Maid of Honour (The Wedding Series #1)

Eight

Happy Saturday! Here's part one of the hen do! Let's go!

***

"Are you kidding me?" Fuming, I stared at the building in front of me. I crossed my arms and threw daggers at Jared with a clenched jaw. "I am not go-karting for my hen party! Are you mad?"

Jared leant against the car, too casual for this situation. He, too, had his arms folded over his chest, but his arms were more relaxed than mine. He raised one eyebrow at me.

"And why ever not?" Jared asked, feigning innocence, rapidly blinking his eyes. My face scrunched in disgust.

I looked to my bridesmaids for help, but they were both looking around awkwardly at the situation. They had taken a few steps away from the both of us, and they were avoiding our gaze. I understood that. No-one wanted to get involved when Jared and I were having a spat.

I faced Jared again and sputtered. "Where's the excessive drinking? Maybe feather boas? Even penis straws? A stripper?"

Jared only laughed. "Felicity, will you calm down?"

That, obviously, had the opposite effect.

"I will not calm down!" I exploded. "This is my hen do! Why on Earth would I want to sit in those stupid karts with those daft boiler suits and helmets on? I've just had my hair done!"

I wasn't one to worry about something as materialistic as my hairstyle, but my parents paid for me to get it cut at a really fancy salon a few days ago as a pre-hen do treat. Because I massively appreciated the gesture and I wanted to make sure that if Mum and Dad saw some pictures from the day, they wouldn't be focused on helmet hair.

Jared sighed and stood up straight. He held up his hands in defence. "Okay... Bridezilla." Upon seeing my further angered expression, he rolled his eyes and dropped the pretence. "Just give it a go. Please. I thought it would be adventurous and fun."

A little thrown by his sincerity, I warily eyed him. I kicked some stones on the floor. Aware I was being childish, I mumbled. "And what if I don't want to?"

Jared grumbled, and he was back to normal with a quirked eyebrow. "I've already booked it. So, we have to do it. Unless you want to pay me the deposit, of course."

I looked him in the eye. I knew that he and his family didn't have money coming out of their ears. They didn't throw money away like it was nothing, like my family tended to do. So, for him to pay for this (and I doubted it was cheap), he must have had good intentions at heart. But I was still reluctant.

"I don't know," I breathed. "It just wasn't how I envisioned this day."

"Come on," Jared smiled and took a couple more steps towards me. "Live a little. Be spontaneous."

Anger flared in me. I almost burst. "I'm going to stop you right there because you're going to say, 'like you used to be' and I'm sick of it. Maybe I'm not like I used to be. Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do."

Whoa, I did not expect that to come out of my mouth.

Neither did Jared, because he held up his hands in surrender, and his eyes widened. He lowered his hands in caution, but the constant smirk remained.

"I was only going to say," he started. "Be spontaneous. Unless, you know, you're scared I'll beat you."

Oh, he was good. He knew exactly what to say.

"That's it! Let's go!" I challenged and stormed off inside the arena. I could sense Jared not far behind me. "I know you've got that smug 'I won' face on. When we get in those karts, I am going to wipe that look off your face.