Free Wildflower (Colors #4) by Jessica Prince Page A

of my cellphone combined with the bright sun leaking through the think lace curtains pulled me from my dream. In a sleepy haze, I reached for my phone on the nightstand, fumbling around until my fingers finally hit it.
    Sliding my finger over the screen, I held it to my ear without opening my eyes. “Lo,” I mumbled, my face half buried in the pillow.
    “I’m on FaceTime, you loser! Get the phone off your ear!”
    The sound of Navie’s squawking voice rang in my ears causing the last of that warm grogginess I loved to hold onto in the mornings to dissipate instantly.
    I pulled the phone away and caught an eyeful of her bright, smiling face, “Jeez, crazy. Lower your voice, would ya? It’s only…” I turned my eyes to the numbers on the alarm clock to see it was a quarter past seven. “Damn it, Navie! It’s not even eight yet. You better have a damn good reason for waking me up at the butt crack of dawn.”
    “I’M GETTING MARRIED!”
    Well that certainly put a damper on my early morning grump. “He asked?!” I squealed excitedly as she held up her left hand, the sparkly sapphire gleaming proudly her ring finger. “He asked!”
    “He did!” she confirmed happily. “And you! You dirty birdy. You helped him pick it out.”
    Scooting up in the bed, I rested my back against the headboard and grinned at the screen. “First of all, Kathy Bates, unless you’re planning on tying Rowan to the bed and hobbling him, no more Misery references, it’s just creepy. Secondly, after that disastrous day of ring hunting, if the need to hobble a certain New York Times bestselling author were to come upon you, just an FYI, I’ll alibi you.”
    I heard Rowan’s voice in the background as he talked over Navie’s laughter. “I’m vetoing Harlow as your best friend.”
    Navie’s head shot sideways as she glared at Rowan off screen. “You can’t do that!”
    “Yes I can. Engaged and married people have the right to veto their significant other’s friends if they feel they’re a negative influence on the relationship. It’s in the Bible.”
    “That’s just stupid,” I scoffed. “You can’t veto me, I’m unveto-able.”
    “You veto Harlow, I’m vetoing Griffin and Dex,” Navie shot back.
    “You can’t veto two friends!” Rowan objected. “And Griff is family, you can’t veto family. There’s a clause that protects all blood relatives.”
    “Griff and Dex go hand in hand,” Navie argued. “Therefore, they’re technically one friend. And since you have no familial ties to Dex, him not being a blood relative automatically cancels out Griffin’s blood ties. Hence, they’re both being vetoed!”
    “But… that’s not fair!”
    Giggling at their hysterical banter the two of them were known for, I spoke up. “He’s put a ring on it and still hasn’t learned that the one with the va-jay-jay holds all the power?”
    “Silly boys,” she smiled with a roll of her eyes before turning back to me. “They never learn.”
    “Congratulations, Rowan,” I called out loudly.
    Rowan’s head popped up on the screen just behind Navie’s shoulder, the smile spread across his lips shining rightly. “Thanks, Har.”
    “Welcome…” and because our friendship thrived on giving each other endless amounts of shit, I tagged on for good measure, “You’re gonna make a wonderful bitch. I’m so proud of you,” I ended on a choking sob as I wiped away fake tears.
    Rowan’s head dropped to Navie’s shoulder as he let out a groan, barely audible over our laughter. Lifting his icy blue gaze back to the screen, he shot me a playful glare before turning to plant a kiss on his new fiancé’s cheek. “On that note, I’m heading to the gym. I’ll let you two talk about whatever girly shit’s holding your interest this week.”
    “Bye, Rowan,” I said as the two of them exchanged I love you’s . My stomach clenched at the loving sight before me. I pushed back the unexpected pang of sadness that suddenly hit me,