Seven Groomsmen from Hell Read online

  The sun was shining in the sky and it was a relatively warm day, so I decided to walk instead of drive. I hadn’t spent much time outdoors lately despite being an avid runner. I mostly had to settle for taking a few laps around the employee gym at work, so I was excited for the opportunity to get out and enjoy some fresh air.

  Kent was a good friend. I wouldn’t know any of the other guys in our group if it weren’t for him, and really, I probably would be a lonely, workaholic loser with no friends.

  “Dr. Williams, we have a concussion coming in. A football player that took a helmet-to-helmet.” The announcement from the trauma nurse in passing sent shivers down my spine.

  I was new to the field, and new to the hospital, and I’d specifically been avoiding brain trauma. Those were one of those areas where patients tended to die on the table, and I was still leading an ignorant life of thinking that would never happen to me. I was on call for a doctor that was out on paternity leave, and got just unlucky enough that a brain-injury got called in while I was there. I was terrified, but something about seeing that poor man laying on the table when he came in, gave me all the confidence I needed to do my job with the professionalism that was expected of me. A few of the other doctors and nurses that were around kept saying that they were certain he would have brain damage, but my fresh eye to brain trauma proved otherwise. I ran several tests, even the ones not normally needed for that type of injury, and was able to conclude with certainty that, apart from a bad concussion, the man would be just fine.

  That man was Kent, and when he came back to consciousness, mine was the first face that he saw.

  “Are you the doctor that saved my life?” he asked.

  “Well, I wouldn’t say I had to save it,” I responded. “It’s a nasty injury, but fortunately you shouldn’t suffer any brain damage. We’ll keep you for a couple of days for observation, and then we’ll monitor you closely for a couple of months after that. You’ll need to check in regularly, and unfortunately, you’re probably out for the remainder of the season.” The Hellraisers weren’t a Super Bowl team by any stretch of the imagination, but they were pretty good, so it was probably hard to hear that he’d be out for a while.

  To my surprise, however, Kent started laughing. “Well, the girl I just started dating will certainly be pleased.”

  “That can’t be true,” I said. “If she really likes you, she won’t be happy you’re in pain.” It made me slightly jealous to hear that he had a special someone. My job didn’t allow time for dating, and even if it did, I wasn’t actually all that great with women.

  “No, she’ll be very worried I’m sure. In fact…” A mischievous smile found his face. “I’m sure I can convince her to be my personal nurse.”

  I laughed. “Best of luck there.”

  “It’s just that my job is very demanding, and I’m really close with a few of my teammates so she’s always complaining I don’t have enough time for her. She’ll be thrilled that I have a medically mandated reason to take a break from playing and spend some time with her,” he explained.

  “I get that,” I said. “Certainly I know what it’s like to have a time-consuming line of work. Dating, doing anything fun, really relaxing of any kind are luxuries for me.”

  Kent’s eyes got a little wider, and then squinted from the pain. “Ow.”

  “Yeah, don’t do that,” I said. “You’ll really have to be careful about almost everything you do for a few weeks while this gets better.”

  “I just got excited because I thought of a way I can thank you,” Kent said.

  “There’s no need to thank me, sir, I was just doing my job,” I said, holding my hands up.

  “Please,” Kent said. “Even if you didn’t have to save my life, as you say, you still helped me a lot and I really want to say thank you.”

  “I won’t accept it,” I persisted. “Really. It was my pleasure to be able to help you in any way I could.”

  “Then let me invite you out as a friend,” Kent said. “You said so yourself, our jobs are alike, and you said you rarely get a chance to have fun and hang out. My friends are idiots, but why don’t you come to our game with me on Sunday and then catch a beer with us afterwards? You may be a doctor, but you haven’t lived until you’ve seen the way women hang on football players.”

