Adam

"Really?" Selena's eyes sparkle.

Please, lord. Please. At least let me drink my coffee. I'm simply begging you.

"Aw..." She fakes disappointment at whatever her friend says on the phone, rubbing her forehead." That's so sweet of you..." She clenches her jaw. "Thank you..."

"Is everything okay?" I ask.

She covers the phone. "She's asking if I want to have a bachelorette party..."

"Why don't you tell her you don't want to?"

"Well..." She laughs, looking away. "Unfortunately, I have a 6'5 male specie watching me like a hawk. That's not a bachelorette party. I don't want to be monitored."

I keep my gaze on her and pace straight towards her, leaving her with no choice but to pay attention. "You're not being monitored. You're being watched. There's a clear difference."

"Imaan? Let me call you back." She hangs up and gives me a cold look. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Huh? What does she mean?

"Don't you dare use your size to intimidate me. I'll kick you in the nuts so hard, you'll be on your knees for hours, understand?"

"Did you forget to take your medicine? Because I don't understand a word of what you just said."

"Yeah, yeah. Keep that innocent confusion for someone who believes it. I smell manipulation from a mile away. Try a little harder."

Jesus Christ, my back is starting to ache from stress.

"I'm not manipulating you..." I force myself to take a deep breath. Focus. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intimidate you."

"Yeah, you did." She smirks at me under her lashes. "Regardless, apology still accepted."

I click my tongue, looking away from her. Cheeky brat. I don't know whether I want to squeeze her or strangle her. She switches from being a cute, tiny little thing to an annoying demon.

"I'm a lot smarter than you thought, aren't I?" She turns to go back to her bedroom, lifting her chin high. "I'm the fuuull package. Yeah!"

Thankfully, I don't see her for the rest of the day until it's evening. She comes out of her room, now changed to go out.

She's in baggy jeans with one thigh ripped out, and a red long-sleeve, exposing her shoulders. Her black hair is full and curled, falling around her delicate face and cascading over her breasts. The last thing I notice are her white sneakers. They're over four inches high and spotless.

We're silent all the way to the garage, but I notice she's sneaking glances at me the whole time.

"Am I allowed to sit next to you?" she asks.

"If you feel comfortable." Please don't sit next to me.

"Good." She sighs in relief. "I hate the pretentious nature of sitting in the back. It makes me feel like you're a bus driver."

"I thought I looked sexy."

"W-what?"

I reach over her and open the passenger door. "Get in."

"Thank you!" She jumps in.

That's a good girl.

She buckles up as I slide on the driver's side. I start the car, the purr of the engine music to my ears. I haven't driven for five days. I haven't left the house for five days. I don't know how she lives like that. I want to kill myself.

I need to hit the gym and I need to see Leah.

"Still don't want to tell me your age?" Selena asks ten minutes later. We're on the freeway.

"Why does it matter?"

She changes the music on the dashboard. "Oh my God, we've listened to this song already!"

"Why are you yelling?"

She pinches the bridge of her nose and closes her eyes. "Sorry...I just don't want to go."

Great. "You want me to take you back home?"

"Of course not." She laughs, staring out the window. She thinks for a moment. "I have to go. It'll be rude if I don't."

"So? Who cares."

"If you also grew up explaining to people all the time that you don't hate them, that you're not angry, and that everything is okay, you'd be anxious too."

"How do you know that's what they thought?"

"Because they told me." She mimics them, acting disappointed. "What's wrong? Why don't you smile? You look evil. You're just stuck up."

I smack my lips, switching lanes. "You're not stuck up. And you don't look evil. You're very beautiful."

"What?"

"You are." I shrug.

"You did not just casually call me beautiful."

"So what? You dragged me to a sex shop."

"Now you're coming to my Bachelorette party."

"Where I'll probably be the only man."

"You, the blowup doll, and hopefully many talented strippers." She bites her lip not to laugh as I glare at her.

I'm not looking forward to going to her bachelorette party, but it's better than staying stuck in that apartment. Thirty minutes later, I park in front of her friend's house.

It's dark outside and warm—

Selena shivers. "It's s-sooo f-freaking cold!"

I knock on her friend's door and link my arms behind me. I brace myself for the long, dreadful night: shit-faced, half-naked, horny women. Eardrum blasting screams, those high-pitch shrieking they do when they're excited over the most ridiculous, perverted things. And of course, dick shaped decorations literally everywhere. Dick shaped sunglasses, hats, balloons. Dick cake and testicles, with sprinkles to look like hair. Nothing surprises me anymore.

Her friend, Imaan, finally opens the door.

She's wobbling on a wooden walking stick, wearing an old lady wig, a pearl necklace, large reading glasses with a cord around her neck, and an old-fashioned nightgown.

"Bitch, you didn't!" Selena screams. She tackles her. Thank God her friend is tall and catches her on time. "I can't believe you remembered, oh my God, this is the best surprise ever!"

