Seven Groomsmen from Hell (Love by Numbers 6)
14
Brett
Morning was the time that I preferred to run. Being in Puerto Rico was nice and all, but I was really lacking on my running regimen, and after a restless night of thinking about Khloe, I decided the best thing I could do for my body was run. I would put in a couple of miles, eat breakfast, and then sleep the rest of the day away until the rehearsal dinner. Hopefully it would be the rest that I needed to get through the rest of the trip with Khloe’s sexy ass walking around everywhere. I slipped out of my room at about 4:00am, left the resort, and helped myself to the trail that ran along the beach. Per the signposts along the way, the path was about a mile from end to end, so I ran down to one end, back down to the other, and then back to my starting point for a nice, two-hour run.
By the time I was getting back to the resort, the sun was just starting to peek out over the horizon. The dark blue of the night was fading into a serene cyan as the gold aura of the sun set the sea of stars on fire. Soon the sun would be high in the sky and, with any luck, I’d be one of the rare people sleeping it away.
My stomach growled as I approached the breakfast buffet, and I was glad to see that they had a schedule conducive to early risers. The sweet smell of different fruits mixed with the seasonings of eggs and a variety of meats; I was elated to be able to do some real damage. I walked inside and was surprised to see that there were a few other early birds inside, but none more interesting to me than the thick, brown-haired beauty sitting at a table in the corner, staring into her cup of coffee as though it was going to tell her future. I grabbed a cup of coffee and a plate of eggs and ham and went and joined Khloe at her table.
“You’re up early,” I greeted.
Khloe looked up at me and to my extreme pleasure, her cheeks instantly turned a light shade of pink. “I could say the same,” she responded. “Couldn’t sleep?”
The normal harshness she usually addressed us all with was gone, and she seemed renewed if not a little conflicted. “Just an early riser,” I fibbed. “Went out for a run and now getting some breakfast. You look like you’re trying to solve world hunger over here. You okay?”
“Um,” Khloe hummed. “I think I made a really big mistake last night.”
“Oh?” I replied. “Do tell.” Khloe parted her lips to speak, but then clasped them shut without saying a word. “Secrets, secrets, Miss DuBois,” I teased, but she didn’t budge. “Fine,” I said. “Can I guess?”
She seemed so lost in thought that I decided I would run a little experiment. Perhaps if I could distract her mind enough, she would be candid with me about what I believed her hangup was. I reached across the table, lifted her fork and knife, and cut a piece of the syrup soaked pancake she had sitting untouched on her plate. I poked the fork into the piece and lifted it to her lips. The blush on her cheeks darkened, but she opened her lips and let me slide the piece of pancake inside. I smiled, imagining myself shoving something else in her mouth, but that plan was going to have to wait.
“Well?” I said.
Khloe jumped a little. “Oh, sorry. Sure, you can guess.”
I cut another piece of her pancake and fed it to her with a grin on my face. “Did something go wrong with the wedding?” I asked.
Khloe shook her head. “No. Not yet anyway.”
I continued to feed her slowly, stopping every now and again to press my thumb to the corner of her mouth and swipe some syrup away. “Something wrong with Anna?”
“No, she’s doing great,” Khloe responded.
Seeing as those were the only other two things I thought it might be, that just left one possibility. “Ah, then that means you finally slept with Luke.” I’d just placed a bit of pancake into Khloe’s mouth and she choked on it with shock as I spoke. I dapped her lips with a napkin and chuckled. “Calm down, no one is surprised. The tension between you two was bound to break at some point. Besides, if anything, we’re relieved.”
“Relieved?” Khloe said. “Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious? We’re all into you,” I explained. “We just needed Luke to shoot his shot so that we could get it out in the open.”
“I don’t understand,” Khloe said. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Luke didn’t tell you? He’s been something of an influence on us. Thanks to his lurid desires, we started sharing women some time ago. Obviously you’ve been on our radar ever since you first showed up as the wedding planner. Though I gotta say, Luke’s a straight up idiot for not making a move on you sooner,” I said. Khloe furrowed her brow and folded her hands into her lap, looking even more conflicted than she had before. “What?” I asked.