"Dude, you're twenty minutes late!" Simon, one of the groomsmen, said as I burst into the arena.
"No kidding, Simon, I don't need a reminder," I grumbled, hurrying towards the center of the room.
I spotted Stella, all smiles and hugs, surrounded by guests and cameras. I weaved through the crowd, almost knocking people over in my rush. There were a bunch of famous faces here, and I can't believe I'm actually meeting idol—
"Whoa, slow down," Gabriel's voice cut through the chaos. I nearly tripped over my own feet. He was looking sharp in a brown suit. "What happened to your suit?" His eyebrows shot up.
"Long story," I said, trying to brush him off.
"We were supposed to match. Look at Selene and Stella," he pointed out.
"Yeah, well, I spilled oil on it," I lied.
Currently, I was wearing a grey suit. After I left the hotel room, I decided to go with Stella's choice. I should've just wore it in the first place. Luckily, Stella packed it along.
Gabriel trailed behind me as I marched over to Stella. She gave me a quick glare. Clearly, she wasn't happy about me being late.
"Sorry, babe," I kissed her quickly and watched her face soften.
Her eyes dropped to my suit. "I told you grey looked better," she smirked, crossing her arms. We'd argued about suits, and grey had won. "Let's go take pictures with Mom and Dad," she whispered, smiling.
My smile froze. Her parents weren't exactly my biggest fans. They always said she could do better. Stella was clueless about how they felt.
I forced a smile back onto my face and linked my arm with hers. We walked towards her parents, who were chatting with another couple.
"Mom?" Stella called out, and her mom turned. She beamed at Stella, looking so happy for her daughter. But when her eyes landed on me, her smile faded a little.
"Oh, my pretty superstar!" she exclaimed, pulling Stella into a hug. "I can't believe my baby is getting married." A few tears welled up in her eyes.
I wasn't trying to say she wasn't happy for her daughter, but the lost acting talent in Stella was with her mother. She was the kind of person who could make a soap opera out of buying groceries.
The first thing she said was clearly meant to throw me off. Like I was some kind of loser who didn't deserve her daughter. But honestly, I didn't care.
Her dad gave me a quick, awkward hug. I knew they were just putting on a show for the cameras, but there was a tiny bit of realness in there.
I spent the rest of the party wishing I could just crawl into bed. All I wanted was to sleep and cuddle Stella.
It got dark really fast, and most of the guests left.
Stella had her assistant take all the presents to her hotel room since she was crashing in mine. We walked her parents to their car and said goodbye. Stella was all choked up and clingy. I wondered if I'd be like that if my parents were still around. Probably not.
I'm not really sure how I got back to the hotel. I think I stumbled most of the way.
"Are you drunk?" Stella asked, laughing as she unlocked the door. "I bet Gabe spiked your drink."
"Nope," I said, trying to sound normal. Gabriel was way too wasted to be messing with anyone. I walked into the room and Stella grabbed me to keep me from falling over.
"Yeah, you're definitely drunk," she giggled.
I flopped onto the bed and closed my eyes. I could feel her hands on me, but I told her to stop. "I can take care of myself. You're tired, go take a shower. I'll be with you shortly." I opened my eyes to make sure she knew I was okay.
She nodded and started undressing. I wanted to watch her tease me with her curves, but my eyes were blurry. I shook my head. Fuck.
I heard the shower turn on and I decided to join her. I tried to stand up but almost fell back onto the bed. I pulled off my jacket and started taking off my clothes.
Everything was getting really blurry as I made it to the shower.
I started dreaming about being on a train. It was moving really fast and it was peaceful. Then an alarm clock went off, and it wouldn't stop.
"Oh, shit!" I woke up with a start. The hotel phone wouldn't stop ringing. I put my hand on my face and sat up. My head was pounding.
Stella was next to me, covered in a white blanket. Her hair was out and it looked red. I didn't remember her dying her hair.
I was confused. I decided to figure it out later and answered the phone.
"This better be serious," I murmured.
"What the fuck, man? Where are you?" Gabriel's voice grumbled through, sounded really annoyed.
"Gabriel?" My ears perked. "What do you mean where am I? I'm in my hotel room," I mumbled, still half asleep. "Why are you calling me on the phone?"
"No, Jordan, you're not in your room," Gabriel sighed, sounding tired.
I sat up straight. "What do you mean?"
"Is Stella with you?"
"Of course, where else would she be? And get to the point," I snapped.
Gabriel took a deep breath. "Do me a favor, don't leave that room. You, uh, well, you wandered out of your room last night and this redhead thought you were cute and brought you back to her place."
My eyes flew open and landed on the sleeping redhead. That's not Stella?
I carefully pulled the blanket off her face.
"Jesus!" I jumped out of bed and landed on the floor with a thump. I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from yelling. "That's not Stella, Gabriel! That's not my Stella!"
"Don't freak out. You didn't do anything. I'm certain you passed out as soon as you got there. Are you still wearing your boxers?"
I looked down. "Yeah, and my robe too."
"Good," he said. "You're gonna have to stay there for a while. I'll come get you."
My stomach tightened. "Where's Stella?"
"She's in the security room watching the cameras to find you."
"Oh God, Gabriel," I groaned.
"I know, I know. I got there in time and saw what happened. I deleted the footage before she could see it. Right now, she thinks you were kidnapped."
I closed my eyes, trying to get rid of my headache. "I'm fucked."
"Not yet. I'm watching her. Oh wait, she's standing up. And now she's leaving. I'll tell them to turn off the cameras on every floor, then I'll come get you."
I felt a little better. This was a mess.
What did I drink last night?
There was a knock at the door, and I froze. That wasn't Gabriel.
The knock came again, and the redhead woke up. She was really pretty and only wearing underwear.
Great, Stella's going to hang me to a transformer.
Redhead saw me on the floor and smiled sheepishly. She got out of bed and started walking towards me, but then there was another knock. She went to answer the door.
"Hey..." I jumped off the ground. "Wait, don't open it." I tried to stop her, but she already opened the door. It was Stella. "Oh crap," I mumbled and immediately hid behind the curtains.
"Have you seen Jordan?" she asked, crossing her arms and looking worried.
The redhead shook her head. "I don't even know what he looks like. I got here late." She said, and yawned a bit. "Did you check the cameras? Maybe you can see where he went."
Stella sighed. "There's no video of him leaving our room. I have to find my husband. I'll see you later, Maris."
"Okay, bye," the redhead said, and closed the door. "What a jerk, leaving his wife," she mumbled.
"Everything okay?" I asked, coming out from behind the curtains.
"Not really, her husband left her here."
I just nodded.
The phone rang, and I grabbed it.
"Open up," Gabriel said. I hung up and ran to the door. Maris was watching me. I opened it and saw Gabriel.
"You owe me," he said, but I didn't care. He pushed past me and into the room.