  Despite my oath, and the fact that per the hospital regulations I was not supposed to accept gifts from patients except the odd small trinket, Kent’s offer did sound really fun, and it just so happened that Sunday was an off day for me. The Texas Hellraisers were a big deal, and though I wasn’t a football fan on the whole, I liked them as far as having a bit of hometown pride; it’d be cool to see them play in real life, and to actually hang out with someone other than my dog.

  “As friends?” I asked.

  “Of course, certainly not a thank you. I don’t even think you did that great a job,” Kent responded jokingly.

  I nodded. “Okay, I’ll take you up on that then.”

  The rest was history. I went to the game, they lost by four touchdowns, and then we drowned our sorrows in an inordinate amount of liquor. I met all of the guys in Kent’s circle, including their true ringleader, Luke, who told me on the sly that if I was struggling with women he had a solution. He actually offered to share one of the women he was dating with me. He told me that, if I was interested, he thought I’d do well in their guy group because they shared many things, including partners. I wasn’t really interested at first, it didn’t seem like my cup of tea, but Luke convinced me and another non-believer of the group, Christian, to go to a swingers club with him. We met a woman there, a real bombshell, and she was willing to have sex with all three of us. They had dedicated rooms in the club for sex, and the three of us went to town on her. I liked it. I liked it a lot.

  From then on, I was ‘one of the guys’ including being one of the ones they shared women with. We’d had sex in pairs, threes, even a few fours. I’d finally discovered a way to have a woman without the stress of keeping her satisfied with the crazy hours I worked. I could have her when I wanted, and had the other men to keep her happy when I wasn’t available; it was a dream come true.

  I walked into the bistro and smiled wider at Kent than I would have because I’d reminisced on the way over. I wouldn’t say I was glad he got hurt, but I would say I was happy fate forced our paths to cross.

  “What are you all smiley about?” Kent asked as I sat down.

  “Just glad for the break from work. Thanks for inviting me,” I said.

  “Of course. I’ve had a taste for the brisket, and I know you love it here too. Plus, I wanted to hear from your lips, for certain, that you’re not going to miss my wedding,” he said.

  I took a sip of my water. I eyed Kent’s beer with envy, but I was technically still on the clock. “I’m not going to miss your wedding, buddy,” I assured. “I already got a doctor to be on call for me, the whole week. Her name is Dr. Jillian Portland, and I’m slightly concerned she’s too good and is going to take my job.”

  I raised an eyebrow at Kent and he snickered. “What?”

  “I was also told to take the night off for the bachelor party, so I sincerely hope you went with the rented out strip club I was promised,” I said.

  Kent nodded his head with a cheeky, perverted grin on his face. “Khloe made sure everything was all set.”

  I let out a loud bellow. “You made Khloe deal with arranging the strip club?”

  “Of course!” Kent responded. “She’s the wedding planner, and besides she demanded to make all the arrangements, even the bachelor/bachelorette parties. I mean, she nearly had an aneurysm when I told her we were renting out a strip club and they only accept payment in person, but she did it. She’s a beast. If Luke isn’t careful, she might run over him with her car.”

  I nodded; he wasn’t wrong. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she did, she’s no pushover, and beautiful to boot.”

  It was Kent then that raised an eyebrow. “You’re startin
g to sound like Luke.”

  “Don’t insult me,” I responded. “But, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to her. I have been since the first time we met Khloe. Remember? When she chopped your groomsmen list down from fifteen to seven. All with the unlucky eight sitting right there.”

  “Just be grateful you made it,” Kent said.

  “Oh believe me, I am. She’s given me a lot of wet dreams in the last couple of months. Sex with her would be a dream,” I said.

  “Join the club,” Kent grumbled and my eyes went wide. He waved his hand through the air. “No, not me! I just mean I don’t think you’re the only one other than Luke holding a torch for her.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

  The waiter dropped our plates at the table and scuttled away. “Trust me,” Kent said. “Every single one of my groomsmen is struggling to keep their paws off the wedding planner.”

