I should know better. “Uh, yes. I’ve also stopped by and helped with some of the arrangements.”
“Okay,” I say with a laugh.
“Anyway, the videographer had an emergency, so I have to scramble to find another one last minute.” When she said emergency, she used finger quotes and rolled her eyes, but I try to hide my smirk because she might actually kill me. “What else? Oh, I’m still putting together gift baskets for everyone.”
“Everyone? Like, every single guest?” I ask, shocked at the amount of work that would be.
She scoffs. “Yeah fucking right. I meant the wedding party. Bridesmaids, groomsmen, you know.”
“We don’t need gifts.”
“Shut up and let me thank you guys for putting up with me.”
“Okay, okay,” I say, putting my hands up in surrender.
“Oh, and get this!” she exclaims, her eyebrows going up and eyes growing in size. “The fucking wedding band canceled. Canceled! Like, who does that? They didn’t even give a reason. Just said they had to cancel. This is why I don’t trust musicians. Fuckin’ shady bastards. Oh, look at me, I can play a guitar, I can sing,” she mocks in a high voice. “I just can’t keep my word, because I’m an untrustworthy fuck.” She takes another breath. “Luckily, I was able to get a deejay, but only because I happen to have a lot of connections because of my job. I now owe someone a huge favor, but whatever.”
“Wow, sounds like a lot.”
“Oh, it is, but this is the wedding of my dreams. It has to be magical and perfect.” She leans over to grab a glass of water from the coffee table and takes a sip. “Oh, did I tell you about Jace reaching out to his mom?”
“Oh yeah, did she ever respond?”
She shakes her head with a disappointed look on her face. “Nope. Still haven’t heard from her. I think he’s more worried about her well-being than concerned she won’t show to the wedding. She’s had a drinking problem for a long time. I was going to meet her once, but when we got to New York, Jace went to her apartment first while I was still in the hotel. He wanted to make sure everything was okay. Apparently, she had empty, and half empty bottles all over the counter, and was pretty wasted. Jace was upset, because she knew we were coming over.”
“She has an addiction. It’s hard for addicts to get help.”
“I know. I just know how much it would mean to Jace for her to be here. I feel like that would be his perfect wedding. Forget everything else, he wants his mom, and I completely understand. I wish I could do something. I’ve tried reaching her myself, hoping she’d answer, but she hasn’t.”
“It’s out of your hands, A. She’ll only be around if she wants to be.”
Adrienne shrugs. “Yeah, I guess.”
I clap my hands together. “Okay, let’s move onto happier subjects. Like, how we’re about to have an amazing bachelorette weekend. We’re gonna see strippers, drink like fish, and…oh wait. I can’t drink. Fuck! Well, you’ll have to drink for me, but we’ll still see strippers, have an amazing time at the spa, and eat our weight in chocolate, or pickles. Ooh, maybe have some lemons.”
“Lemons? What the fuck?” Adrienne laughs.
“I don’t know. I’ve started craving sour things.”
She shakes her head. “Okay, you eat the pickles and lemons, and I’ll drink the alcohol.”
“Deal. So, tomorrow we head to The Cell, right?” She nods her head. “Okay, so tonight we should invite Nathalia over and just have a girls’ night. We’ll eat and watch movies or whatever.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Okay, I’ll call her and let her know, and I have to go out and grab some things. We’ll be back here in like two hours.”
“All right. I’ll be here.”
I get up and head to the door. “Love ya,” I say over my shoulder.
“Love ya too.”
TROY
An hour later, we’re about to start getting ready to go have dinner, but Garrett stops us with a single question.
“Is this gonna be some sort of stuffy, rich people restaurant?”
We all pause for a moment before Marc answers. “Well, I guess it could be classified that way.”
“This is a nice hotel, so yeah, it’s probably gonna be pretty fancy,” Jace says with a small shrug.
Garrett rubs his palm along the facial hair on his cheek. “Uh, no offense guys, but that sounds lame as hell. I mean, this is a bachelor party! We aren’t supposed to be dressing up in suits just to have dinner. I know y’all are all rich and used to this fancy lifestyle and all, but that’s not how this weekend should go down. Let’s pretend we’re all just college kids looking to have a crazy fucking weekend.”
“Well, I’d hate to be thought of as stuffy,” I say with a laugh. “I’m cool with anything.” And truth is, I wasn’t really wanting to go to this particular restaurant anyway. Nathalia made the reservation for us, and I didn’t want to tell Marc and Linc that I didn’t want to go. I had the same idea as Garrett—regular clubs, bars, and nothing too uppity.
