“Why don’t you sit for a bit,” Ava suggested. “We can go inside and get some water.”
JJ nodded, allowing Ava to steer her toward the steps. She moved slowly, hoping not to do whatever had caused that pain the first time.
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in the living room. Wes had come out of his office when he heard them moving around. JJ hadn’t wanted to worry him, so she didn’t intend to tell him about the contraction, but Ava didn’t get the memo. Since then, Wes had been practically holding her hand, threatening to carry her if she didn’t stop moving around.
And, of course, Wes had called Jules. He told her it was either that or he was calling Baz. JJ opted for option one because she wasn’t in labor. She knew that now. She hadn’t had any more contractions, and now that she wasn’t moving so much, she felt better. Granted, the peanuts were active, moving and shifting as they attempted to get comfortable.
Sure enough, a short time later, Jules arrived, coming into the house like a woman on a mission.
“I’m fine,” JJ assured Baz’s mother. “Really.”
“I had Braxton Hicks with Baz,” she said, her tone calm and even. She wasn’t panicking the way Wes was, thank God. “I actually went to the hospital twice because I thought I was in labor. Then the stubborn boy had the audacity to be three days late.”
JJ laughed.
Jules glanced over at Ava and smiled.
“Hi,” Ava said. “I’m Ava March.”
“I’ve heard so much about you,” Jules said, cupping Ava’s hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “You can call me Jules. All my friends do.”
Ava smiled, and JJ was almost positive the color rose in her cheeks. She probably wasn’t used to getting such kindness from strangers. JJ knew the feeling. She’d been overwhelmed beyond belief the first time she met Wes and Jules.
“Tell me you didn’t tell Baz,” JJ said when Jules looked at her.
“Of course not, honey. But Wes did tell me I had two choices. I could stay the night, or I could call Baz so he could come home.”
JJ shook her head. “Please don’t call him. I know Brantley. He’ll insist on comin’ too and—”
Jules squeezed her hand, cutting her off. “Staying here isn’t a hardship. Wes has more than enough bedrooms.”
That he did.
The question JJ had was, would Jules be sleeping alone?
Considering the way Wes and Jules were when they were together, she figured it could go either way.
***
Brantley had spent the past hour anda half watching his closest friends doing their best to rack up enough points to win this scavenger hunt. Considering no one knew what they would even win, he had to think they were all fucking crazy.
At the same time, they were entertaining as fuck.
Helped that he was well on his way to being too drunk to make it up to the room. He’d slowed down a short time ago, trading his vodka tonics for water. He’d done so as soon as he heard Reese do the same. After all, what was the point of spending the night in a hotel if you were too drunk to enjoy the amenities?
“Evan, you’re up,” Atticus called, standing a few feet from Cal.
Brantley’s brother had done most of the tasks, and if he had a say in it, the guy would win no matter what. He figured he would pass that along to Baz before the weekend was over.
“I amnotgetting on that bar,” Evan declared as he strolled over.
“The rules are, you do what everyone else does for the twenty-point category,” Baz reminded him, his words slurred.
No one was feeling any pain, that was for sure. Except maybe Evan. If he’d been smart, he would’ve been downing shots early on so he wouldn’t care if there were images of him doing stupid shit plastered all over the internet. And there would be.
“It’s either that,” Cal told Evan, “or we have to get someone in this bar to give us a condom.”
“Two someones,” Reese reminded them. “Both of you have to do it.”