  7

  Luke

  The Bachelor Party

  It was officially time for the only part of this stupid wedding that I was actually excited for; the bachelor party. Kent tried to sell me on some weak, ‘boys night out, no stripper’ bullshit, but I quickly put the kibosh on that. He had never allowed me to pull him into our fun with women, so I wasn’t about to let him weasel out of a debaucherous, Luke-thrown bachelor party. I found the strip club in the city with the best reputation and demanded it be rented out for the night; all women included. It was going to be a booze-filled, butts and breasts shaking night of insanity, and I couldn’t fucking wait. We decided to have it in the states before leaving for the island because Kent was intent on making sure Anna’s big day wasn’t ruined. Well, Kent… and Khloe.

  “God, must you stand there buzzing like a child high on sugar?” Khloe hissed when we all convened in front of the strip club at 6 o’clock sharp.

  She wasn’t pleased that she had to make a personal appearance to get us checked in on the big night, but I was plenty pleased to see her.

  “I am a child high on sugar,” I sang back at her, sashaying my hips and dancing to the thumping of music that could be heard booming from inside the club. I did a couple of pelvic thrusts towards her and she rolled her eyes.

  “You’re an ape,” she snipped, then clapped her hands and turned her back to me, giving me a glimpse at her juicy, peach ass. “Alright. Gather round, gather round.” All of the groomsmen and Kent gathered around Khloe, each of us laughing and rowdy, ready to get the party started. “Thank you for being here when I asked you. I’m glad you know your place, you’re all very civilized.” She pointed at me. “Except for this one, he’s half-neanderthal.”

  I threw a hand down to cup my crotch. “You want a neanderthal, I’ll give you a neanderthal.”

  There was a perk to Khloe’s eyebrow that I caught, but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. Part of me wanted to ask, but that would require not teasing her every waking moment and I wasn’t really interested in that. I continued to wiggle my crotch in her direction until she finally let out a scoff of disgust and flipped me off, one of her bright, pink fingernails catching the light from the neon glow from the club.

  “Thank you for proving my point,” she growled. “I am perfectly disgusted to tell you all that the club is,” she winced, “ready for your use. Silk, Candy, and Spice are all ready and excited to entertain you, but they wanted me to be sure and emphasize the fact that tips are not included in the cost of what was paid to secure the club, and that singles will not get you very far in an exclusive venue for the night.”

  Bram and Brett both raised their hands and in unison asked, “What’s a single?”

  Khloe rolled her eyes again and gave a few faux-claps. “Ha ha. Must be nice to be rich.”

  “It is nice,” David said.

  Khloe had to be developing a headache from the number of times she was rolling her eyes, but she looked adorable every time she did it. I couldn’t keep myself from imagining her eyes rolling back in her head, not because she was annoyed with me, but because she was so enthralled with my dick ramming into her.

  “I’m just about ready to let you loose, but first let me say—” Khloe’s face settled into one of searing seriousness “—If any of you are late to catch the plane to this wedding, so help me god, I will personally see to it that your dicks are cursed and/or cut off. This wedding is about Anna, not you,” she eyed me specifically.

  “Loud and clear,” I responded to her. “Anything else, mistress?”

  Khloe sighed. “As much as I hate to admit it, my name is attached to this, so please don’t embarrass me.” She turned and groaned like she was about to take a party of six year olds into a McDonalds play place and started to trudge forward. “Let’s go.”

  We all raced inside, and I intentionally stayed behind Khloe to watch her hips sway in the flowing skirt she was wearing. We entered and she stopped to talk to a woman dressed in a white button-up shirt, and a pair of tight short-shorts. She handed her an envelope and then shook her hand, and turned back around towards the door, jumping a little when she nearly ran into me.

  “Well, I’m surprised you aren’t in a boob sandwich right now,” she hissed at me.

  “The night’s still young,” I responded. “Besides, I’m an ass man.”

  Khloe gagged and then looked over her shoulder at the sound of resounding applause. One of the women was already topless and had Kent by the hand and was leading him into a private room and shutting the door.

