Going Out for the Night

It was a Friday evening, and the guys had decided we needed one last hurrah as a single man before the wedding. After tomorrow afternoon, I wouldn’t be single anymore.

The ladies were heading out with my mom. Shay’s mom, Tammy, had flown in to join the bridal party, along with Angela and Brooke.

I’d arranged for six bodyguards to accompany them. I wasn’t thrilled about Shay going out without me. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her, but I’d promised to keep her safe, and I intended to keep that promise.

The thought of her getting hurt again gnawed at me. I couldn’t undo what had happened, but I could make sure it didn’t happen again.

“Zane!” Shay’s voice cut through the silence of the room where I was sitting with her dad, making me jump a bit.

We were downstairs, waiting for Conner, Noah, Forest, and my dad to join us for the evening’s festivities.

I looked up to see her storming into the room. Her anger was almost enough to make me want to hide. “Yes, love?”

“Don’t ‘yes, love’ me! Why are all these men going with us? Two, I could understand, but six?” She held up her fingers, emphasizing the number of bodyguards assigned to her.

I stood and walked over to her slowly.

Holding her hands in mine, I said, “I’m not sure what my mom has planned for tonight, so I wanted to make sure there was a guard for each of you, plus an extra to keep an eye on things. We have six going with us too.”

I gestured to the men standing along the wall.

She huffed loudly and pulled her hands away from mine. “I don’t like being smothered by all these men. We don’t need that many.”

Just then, my mom walked into the room.

“Shay, dear, he’s just being extra cautious because there are still people who could harm our family,” she said.

“His dad insisted we take that many to protect us. If people see us surrounded by bodyguards, they’ll think twice about attacking us.

“I wasn’t thrilled about it when he did it to me, but trust me, you’ll get used to it. We’re from a powerful family, and unfortunately, we still have many enemies who might try something.”

~Thank you, Mom.~ She always had a way of making sense of things.

“Shay, we’re not doing this to annoy you,” I added. “We won’t be in one place where I can keep an eye on you.”

Her dad stood and walked over to her with a smile. “Honey, please listen to him. If anything happened to any of you, how do you think we’d feel?

“We’d be scouring the countryside looking for you. Your wedding tomorrow might not happen if you go missing.”

She fell into her dad’s arms, a single tear rolling down her cheek. “I know, Dad. These damn hormones are making my emotions go haywire. Sorry, Zane, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“It’s okay, love. I know you’re still adjusting, but you need to understand that this is your life now. If I can’t be with you, you’ll be surrounded by our guards.”

Shay wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me a quick kiss.

Just then, the rest of the ladies came in, took her by the hand, and led her out to the waiting limo. The guards got into their own car and followed them.

I watched them leave the driveway, a pang of emptiness hitting me. I’d have to get used to her not being in the same house as me.

She was going to go out with my mom and friends sometimes. I couldn’t always be there with her.

Conner slapped me on the shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“So, you ready for a night of fun?” His eyes sparkled with excitement.

“As long as it doesn’t involve strippers, I’m game for anything,” I replied, giving him a sideways glance.

He clutched his chest as if wounded. “Well, we can’t leave for another hour since you just canceled the first thing we had planned.”

I whipped my head toward him. ~He wouldn’t do that, would he?~ He burst out laughing.

“You almost got your ass kicked for that,” I said. “And then Shay would have gotten a hold of you when I was done.”

“Man, do you think we’d risk our relationships like that?

“Both your dads said they wouldn’t go because their wives would kick them all over the place and probably even down the tunnels until they were out in the woods somewhere.”

Both my dad and Shay’s dad were smiling.

“Son, you know your mother wouldn’t stand for that,” my dad said, laughing. “I’d be dead meat if she found out. Then Shay’s dad would also be in hot water.”

“Did he really ask you to go see strippers?” I asked, clenching my fist.

“He did, jokingly, but he knows better, son. One, we’re too old for that. Two, he knew the women would probably castrate him if they found out.”

My dad slapped Conner on the back.

“Fine. I should know better than to think he’d actually do that. Let’s get this night started then. The ladies said they won’t be back until about two, so we need to be back around the same time.”

We all headed out to see what these two jokers had planned for me.