Seven Groomsmen from Hell (Love by Numbers 6)

“True!” I said, and turned around again to head back into the bedroom for my computer.

“Oh no!” Cece said. “Call them! They think you hate them.”

“Ugh!” I growled, spinning around again and running for my phone.

“No wait!” Cece said.

I threw my hands over Cece’s mouth. “Stop! I’m just running in circles. I don’t have time for this.”

“Sorry,” Cece said. “I’m panicking, but I don’t know why.”

“Can you grab your computer and look up flights while I call Cody?” I asked.

Cece nodded. “Yes! I’m helpful! I can do that.”

Cece rushed off for her bedroom and I went out and grabbed my phone. I sat down on the couch and dialed Cody’s number. The phone didn’t even trill and entire full ring before I heard the line pick up.

“Khloe?” Cody said.

His voice covered me like a warm blanket. I missed them so much more than I realized. “Hey,” I greeted. “I got the video.”

“And?” Cody said.

“I’m coming home,” I replied.

“She’s coming home!” Cody yelled and I heard an eruption of cheers around him; he must have still been with all of the guys. “When are you coming home?”

Cece came and sat down next to me and showed me her laptop screen. She had a flight to Austin pulled up, but it wasn’t until 9am the next day. “Uh, the flight is at 9.”

“No, 9? We need you here tonight to stop Luke,” Cody said. “Is it a price thing? We’ll pay for the flight. Fly first class if you need to.”

I took Cece’s computer and scrolled down to the more expensive flights, but it was no dice. A day before flight to a major state like Texas; everything was full. “There’s nothing sooner than that,” I said. “Can’t you guys just call Luke and tell him I’m coming home?”

“We’ve been trying to get ahold of him, but he isn’t responding to any of us,” Cody said.

“Well, fuck, keep trying. I’ll get there as soon as I can,” I said.

“Okay, we’ll see you soon,” Cody said, a slight bit of giddiness to his voice.

“Yes you will,” I said.

“Hey,” Cody said. “We love you.”

I felt like that scene from the Grinch where his heart got so big that the metal casing broke. I was coming around to believing that was true, but hearing it made all the difference. “I love you too.”

“She loves us!” Cody shouted and all the guys cheered again. “Be safe, beautiful.”

The time between California and Texas passed like molasses. I woke up in the morning to find a text from Cody saying that they still hadn’t gotten ahold of Luke, but according to their coach he was still getting on the flight to Miami. Even if he eventually learned that I was going back to Texas once he was in Florida, if he made a decision he couldn’t undo before he figured it out, he would still be gone for good. I checked my watch when we touched down and was relieved to see that we arrived early. I was down to no other choice. In true, ‘end of the romance movie’ fashion, I was going to have to run through the airport to try and stop Luke in the final hour.

I started to bolt through the airport, with only five minutes until Luke’s flight was going to start boarding.

“Just hang on,” I huffed out loud. “I’m coming.”

26

Brett

Maybe it would seem like an incredible waste of money to someone else, but Christian and I agreed, since Khloe couldn’t get back in time, and we had created the most dissonance with Luke, it was up to us to go to the airport and buy tickets just to try and stop him. Unfortunately, we underestimated Austin traffic getting to the airport, and then how bad morning security would be and weren’t getting there in a timely fashion. We were just rushing out of the checkpoint at 11:30am, and Luke’s plane was probably already boarding. Khloe’s flight was scheduled to get in pretty shortly as well, so we decided it was best to split up.

“I’ll go for Luke,” Christian said. “You go get Khloe.”

“Call me if you find Luke,” I said, and then I rushed off.

People were staring at me through confused expressions as I bolted through the airport, but I didn’t care. I had to get to Khloe, and we had to get her to Luke before he got on his plane. I rushed to the gate where Khloe’s flight was coming in, and was shocked to see her rushing right at me.

She stopped in her tracks and then continued at me. She collided into me with a kiss, but then pulled away and started off towards Luke’s gate. “Hurry your cute ass up!”

I didn’t have any time to process what had just happened. Khloe was back, and she just kissed me, but she was already off through the airport. I wanted to stop and take a moment to breathe in a sigh of relief that she confirmed she had forgiven us, but it wasn’t the time to focus on that. I turned around, and headed off in the same direction as Khloe. I hadn’t gotten a call from Christian, and a glance at a clock as we ran proved that it was officially noon. If he hadn’t gotten to Luke in time, he was already on a plane on the way to Miami.