Bang Bang(27)
Author: Rachel Van Dyken

She kissed me again, harder.

I moaned again, flattening my hands against her chest, ready to push her away and then her tongue flicked mine.

And waiting suddenly seemed like such a dirty, horrible, awful word. Whoever invented it should be shot, along with whoever invented towels, or clothes for that matter.

Her body was warm, still a bit damp from the shower. I slid my hands down her arms as I deepened the kiss.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Go away.” I broke from our kiss long enough to say two words then dove my hands into her hair, crushing my mouth against hers.

The knock got louder.

“Wasn’t kidding,” I yelled. Amy reached for my shirt, tugging me back to her. Fingernails grazed my skin. I shivered and flipped her around, pushing her against the door.

“Guys!” It was Phoenix. “The girls are all downstairs waiting and we all know what happens when the wives wait.”

I broke the kiss.

Amy giggled.

They made Phoenix’s life a living hell, that’s what. They liked to pester him, mainly because he’d been like a corpse the past few weeks and they were trying to bring back his good humor. It did the exact opposite, but whatever.

“He’s suffering.” Amy stepped back.

“Good, let him suffer.” I growled reaching for her arm, but grabbing the towel instead. It fell to the floor.

My eyes stayed glued to her body.

Amy’s widened with horror and then amusement as she moved away from me and went into the walk-in closet, shutting the door behind her.

Cursing, I pulled open the bedroom door just as Phoenix lifted his hand to knock again. I pushed against his chest. “Pistols at dawn, ass**le.”

“Can Nixon be my second?”

“No, you get no second. I hate you so much right now.”

Phoenix grinned. “Did I interrupt something important?”

“You know damn well.” I poked him in the chest. “Just… wait, just you wait, that’s all I’m saying. One day a girl’s going to knock you on your ass and I’m going to be your freaking shadow… interrupting every sacred moment you have with her until you’re ready to pull a gun on me.”

“Not happening.” Phoenix said quickly, slapping me on the back.

“He’s g*y,” Bee said breezing by us.

I froze.

Phoenix cursed. “What the hell, Bee?”

“What?” She lifted her shoulders innocently. “I changed in front of you all the time when you were guarding me and you didn’t even blink.”

“Correction,” he said through clenched teeth. “You could have warned me every damn time, rather than just pulling off clothes and throwing them in my direction. I’m not your maid.”

“Right.” Bee shrugged innocently. “And every time I tossed something in your face and you didn’t react, it made me want to do it again, like an experiment.”

“Ah, science, good to hear you’re studying, sis.” Tex popped his knuckles as he approached. “So, we talking about school?”

“Yeah.” Phoenix’s jaw cracked. “School.”

Tex nodded. “The girls are getting antsy, Amy almost ready?”

“Sorry!” Amy came rushing out, her hair in a messy bun. The girls were getting hair, makeup, pedicures — the works. So it’s not like she had to get ready — she’d never looked so beautiful to me.

“Great.” Tex pulled her in for a hug. I kept my growl to myself. And Phoenix glared at Bee.

“Let’s go,” I announced, letting everyone go in front of me. When I turned around to make sure Phoenix and Bee were following, she was touching his arm, and the poor guy looked like her touch was agony, nothing but pain as his eyes flinched and he jerked away. Bee frowned and shouldered past me. When Phoenix fell into step beside me, I whispered, “You okay?”

“Nope. Won’t be okay until Tex takes her off my hands.” He sighed. “Until then… I think of it as getting my just reward.”

“For what?”

He grimaced. “Being such an ass in my former life. If this is God’s punishment, he’s doing a damn good job of reminding me to amend my ways.”

“So.” I coughed. “Not really g*y?”

“Not anything.” Phoenix looked down. “I don’t deserve love… and that’s the truth, not some pitiful excuse for why I can’t settle down. I just simply, don’t deserve it…”

He walked away.

Clearly not noticing that Bee’s gaze was on him every movement.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Amy

“YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL.” Mil pulled me in for a hug while Trace, Nixon’s wife, and Mo, Tex’s wife, messed with my train. I didn’t have any friends, so they were my bridesmaids.

The wives.

Though after going to the spa with them the day before I had come to realize they were more than just the wives. Somehow I’d pictured them as The Real Housewives mob style — too much money and too much free time on their hands. I was surprised to find out that both Mo and Trace were going back to school to finish their degrees and actually had hobbies that didn’t include carting around those flashy black cards with no limit.

“I’d kill for this dress.” Trace walked around the train and shook her head, a bright smile in place. “Seriously… it’s gorgeous Amy.”

The warmth of a strong blush invaded my face. “Mil picked it out.”

“Mil.” Trace nodded. “Remind me to have you pick out an entire wardrobe for me.”

“Done.” Mil winked and offered me a bottled water.

“You ready for this?” Mo said from my other side. The girls were all in simple black strapless cocktail dresses and red heels. I’d wanted something elegant. It was my wedding after all and I knew all the girls would look beautiful if we did a black tie wedding.

Luckily, Ax couldn’t care less; he just wanted to get married.

It helped that money wasn’t really an object so when we needed to throw something together that fast, it wasn’t an obstacle trying to find a place and get everything decorated.

The only thing I wasn’t able to choose was the location. Nixon wanted to control the atmosphere, so we were getting married at a winery that he owned, outside of the city.

Made sense.

“I’m ready… I think I’m ready.” I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. The dress was classy. It fell off the shoulders but still had lace sleeves that went all the way down to my wrists. The bodice was see-through lace except for a small covering that went across my br**sts. White satin gathered around my waist, pulling into a knot towards the back of the dress then flared out into a long heavy train that was around seven feet long.