Free Breakwater: Rick (BBW Bad Boy Space Bear Shifter Romance) (Star Bears Book 2) by Becca Fanning Page A

the first place. Glancing around the crowded room, she sighed, and reached for a glass of champagne; she would need it to get through the rest of the night.

    At every wedding she'd been to, there'd been at least one guest who no one knew. She just never thought it would be her. As soon as the email had pinged into her inbox, she'd had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she knew she couldn't turn the opportunity down. After all, Dina and her had basically grown up together, well, if you considered growing up those formative years between the start and end of college, which Maya did. They'd lived together for four whole years, before Dina had moved in with her soon to be husband. And now, Maya was here, with a sunset-hued bridesmaids dress in her closet, tossing back champagne, and staring across at her college roommate and her husband-to-be.

    Maya was pretty far from a wallflower most of the time, but right now all she wanted to do was finish out the last of this reception, get to bed, and catch her flight home the next day. Because, of course, Dina couldn't resist taking off to some remote tropical island to hold her wedding. Christ, if Maya had known about that, she probably would have found some way to wriggle out of it, Dina might be all grown up and done with her student loans, but Maya certainly wasn't. Hell, that wasn't the only way Maya was pretty far from being an adult. She was still living in the same rent-controlled apartment in the centre of town she had for almost nine years, she was still single, she was still avoiding calls from her mother. Part of her felt like she should have grown up by now, but, as she kept on reminding herself, she was only twenty-eight. She had plenty of time to figure things out, even if watching the girl she used to do tequila slammers with seven years ago with her fiance was freaking the hell out of her. Maya tried to keep her face nonchalant as she watched Dina show off her ring to some member of the family Maya didn't recognize. All of a sudden, it became far too real, Maya stood up, and headed towards the catering table, trying her best to look nonchalant.  

    She spotted an open but untouched bottle of champagne sitting on the edge of the clothed table, judging by the size and shape, she could easily stash it under her dress and sneak off to the beach for the rest of the night. Glancing around, she thought for a moment that one of the other bridesmaids had caught her in the act, but realized she was just staring off into space in Maya's direction. Grabbing the bottle, Maya slid it under the flowing bustier of her dress and made her way towards the door. She caught Dina's eye, and offered a wave and a smile as she ducked into the cool, heavy evening air.  

    No one looked twice as Maya hurried down towards the golden sands, pulling the bottle out from her dress as she went. Staring out across the waves, she felt a soft calmness pass across her. Being surrounded by nature always made her feel calmer. There was something so…analogue about the sounds of the waves lapping up over the sand, of birds calling in the distance. She sat herself down in the rich, slightly damp sand, wriggling her toes under the surface, and took a swig from the bottle of champagne. Maybe this wasn't the classiest way to spend the first night of this wedding weekend, but it certainly suited her.  

    Suddenly, behind her,she heard the crunch of footsteps. It sounded like they were tracing her path down to the beach, so Maya quickly slipped the bottle of champagne under her skirts and tried to look like someone who hadn't just stolen an expensive bottle of booze from a fancy party.

    "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," A male voice, sounding a little out of breath, drifted over her shoulder. "I just needed a minute."

    "No problem!" Maya chirped, hoping that whoever it was couldn't read the guilt on her face. She twisted her head so she could see over her shoulder, and realized that she