The Bridesmaid's Checklist: Laura's Wedding (BCL Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

I’d finished college and moved on.
    I was so very thankful in that moment that my friends didn’t know about this part of my past. They’d all stayed in California to study (except Denise, who went straight to work after getting married), but I’d been offered a scholarship at UMass and gladly left for the best education I could afford. I’d also accepted, a little shamefully, that I somehow managed to disconnect from my friends during this phase of my life, since Edward and school had been the only focus. Our relationship had lasted a little too long, exactly between Denise’s and Natalie’s weddings.
    Apparently, today the past had chosen to come right back at me.
    What a way to start this wedding adventure.
    “Stop it, Josh. We’ve got company.” Edward brushed Josh off him and went to Laura. He gave her a tender hug and a steamy kiss, then looked into her eyes and asked, “Did you order something to drink, honey?”
    “We sure did,” Laura said as she melted into him. “Mimosas are on the way, although Kassie didn’t want to have alcohol this early. Oh, I’m sorry. Eddie, this is my best friend Kassandra. Kassie, this is my future husband Edward.”
    “Hello, Kassandra,” Edward said as he looked at me intensely. He remembered me. I could see it in his eyes. I learned to fear those looks of his; back then I would have done anything he asked of me if he looked at me that way. And I had.
    “Hi.” There wasn’t anything else I could think of saying. At least, I couldn’t think of anything appropriate for our meet-and-greet brunch reunion.
    We finally sat and took a look at our menus. The last thing on my mind at the moment was eating. I needed a drink. Whiskey sounded way more appealing than mimosas.
    I could feel Josh looking at me, but I did my best to ignore him. I also felt Edward’s eyes on me every now and then. Even though Josh and Laura were the ones sitting next to me, I could sense Edward the most, all the way from across the table. I didn’t want to look up and run the risk of meeting his gaze.
    How was I supposed to explain this to my friend?
    “You won’t believe this, Eddie. Apparently, Kassie and Josh already know each other,” Laura lightly commented. She was completely ignorant of the fact that I knew her future husband—intimately—and I wasn’t about to explain it to her.
    “It doesn’t impress me, to be quite honest. Josh is a total whore.” He sounded cold and bored. Exactly as I remembered him.
    Was that what he really thought about Josh, or was it about me?
    “What can I say? Life is good,” Josh commented as he placed his arm around me. This time, I didn’t even move. When I thought about it, I probably wasn’t even breathing right then. 
    “Sure it is. And because of our wedding, Kassie gets to be my maid of honor and you get to be Eddie’s best man. Pretty cool, huh?” Laura was in her own little wedding world, oblivious to the hell I was living at that very moment.
    “The best,” Josh confirmed. “Especially ‘cause I get to play around with the bridesmaids.”
    “Well, not much, I’m afraid,” Laura said playfully. “All my friends are married except Kassie.”
    I knew what she was trying to do; she knew that Josh was exactly my type. 
    Think again, Laura.
    She had no idea that Edward had actually been the one who set the trend when it came to my type . Edward was excruciatingly handsome—movie-star beautiful. With light blond hair and crystal-clear blue eyes, he was irresistible. Not only that, but now that he’d “grown up”, now that he wasn’t just a college boy, he’d gotten a lot better at showing everyone just how handsome he was. His refined suit and expensive-looking shoes screamed money . And that was probably the first thing that had attracted Laura to him.
    “Even better,” Josh said, tearing me away from my thoughts. “Can't wait to get her all hot and panting.” He kept teasing me, but I couldn’t respond.
    “Finally,