  Khloe shook her head. “This practice is barbaric,” she turned back towards me, “and if he cheats on Anna, I’m holding you responsible.”

  “He’s not gonna cheat on Anna. Believe me, I’ve tried to get him to,” I responded.

  Khloe’s nose turned up into an entirely grossed out expression. “You are a terrible human being.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” I took off my shirt and swirled it around above my head. Khloe pretended to be disgusted, but I could see her checking me out. Her eyes even danced with curiosity over the other guys as they floated around as well. “So, you came all the way out here. Why don’t you let me buy you a drink?” I reached out and grabbed her hip and pulled her closer to me. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

  Khloe snatched away from me, reeled her hand back, and slapped the dog shit out of me. It sent jolts of excitement straight to my dick. I wanted her more than words could say.

  “Keep your hands off of me,” Khloe murmured despite the bright red blush across her cheeks.

  I chuckled evilly before risking it all to lean in and give her a kiss on the cheek, just barely managing to duck out of the way as she swung at me again, and made my way down to the join the guys and strippers.

  Game, set, match, Khloe DuBois; you will pay for that slap.

  8

  Khloe

  As I watched the landscape of Texas disappear beneath the clouds, I began to wonder exactly where I had gone wrong in my life. Had I unintentionally pissed off some god or crossed fate poorly or somehow earned myself a steaming hot plate of bad karma? I’d planned everything so perfectly. I demanded that I be put in charge of booking the plane tickets so that I could intentionally situate myself as far away from the groomsmen as possible. In fact, I’d even sacrificed comfort to do so, placing myself in coach while all the guys were sitting up in first class, but wouldn’t you know it, the person who was sitting next to me in my original seat had a baby with a special accommodation need. The airline was very apologetic for the mixup, and bumped me up to first class to meet the needs of the other passenger, and the flight attendant had a blush and a grin as she informed me I was being moved to sit between two of the most attractive men she’d ever seen. Little did she know, they were also two of the biggest assholes on the flight, Luke Heath and Dr. Cody Williams.

  Any other two groomsmen would have been sufficient. I could have held my own against David, Brett, Mason, Bram, or Christian, but Luke and Cody were the two groomsmen I hated the most. Luke was an extraordinary asshol
e, but Dr. Cody was in a league all his own. He went out of his way to make me feel small, insignificant and dumb. Every time he looks at me, my chest goes tight, and I can feel his judgment weighing down on me like a thousand bricks. It was going to be a miserable near 5-hour flight.

  “Uh oh, doctor,” Luke started as soon as I sat down. “The babysitter has arrived.”

  Cody looked down at me through his piercing, deep green eyes. “I suppose we had better be on our best behavior then, yes?”

  I just ignored them. I shuffled myself into the seat between them, put my headphones in, and immediately went to ignoring them entirely. My brain went a little hazy and the intermingling smell of Luke’s more sweet smelling cologne with Cody’s dusky one. The flight attendant wasn’t wrong by any stretch of the imagination. Luke and Cody were good-looking men; they were drop dead gorgeous. In fact, Kent’s groomsmen were a veritable walking men’s calendar. From the outside, they seemed like the perfect men, but in reality they were pretty presents with shitty gifts inside, but my eyes often betrayed me and sent the wrong message to my heart and… other parts of my body.

  I slumped down in my seat as we flew along. From the corner of my eye I could see Luke and Cody literally talking over me, remaining engaged in heated discussion the entire time. I couldn’t even imagine what the hell they could be talking about. Condescending or not, Dr. Cody was a doctor, and I distinctly remembered Luke struggling to fit square shapes into round holes. There was a rumor that he was secretly incredibly intelligent and just played dumb to seem more attractive to the idiot cheerleaders that didn’t like to feel like the dumb one with the guys they were with, but I didn’t buy it. It was much easier to accept that he was stupid and just really good at finding a few topics to be knowledgable about and hold the jerk doctor’s attention.