Identity Crisis (Rocky Mountain Novella Series) Read Free

BANG, BANG, BANG!
         Steel knew the banging at his door was likely Kawoski.  He had insisted on throwing his friend a bachelor party, even though Steel said he didn’t really need one. 
         “You gotta have one, it’s tradition!” Kawoski urged. 
         Steel wasn’t one to normally go against anything the man he once called boss told him, so he broke down and agreed.  “I don’t want anything tasteless, though,” he warned.  Kawoski agreed, but there was something in the gleam in his eye that told Steel to be on the lookout for a few surprises anyway. 
         “Hold on!” Steel yelled as he got up off the couch and turned off the TV.  He was watching a college game on ESPN, but hadn’t really been interested.  He wasn’t huge on watching sports, but liked to catch a game every now and again. 
         When he answered his door, expecting to see just Kawoski, he was surprised to see practically every guy he worked with on the force there as well.  They were all yelling and being obnoxious as they ushered Steel into the waiting black, stretch limousine. 
         Steel was a bit shocked, but managed to ask Kawoski, “What did you do?”
         “Don’t worry.  There won’t be any hot, young strippers,” James answered to alleviate his friend’s concern.  The statement caused a barrage of moans and boos from the other men in the limo.  “Calm down, boys,” the Sergeant answered.  “This is Steel’s night and we have to respect his wishes.”  Again, Steel noticed what seemed to be a wink as Kawoski said his last words. 
         At the same time, Kristen was on her way to her bachelorette party.  Unlike Kawoski, Julie made no such promises about keeping the night clean.  She planned on giving her best-friend the typical night of wanton debauchery.
         Within minutes of arriving at Julie’s house, Kristen was given a drink.  For someone who rarely drinks, she found it to taste wretched.  It must’ve contained four times the normal alcohol, but it was pretty and blue.  It was a special night, so Kristen downed the drink as fast as she could.  “What the hell,” she said as she drank the mixture as if it were just a large shot.  She promised herself it would be her only drink of the night though.  She definitely didn’t want to be hung-over for her wedding.
         The women’s party started with Kristen opening presents.  If Kristen thought the presents at her bridal shower were embarrassing, they paled in comparison to the presents she was about to open.  “What am I supposed to do with this?” Kristen asked as she held up a giant, blow-up penis. 
         “Well, if you don’t know, we need to have a very looonnnnggggg talk,” Stephanie, one of the bridesmaids, answered from the crowd which elicited a cackle from the other women at the party. 
         As Kristen opened the rest of the presents, she was glad she had the strong blue drink.  She wasn’t sure she could manage opening the rest of the gifts if she had been sober.  The great theme in the gifts seemed to be penises, but there were some other gifts as well.  Even those were of a sexual nature, though.  Kristen had given similar gifts before at bachelorette parties she had attended, but for the first time, she wondered why women would waste so much money on items that most likely would end up in the trash.  There was no way she was going to store a box of penis shaped presents in her garage or attic. 
         In spite of the tacky, erotic gifts, Kristen was having fun.  The night’s events were keeping her from thinking about the wedding the next day.  She knew she loved Steel and didn’t have any doubts about marrying him, but she was still nervous of the big day, or at least she would’ve been if her friends weren’t keeping her busy. 
         Back at the men’s bachelor party, Steel stopped worrying about Kawoski’s intensions.  When they arrived at