When we were escorts, a majority of our clients were extremely wealthy, and we mostly frequented upscale establishments. So, in that way, we’re used to those types of places. And even though we all have a good amount of money, it’s not like we’re stuck-up, rich bastards. If I’m not conducting work, or taking Em on a nice date, I’m in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
“Yeah, Nathalia is the one who made the reservations. Maybe she thought we’d enjoy the food,” Marc says.
“That was nice of her,” Garrett responds, “but you know what else is good? In-N-Out.”
Me and Jace nod our heads. “Oh yeah, that is good.”
“Yeah it is. Nico took me to one the other night and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Plus, I’m sure we could find some other places that don’t require a dress code in order to get in.”
Marc holds up his hand. “Okay, we get it,” he says with a laugh.
“I’ll call down and cancel the reservation,” Linc offers.
“And I’m still gonna change,” Marc says, looking at Garrett. “Not into a suit, don’t worry. We’ll meet you guys in the lobby in twenty. That good?” he asks, looking to me and Jace.
“Yep.”
When the three of them leave, Jace looks at me with furrowed brows. “You know, most of the clubs have a dress code. How are we going to get into some clubs without being somewhat dressed up?”
“You’re still thinking of upscale clubs. Those require no jeans or sweats, no hats, and collared shirts. I’m thinking we won’t be going to those kinds of places.”
He shrugs. “Okay. I’ll be ready in five.”
I choose to wear the same dark denim jeans I have on now, but change into a white and red t-shirt, and a pair of Jordan’s that match. A spray of cologne finishes the job, and I’m heading back to the living room as Jace emerges from his own suite.
He’s chosen to wear black jeans and a baby blue shirt. He slides his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans and then claps his hands. “Let’s go.”
Down in the lobby, we meet up with the other three guys who are waiting for us by the door. Garrett slaps Marc on the shoulder, laughing about something. They’ve all chosen similar outfits. Jeans, t-shirts, and tennis shoes, all in a variety of colors.
“Okay, I’ve already called a cab,” Garrett says, pointing to a yellow van that sits outside.
Once all five of us squeeze inside, Garrett tells the cab driver to take us to the nearest In-N-Out.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had In-N-Out,” Linc says, taking us all by surprise.
“What?” we all ask in unison.
“How could you not have had In-N-Out yet?” Marc questions. “We have them in Vegas.”
Linc shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t eat a lot of fast food.”
Marc jokingly rolls his eyes. “Mr. Healthy. I forgot.”
“Well, you’re gonna enjoy the shit out of these burgers,” Garrett says excitedly.
“Where we heading after we eat?” Jace asks.
“Well, I figure we’ll just ask the cab driver to take us to a place the locals go. We’ll see where we end up,” I say.
“Yes!” Garrett exclaims. “And we’ll just keep asking people where they’d recommend going, and that’s where we’ll go.”
And that’s exactly what happens. We get to In-N-Out in about twenty minutes, and after we order our double-doubles, bacon cheeseburgers, and animal style fries, we end up sitting there for a little while just talking about our escort days. Garrett seems thoroughly entertained with some of our stories. We tell him about Marc’s sploshing incident and he almost chokes on his food. We may have mentioned Kade’s date with an extremely older woman, and he’s already planning on bringing it up when we meet up with them later.
After Garrett makes a call, another cab comes and gets us. “All right, good sir, please take us to a bar,” Garrett tells the driver.
The driver is not amused. “What bar?”
“We don’t want a high-end club. Just a hole-in-the-wall type place. Wherever you’d recommend.”
The driver doesn’t respond, but he starts driving. Garrett looks at us with raised brows and tries to hold in his laughter.
“So, you ready for married life?” Marc asks Jace.
“Yeah, man. I mean, I feel like we already live a married life,” he laughs. “I mean, we live together, take turns cooking dinner, watch stupid TV shows late at night. We’re basically married already.”
Marc is turned in his seat to be able to look back at me and Jace. “How’s Em? I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“She’s good. She’s been working a lot, but she’s doing okay.”
“When are y’all gonna get married?” Garrett asks from the front.
Jace looks at me with a little smirk. “Well, actually, I was planning on proposing soon. After the wedding.”
The van erupts in congratulations. “Wow, man, that’s great,” Marc says.
“Just don’t tell anyone. I don’t want it getting out before I actually get to propose.”
