“The woman who was supposed to be doing Elise’s hair today had a car accident on the way over and has been taken to hospital with a broken leg. Apparently, she isn’t interested in doing it before her surgery, but whatever.”
“Oh, my god!”
“I know. It’s crazy. But it means, we’re fucked. Because unless you can come and do it, Elise will be on the cover of a magazine with her hair in a ponytail.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
Ponytails weren’t all bad. But I got his point.
“Oh, my god! Seth!” I heard him scream before the phone beeped in my ear. “This Claire chick. Is she for real?”
“Why? What happened?”
Obviously, I was on speaker.
“She said ponytails weren’t a bad thing? Like seriously. Is she just pulling my dick?”
I snorted just listening to his dramatics and imagining Seth’s face. He’d mentioned Jax in passing before, but he’d failed to mention how funny he was. I hadn’t had the good fortune of meeting him yet, but damn I wanted to.
“Boys! Focus!”
“Yes, Elise,” they answered in unison.
“So, Claire, can you please come and save me?” Seth begged.
“Save you? What the hell is going to happen to you if Bridezilla walks down the aisle with a ponytail?”
“Boys!” Now it was my turn to try and get them back under control, not that I really stood a chance. “I need fifteen minutes to shower and change and then I can head out. I’ll see if I can borrow Isaac’s car…” I added, remembering I still hadn’t replaced mine.
“I’ll order you an Uber, Claire. You’re going to have to meet us at the hotel. We’re heading there now.”
“Oh. Okay. But you don’t have to…”
“I’m ordering.”
Honestly, it was going to be easier. I had no idea how long I’d be, and I doubted Isaac wanted to give up his wheels on a Saturday afternoon. “Thank you. Jax?”
“Yeah, baby girl?”
“Baby girl?” I questioned. I’d never been someone’s baby girl before. It was weird, but surprisingly, I didn’t hate it.
“Moving along.” From the growl in his voice, I got the feeling that Seth wasn’t exactly a huge fan.
With my phone balanced on my shoulder, I started stripping, getting ready to jump in the shower. Thank God we weren’t on video chat. I’d probably scar him for life. “Do you have everything I’m going to need?”
“Tell me what you’re going to need and by the time you get there, I will.”
Five minutes of talking logistics and I was in the shower wondering what the hell I’d just agreed to. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t even qualified, and they were asking me to do the bride’s hair. Not just the bridesmaid or a guest, but the bloody bride. The one everyone stared at. The one they all oohed and aahed over. The one who was going to cherish today’s photos for the rest of her life. The one that was going to be on the front page of the magazines. This was madness.
Four weeks ago, I’d been curled up in a blanket fort with Seth teasing him about his weird belly button. Since then, we’d been inseparable. Well, basically inseparable. We trained together most mornings before going our separate ways. Then every Thursday he’d come home, and we’d eat junk while I consoled him while he sulked because he missed out again. I didn’t get it. He was good. He was damn good; he just couldn’t get a start. And as much as he was trying to put on a brave face, I could see how miserable he was. It didn’t matter how many times I let him beat me in Mario Kart or how many tricks I pulled out, nothing I did could put a real, genuine, no holding back smile on his face. It was breaking my damn heart. Thank God this weekend was a bye round so that meant no game. No game meant no team selection. No team selection meant no disappointment. I’d never been more grateful. I don’t know how much more I could fake.
A horn honked, and I rushed around, swiping everything off my dresser into a bag before sliding my feet into my thongs and bolting out the door. Masking the yawn, I leaned back in the car and tried to convince myself I could pull this off. Damn, I hoped they had champagne. I had a feeling we were all going to need it.
Before I was ready, we pulled into the circular driveway of a beautiful hotel on the river. After thanking the driver, I grabbed my stuff and climbed out, only to find Seth leaning against one of the pillars, playing on his phone. For a moment, I just stood there watching him. I was surprised to see how calm and relaxed he looked; it was the complete opposite of how he sounded when he called.
Knowing time was getting away from us, and I was going to need every minute, I called out to him. “Seth?”
Spinning around, he spotted me, and a huge grin broke out across his face filling me with confidence. He believed in me. He wouldn’t have asked me to do this if he didn’t. Seth was frustrating and annoying and a perfectionist, but the last thing I could ever accuse him of being was cruel. He’d never set me up to fail.
