“What?” Tessa peered over the headrest.
“I forgot my purse in Braden’s truck,” she sighed, running a hand through her long locks.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you covered,” I said quickly, the corner of my lip lifting.
“See? No worries,” Tessa smiled. “Let’s go have a good night!”
We piled out of the truck, and I grabbed the blankets that Tessa had carried out for us to sit on. We met up with everyone else and walked together, finding a spot on the grass big enough to house our large group.
Blankets were spread down and the majority of the group took off towards the beer tent or food trucks. “Can I get you anything?” I froze at the sound of her voice, closing my eyes for a moment to try and pull it together. Elle’s hand brushed against mine gently.
“How about a second chance?” I mumbled, my eyes opening and landing on hers. Her hand was still inches away from mine.
“How about a bottle of water, or a pop?” she suggested instead, trying to repress the smile that threatened to grace her lips.
“That works, I guess. Water, please.”
“I’ll need your money,” she reminded me, a smirk dancing across her mouth. Chuckling, I pulled out my wallet from my back pocket and handed her a couple of twenties. The tips of her fingers brushed against mine, and electricity pulsed between us. It was so much like it was before, back when she was mine. It was like the last few years had never even happened. She was smiling at me in that same challenging way, the way that always made me press my lips to hers and kiss her until she stopped smirking and gave into me.
I knew she was just as affected as I was from the way her long lashes fluttered against the top of her cheeks. She swallowed, pulling her hand holding the bills to her side. She tossed a look back over her shoulder at me as she walked towards the beer tent with Tessa.
I fell back onto the blanket, pulling my black cap down over my eyes.
Now that I was back, I had no idea how I survived being gone all those years, how I was able to justify being away from the ones who meant the most to me. I had no idea how I was able to let her stay gone.
I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life, even if it wasn’t the way I preferred. Ideally, I wanted her to be mine again. I wanted her to trust me and love me the way she did before. But even if I couldn’t have that, I wanted her friendship. Her laughter, her smile.
Elle
After the embarrassing events of the previous weekend, and my confusing thoughts regarding Braden, I threw myself into being the best maid of honor I could possibly be. Every second of my time—every spare thought—went to planning the bachelorette party. The night was going to be perfect—I'd made sure of it. Becky, Katie, Krista and I took Tessa to her favourite restaurant in Toronto for dinner, then we headed back to the hotel room to wait for the rest of the bachelorette party guests to arrive.
Our hotel room was big enough for the seven of us to crash comfortably. There were two queen sized beds and a pull out couch. Tessa, her cousin Cheyenne and I snagged one bed, Becky, Krista, and Katie snagged the other bed while Tessa’s friends from Barrie—Olivia and Laura, would share the pull-out couch.
I couldn't wait to see Tessa's face when she saw all the fun stuff we had planned. I had printed off ten dare cards to hand to our beautiful bride-to-be throughout the night. Most of the items on the list were sure to embarrass her, but I was sure my friend would be a good sport. I gave her three passes—she could pass off three of the dares to any member in the bridal party to complete without question. I had a feeling I knew which ones she'd pass up, and I couldn't wait to see if I was right. Dare card number one would undoubtedly embarrass the shit out of Tessa, and that made me positively gleeful.
Dare card number one is why I had spent the last twenty minutes hiding in the hotel bathroom, blowing up a massive inflatable penis that I was going to torture Tessa with—she'd have to carry it all night.
I stood back and stared at the flesh coloured monstrosity, a loud giggle exploding from my lips. Pete the Penis even had a face! My hands went up to cover my mouth, as I tried to cover the sound of my laughter without success.
“Elle! What the hell are you doing in there? The front desk just called up—the limo is here and waiting!” Tessa's impatient voice, muffled through the closed door, only made me laugh harder.
I threw open the bathroom door, and Tessa's eyes widened with shock at the sight of me holding the inflatable, smiling penis. “I'm sorry, I had to blow a dick okay!”
The room exploded into a fit of laughter and camera flashes at the sight of the penis and Tessa's horrified expression. While I’d been busy in the bathroom, blowing Pete the Penis up, Cheyenne, Olivia, and Laura had arrived.
“What in thehellare you doing with that?” Tessa asked, dumbfounded.
“This is Pete the Penis and he'll be your date tonight,” I smirked, shoving the inflatable dick at her. “You have to carry itallnight.”
“Pete the Penis!” Krista repeated with a cackle, doubling over. “I’msohashtagging this!”
“Elle!” Tessa whined, her face going beat red. “I'm not carrying that around all night!” She tried to shove it back at me, but I sidestepped her, dancing around her until I was free of the small hallway that led to the bathroom.
Becky walked up to join us, the neat pile of cards in her hand. “Sure you are! It's dare number one!” she grinned, handing Tessa the first pretty pink card that declared she needed to bring Pete the Penis clubbing with us.
“Dare number one?” Tessa questioned us, her brow furrowing as she accepted the card from Becky and read it.
“Yup.” I clapped, elated. “There are ten of them! You only get three pass offs, so use them wisely.”
