Beautiful Beginning(18)

Will leaned forward to give me a high-five.

“Has he told you about his new virginity?” I asked.

“He mentioned he’s enjoying the sport of keeping you waiting,” Max said.

“But for the record, Chloe, I’d like to say that those heels are f*cking

smashing.”

“I agree!” I said, grinning over at my fiancé.

The booth was large enough for several people, and after they’d ordered

their drinks, Brian and Bull joined the four of us. For several quiet

moments we sipped our cocktails, and Max and I shared an amused grin when

we heard Sara’s cackle across the room.

“That’s your girl over there,” I said.

He raised his glass to me, cheeks flushed, and murmured, “Indeed it is,”

before taking a sip.

I looked over at Sara and laughed. “Actually, that’s your girl over there

with a big belly . . . carrying a tray of shots.”

He looked up and groaned, standing to walk over. His words drifted out of

earshot after we heard him say, “Sare, love, that’s too heavy . . .”

“He is whipped,” Will murmured.

“Don’t even start on that, Sumner,” Bennett said with a shake of his

head. “You can barely keep your tongue in your mouth around Hanna.”

Will shrugged and leaned back in the booth, not even hiding the way he

looked over at his girlfriend and studied every inch of her exposed legs.

I let my eyes move around the men at the table and wondered if they were

being relatively quiet because they wanted me to leave so they could

discuss guy things, like penises and basketballs and toilets. But I was so

comfortable, and the weight of Bennett’s arm around my shoulder was too

perfect to want to move. The only way I would move is if it was to climb

into his lap and wiggle a little.

I started to execute this brilliant idea, but he stopped me with a tight

grip on my shoulder. “Don’t you dare.”

“Are you hard?” I asked quietly, just loud enough for him to hear.

He shot me a look. “No.”

I licked my lips and felt my pulse take off when his eyes dropped to my

mouth and he leaned a little closer. “How about now?”

“You’re impossible, woman.” He moved away, reaching for his drink.

A large tattoo of a woman’s face on Bull’s arm caught my eye and I leaned

close to Bennett again, but he leaned away.

“No, come here,” I said, pulling at his T-shirt. “I have a question. I

swear I’m not going to lick your ear.” Reluctantly he leaned close enough

for me to quickly lick his ear before asking, “Who is that on Bull’s arm?

”

He studied it for a second before turning to whisper, “I think that’s his

girlfriend—or ex-girlfriend?—Maisie. They’ve been on-again, off-again

since they were teenagers.”

I absorbed this information: Bull might currently be “on” with this

Maisie woman and was hitting on every vagina under forty in the wedding

party. “Are you kidding me?”

“I wish.”

I studied it as casually as I could; the last thing I wanted to do was

raise Bull’s attention and let him think I was checking him out. But the

tattoo was enormous, practically the size of my entire hand, and incredibly

detailed. It had been hidden at the dinner the night before under his dress

shirt, but now, in casual clothing, the entire thing was revealed, in full

color. Basically, it was Maisie’s face, neck, and chest stopping just

where the hint of her breasts began to swell.

Turning back to Bennett, I whispered, “Jesus. She must be bringing it. I

know how to suck a dick but no one has ever tattooed my face on their skin.

”

Bennett went still, hand frozen where he had just reached for his glass.

“I don’t expect you to tattoo my face on your arm, Mr. Ryan, settle down.

”

He exhaled heavily, bringing the glass to his lips and saying, “That’s

good,” before he took a sip.

“But I would like to suck your dick so hard you promise to do it anyway,”

I said and laughed as he planted his hand on my back and shoved me out of

the booth, telling me to go play with the girls for a bit.

We danced, and drank; Hanna and Mina were an unstoppable combination of

inappropriate, and had all of us laughing until our sides hurt on the dance

floor. It was a perfect night: out with all of my favorite people in the

entire world, surrounded by my girlfriends while the love of my life hate-

loved me with fiery intensity from across the room.

And, because they were fully on my side in this ridiculous abstinence

business, Max and Will came and joined us and surrounded me, dancing and

teasing, lifting me up and carrying me to Bennett for an upside-down,

drunken kiss.

“I love you anyway,” I told him as he scowled down at me. “And I’m

going to break you tonight.”