Imaan laughs. Despite her Halloween costume, it's clear she's the levelheaded one between the two of them. The motherly figure. "Well, yeah! You told me you didn't want a normal bachelorette party, so I had to get creative."

I like her. She's the first person I've witnessed with Selena who cares about what she wants.

"Everyone shut the fuck up!" One of the girls in the living room yells. She's in a wheelchair, her nightgown stuffed with two balloons to look like boobs and she's holding a tequila bottle.

"Is that..." She points at me, unnecessarily dramatic. "Is that our fucking stripper?"

The rest of them gasp.

Shit. There's six of them and they're all dressed like they escaped through a window in the middle of the night from a retirement home.

"Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!" They start chanting and catcalling.

I offer a tight-lipped smile and raise my hand to stop them. "Not a stripper. I'm just a bodyguard."

"You're a bodyguard stripper?! Oooh. Take it off! Take it off! Take it—"

"No, no one is allowed to make him uncomfortable." Selena blocks me with her body, suddenly all serious. "He's a working professional, and just because he's the only man here, doesn't mean it's okay to harass him. I don't care how drunk we get, it's not acceptable."

"We were just kidding." Her group sobers up.

"Yeah, we won't bother him." Imaan assures her, but unlike the rest of the confused girls, her eyes are amused and understanding. She even shakes my hand, properly introducing herself, before focusing on Selena. "Okay, let's get you changed so we can start this party!"

"Yes!"

They run into the bedroom, giggling like manic patients, and slam the door shut before I can bother to stop them. I'm left alone with their now quiet friend group, who are doing a horrible job at pretending like they're not gossiping about me. I'm pretty sure one of them snaps a picture.

With a sigh, I saunter down the hall where Selena and Imaan disappeared and wait in front of the only door with the lights behind it. I hear them chit-chatting, but I mind my own business.

Leah hasn't called me back since 7 o'clock. It's 9 now. Is she asleep? She never sleeps early. Did she take her medication? What if something bad happened? I text her two best friends, asking if they know about her whereabouts, and put my phone away as Selena comes out.

Milky, smoke clouds follow behind her, seeping out of the room. The skunk smell hits my nose. Selena's holding a black smoking pipe and she's pulled her long hair into a low ponytail. She's wearing a Hugh Hefner robe. It's red and it's velvet, with black silk edges. And sunglasses, probably to hide how bloodshot her eyes are.

"Did you get the remote—" Imaan pops out and stammers when she sees me. "I meeean..."

"Remote?" I observe Selena. "Remote for what?"

"Eh, you'll probably find out eventually." She shrugs as she skips back to the living room. "POUR THE TEQUILAAA!"

I bet you a thousand dollars, she's not wearing anything under the robe. Her ass jiggles with every step she takes, and I'm praying that she at least has panties on. Otherwise, I might need to call Jacob later and ask to bail his daughter out after being arrested for public nudity.

"Shots, shots! Shots, shots! Shots, shots!" She chants, hyping everyone up to party.

They empty two Don Julio's in thirty minutes and take billions of pictures. Selena keeps her sunglasses on in every one of them, seeming much more comfortable staying hidden.

She could've used tonight to her advantage to make me quit. I was actually surprised when she stood up for me and ordered her friends to behave. I don't think that's ever happened before.

She has to be the strangest dork I've worked for.

But she's also a sweetheart. That's undeniable.

I drive them to a popular strip club that all the bachelorette parties in LA go to, which is sadly just a cheap, knock off version of Magic Mike. Just imagine waxed chests, orange tans, and neon g-strings sweating on stage. And a bunch of lonely, untouched women in their forties, waving a stack of dollar bills in the front row.

Selena's group shuffles in, taking small steps with their wooden sticks and four-wheel walkers. They're so committed to their roles, that I'm dying of laughter. Even the strippers stop the performance to check out what's happening.

Fast forward five minutes later, Selena is cross-faded, her sunglasses now on top of her head like a headband, and she's critiquing a naked fireman who's trying to give a bride on stage a lap dance.

"Can you imagine washing all that baby oil off in the shower? Every night? What if you fall? That's so dangerous. Also, why aren't there any male strippers with body hair? WHERE IS THE EQUAL REPRESENTATION? Ew, no, no, no." She covers her eyes as the stripper swings his dick like a helicopter in a bright pink speedo.

Thank God the speakers in this place are loud and it's pitch dark, and I'm sitting right behind Selena, because I still can't stop laughing.

The strippers approach our table, noticing the dollar bills ready to be thrown at them. Her friends stuff their tops with money, pushing their breasts out so the guys pull it out with their teeth.

Except for Selena.

She perches her legs on the chair and tightens into a ball, hugging her knees. I scoot my chair behind her and spread my legs wider, so it's hard for others to get close to her.

From the corner, a blonde cop swaggers over, holding handcuffs and waving a flashlight. Judging from Imaan's shit-eating grin, I figure that's the stripper she hired for Selena.

