Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(22)
Finn stopped himself from saying more. He was over the bar scene. He didn’t want to hurt Max’s feelings, but there was no point in going to Club Safari twice a week. It was a fluke that Chet had met his mate on the island. They weren’t going to be able to find anyone to complete their triad. They needed to go home to Florida. There was probably some nice shifter girl there waiting to settle down with them. That was all Finn wanted: to find his mate and settle down.
He didn’t care if he had to leave Safari Island to find her. He couldn’t go on the way they had been. Over the last year, it had been getting to him more and more. It was gnawing on his soul. He needed to find a mate, but he also had to find someone who was compatible with Max—and that seemed like an impossible task given Max’s current behavior. They didn’t see eye to eye anymore. They weren’t on the same wavelength.
It hurt Finn. He and Max had always been so close. Now, it seemed like Max had more in common with his meathead best friend Shane. The hyena-shifter was a nice enough guy; he just wasn’t someone Finn would hang out with on a daily basis. How was he even supposed to talk to Max about anything? If Max thought Shane was great company and clubbing every night was great fun, there was little Finn could say to get him off Safari Island.
More and more, that was where Finn’s head went. If they could get off the island, they’d have a better chance of finding their mate. He had looked at jobs with zoos in Philadelphia, near Chicago, and even one in the United Kingdom. It wouldn’t be hard for him to get an animal trainer job at any of the zoos. But if Max wouldn’t come with him, it didn’t matter. As much as he wanted to find a mate, he wouldn’t go anywhere without Max.
It was a very hard dichotomy and it was causing a lot of problems. Whenever he thought about it, Finn got mad and was nasty to Max. It wasn’t Max’s fault, but Finn didn’t have anyone else to take his frustrations out on. It made him feel bad but it kept happening. Finn would have to find some way to make it up to Max. He deserved so much better but Finn had no idea what to do about his feelings.
“Earth to Finn.” Ward waved his hand in front of Finn’s face. “You just blanked out there, buddy. Everything okay?”
Finn smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about a girl I met at the club last night.”
“You’re up for fitting,” Ward said. “Just throw your tux on and let’s get this taken care of. We’re already way behind. I want to have these suits perfect.”
“The ladies are picking a cake today,” Chet told them. “We only have to finalize the dinner menu and get the bridesmaids’ dresses and we’ve got everything.”
“Except for all the setup and the rehearsal dinner,” Finn said. “This is coming down to the wire.”
“Don’t worry. Ward won’t let anything go wrong,” Branch joked. “He’s more invested in this wedding than the bride and groom.”
“I am literally more invested,” Ward said. “Nothing is going to go wrong. We only have the easy stuff to do now. It’s all fittings and picking food. Don’t worry about a thing.”
Finn was only worried about one thing. His brother and his friends were all invited to the big bash. Shane was fine, but some of the other security guys were entirely too rowdy for an elegant wedding. If they messed anything up, he was ready to give them all piece of his mind. Or take a chunk out of them. His croc was getting a little restless, after all.
Three
Lily drummed her fingers on the table in front of her. “I don’t like any of them.”
“You haven’t tried any of them on,” Gummy said, exasperated. “You have to at least try to them on.”
Lily looked at the shiny, tacky dresses. This guy was supposed to be a big-time event planner and this was the best he could do? She was so disappointed. She’d looked at pictures of his past events and they’d all been fabulous. She couldn’t believe this was the best he could come up with for her. In fact, she was sure it wasn’t his best.
“Did you pick these?” She looked from Gummy to his assistant Hilda. His assistant was a dour-looking woman. She dressed in all black, and she seemed to have a permanent bitchface. She hadn’t smiled at Lily once or gotten excited about the dresses—which made sense, because they were awful. They looked like something out of the eighties but without the fun, cute bright colors. Instead, it was cheap-looking fabric and bad cuts.
Lily knew it was short notice to get a new dress, but that wasn’t her fault. They hadn’t let her pick a dress herself. If they hadn’t insisted on picking one for her, she would have come prepared. This was ridiculous. The pictures from this wedding were going to be splashed all over the internet and in wedding magazines. She would die if she opened a Chic Bride and saw a picture of herself in one of the dresses they were offering her.
“I didn’t pick them, but I think they’re…great dresses.” Gummy smiled, but Lily could see that he wasn’t feeling the dresses either.
“Please.” Addison clasped her hands together. “We have to at least see these to get an idea of what works.”
“Only for you.” Lily scowled and took the three dresses into a fitting room. One of the attendants knocked on the door a few moments later to offer her help. “I’m fine!” Lily said.