“As if her mom isn’t going to add stress.” Roman grumbles, obviously frustrated. “We need to make sure she’s cut off before she starts flirting on the wedding day.”
“And take away so much fun?” Gunner puts a hand to his chest.
We get to the ring shop and I give Sophie’s ring size so we can choose a band. We didn’t all get her the same metal for her engagement rings, so I’m not quite sure what to go with. Gunner rubs his jaw.
“We could do white gold. It would probably work best with the combination.”
“Since when did you become a stylist?” I ask.
He blushes slightly. “I’ve been planning things with Val in order to make amends.”
I can’t stop the smile from spreading over my face. There’s nothing any of us wouldn’t do for Sophie.
SOPHIE
Once I step out of the spa, even with my mom on my arm, I do feel better. Between the massages, the amazing aromatherapy, the music, and the constant pampering I feel amazing. I’ll just pretend the champagne has nothing to do with it.
Mom drags me to a small brunch place next. “Right before you leave, we’ll go to the salon so you can get your hair refreshed, cut if you want, get your nails done, and geteverythingwaxed.”
“You are way too eager for that,” I grumble.
She laughs and rubs my hand. “I know that the wedding is just a day. The closer you get, the simpler it will feel. Then you’ll be thinking about all the things you will have wished you did to prepare for the honeymoon.”
“Weare not going lingerie shopping,” I say evenly. “That’s strictly me and Valerie.”
She pouts, then laughs at my expression. “Of course. There are some things a mother doesn’t need to know. However, I do need to know how all this is working.”
“All what?” I ask.
“Well, beyond having sex with four men sharing you,” She says, then trails off when the waiter’s eyes bulge. She orders as if it’s nothing and I do the same, but trip over my words twice. She continues when he leaves. “How is the planning going? Are they helping? Are they causing problems?”
“Only the one fight so far,” I say while taking a drink from my water. “But we’re meeting Carl tonight.”
“Eew.” She says simply. “He’s a horrible little man. Putting others down to make up for his size.”
“He’s short?”
“No. He’s little. Different thing.” She shows me her fingers only an inch apart and I get the picture. “Overcompensating is common in business, but he thinks he’s a ladies man. Not like your men. I bet they don’t have a thing to compensate for.”
“Mom!” I hiss.
“I’m curious is all. This is all new to me.” She leans forward, waiting for me to launch into an erotica-level story about how well-hung my fiancés are.
I feel my face go hot and stir my straw in my drink. “It’s new to me too. I love them all, I want to be with them forever, but it’s not like we’ve made a big show of being together as a group. I’m sure Roman’s family noticed when we were in Italy, but it’s been an unspoken thing and now that everyone is going to know, I just kind of feel … I feel like they’re going to judge.”
“If they do, it’s their issue, not yours.” Mom takes my hand. “I mean it, Sophie. And you have bigger balls than I did.”
“What do you mean?”
She sighs. “I encouraged your father to elope this time around. I didn’t want to deal with our family and friends scoffing at it after our very public and nasty divorce. I was sure they’d make comments about how if we didn’t work out once, we weren’t going to work out again.”
“Mom.” I hold her hand tighter. “No one would-”
“Oh yes, they would. It didn’t stop some of my old college friends from reaching out once I changed my status on Facebook. Catty bitches.” She shakes her head. “The point is the people that talk shit are ones that don’t deserve your time and clearly don’t need to be in your life. Which means, they shouldn’t be able to afford the cost of the flight.”
I laugh and we clink our glasses together before digging into lunch. We talk about the wedding, Mom tries again to get me to literally draw her a picture of how a five-way works, then she drops me off at home feeling better than I have in weeks.
Last night, I got a fantastic date night and amazing sex, today I got pampered until I feel like a princess. Plus, things feel better with my mom. I’m on the verge of climbing up to cloud nine and claiming it as my own when I remember dinner tonight.