I know some brides tend to play coy, but they secretly love the attention and the chance to touch a guy's abs. But I've seen Selena cringe when a family member simply puts a hand on her shoulder.

He blows the whistle. "Which one of you naughty criminals is Selena May?" He smirks at Selena who's stuck in her chair like a terrified mouse.

"Oh, no. Not me!" She stands up on her chair and pounces straight into my lap.

I don't know how I manage to catch her, but I do.

"Selena May is in the bathroom. I'm the Maid of Honor!" She laughs. "This is my man." She points at me. "He gets extremely jealous."

I grumble under my breath and put my hands on her small waist, shifting her on my thigh. Otherwise, I could feel every soft inch of her ass in the robe pressing against my cock, and whether I want to or not, it will get hard.

The cop stripper apologizes for confusing her with the bride and leaves, and Imaan follows to probably explain what's happening, or get her money back. I'm about to push Selena off, but I notice...something strange, and I look down.

There's a small vibration on my thigh, buzzing straight from her warm, warm pussy.

My cock stiffens. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Don't get hard. Do not get hard. Not right now, buddy. Come on.

At first, I assume she did it on purpose, but the way she keeps digging her fingernails into my forearm and darting her eyes all over the place, I assume she's too overwhelmed to even notice.

"Are you sitting...on my lap...with a fucking vibrator, sweetheart?" I ask her slowly, each word dripping over the shell of her ear, like a menacing, mocking warning.

"Huh?" Her vision clears, bringing her back to the present.

I reach my hand on the velvet belt tied around her robe and toy with it, watching her squirm.

She springs like someone lit a match under her ass and scrambles to her friends, hiding behind them.

I give her a moment. She's close enough. But I never take my eyes off of her. It's dark. It's crowded, and she's cross-faded. I guarantee, by now she's ready to go home. Or maybe she doesn't, considering I'll be there with her.

"Selena, open your gifts!" One of her friends lifts a black paper bag, stuffed with tissue papers.

It's a leash.

You've got to be kidding me.

"It's inspired by one of your chapters." They snicker.

I don't know what they're talking about. I don't think they understand either. Selena's eyes are drooping, and she's swaying like those wacky inflatable stick figures at car dealerships.

As they decide to finally leave the club and head to the next one, Selena yanks my arm down and whispers. "Don't you dare make fun of me, okay? I'll never actually use this." She tugs on the leash her friends helped to clip around her neck.

That's disappointing.

"Okay." I act indifferent.

"I'll show you why. Here." She stops, hands me the end of the leash, and stares at me the entire time as she grips the chain in two hands and snaps it apart, ruining it. "See? Not brat proof."

Brat proof, huh? "Noted."

She cups her mouth and stands on her tiptoes. I still have to bend down so she can reach my ear. "I actually have a custom, high quality one at home." Her lips graze my skin as she smiles secretly. "It's deep burgundy and some guy named Vic made it for me in Bulgaria!"

"That's really cool." I smile back, gently pulling back to stand straight.

"Right?!" She loops arms with me. Is she confusing me with Imaan? "Anyway, sorry about the lap sitting incident. Please don't sue me for sexual harassment. I can write a statement taking full responsibility so you don't get in trouble."

"I don't think that's necessary, but thank you. That's really sweet."

"Ew. I'm not sweet. I'm a demon."

My phone buzzes in my pocket, saving me from crossing any more forbidden lanes.

Leah.

"Hold it." I tell Selena, stopping outside the club. She turns to her friends while I answer the call.

"I'm alive." Leah croaks. She tries to laugh, but it morphs into a painful, aggressive coughing.

"You're sick. Is that why you haven't been answering the phone? Where are your friends?"

"I missed your overprotective, paranoid voice." She sounds like she's smiling, but just picturing her sick face is making my blood pressure spike.

"You didn't call them, did you?" I already know. She's stubborn and has too much pride. She'd rather suffer than ask for help. "You're having a fucking surgery in a week, why are you being careless right now?"

"Is everything okay?" Selena frowns, waving a cigarette smoke away from a passing group.

"I'm fine—" Leah scoffs.

"You call that fine? Why haven't they answered any of my texts? Why are you all alone?"

She sighs. "It's a long story..." Then gasps as another wave of coughs attack her lungs.

"Adam, do you need to be somewhere else?" Selena asks softly, carefully. "Please, I don't mind. We can go right now. I know you can't leave me alone, I'll come with you."

I spit on the ground. Why is everyone such a selfish piece of shit nowadays? I begged her friends to look after her while I'm gone. I explained the situation. I offered to pay their rent. They still flaked. What a bunch of morons.

"Do you want to go?" Selena tries again, her eyes are round with deep concern while every red flag in my brain warns me against it.

Do I have a choice?

"I'm on my way."

A/N
I guess, Selena is about to meet her sister-in-law!
How do you think that's going to go?
I hope you enjoyed ❤️