"Hell, no," I said as well. "We're your boys, you can't get married without us."
"I know," Scott said, his face tightening up again. "And that's what I told her, but she threw Vegas in my face, and said that when we are all together, bad shit happens, and she wants her wedding to be perfect."
Fuck, I thought. Now my bullshit is interfering with Scott's life.
"Scott, man ... I'm so sorry," I stuttered, the shame burning my throat. "I understand if you need to do this without me."
Scott turned and put his hand at the back of my neck, holding me still so that I had to look directly into his very angry eyes.
"Never gonna happen, Cal," he said pointedly.
Scott let me go and stood up at the edge of the table.
"I just came by to tell you guys what was going on. Face to face. Now I have to go meet Victoria and deal with this." With that said, Scott turned and walked out the door.
"I guess I've got his drink," TJ said wryly.
I chuckled.
"It's on me, since I'm the one fucking up his life."
"Don't pull that bullshit on me, Cal. Victoria is a bitch from way back. She would have found a way to pull this shit one way or another, you're just a convenient scapegoat."
I nodded at TJ, but watched the condensation drip down my glass as I wondered if that damn night in Vegas was going to keep finding ways to fuck with me.
Chapter 20 - Shelly
I found myself looking forward to my date with Cal more and more as Saturday got closer. When Saturday finally came, I was dressed and waiting for him to ring my bell.
When it rang, signaling his arrival, I felt my belly flutter and tried to hide my grin as I opened the door.
"Hey," I said as I saw him standing before me. He looked me up and down, taking in my workout pants, shirt, and shoes with a smile.
"Ready?" he asked.
"I think so," I replied, unsure of what was to come, but excited at the possibilities.
We rode out together, and I tried to get him to say where we were going, but he kept his lips sealed, forcing me to speculate all the way there.
When we pulled into a zip-line course, I was shocked and totally taken aback.
"Seriously?" I asked when he parked by the little wooden shack.
"Yeah," Cal said, turning to me. "It'll be a blast. You'll see, Shel."
I nodded, but my stomach turned with dread, as I thought about the fact that Cal fully expected me to jump off of a platform suspended only by rope.
Oh. My. God.
I got out of the car slowly, taking in my surroundings and choking back bile as my heart beat rapidly.
I stood outside while he went inside, and followed numbly as he led me to the platform. Once there, we were corralled into a line and placed into protective gear. I winced as someone took my picture. Before I knew it I had full gear and a helmet, and I was shaking in my boots.
Literally.
We followed a group to the first platform, where I vaguely heard the guide tell us that there would be six zip-lines in all. When we got to the top, I stood and watched the others go as I waited until my turn.
It was like an out-of-body experience, and I couldn't believe that it was actually happening.