Chapter 3Annie
Chapter 3
Annie
JULY | Balance: $52,623
I braced my hands on the sink in the changing room, listening to the excited whispers of the other girls in the bridal party. There were four of us: Kitty’s college roommate Violet, Guy’s old teammate’s wife Mel, Kitty’s SNL castmate Tania, and me. Jessie was tagging along as a recent friend to Kitty and because her boyfriend, Mikey, was in the wedding party.
“I can’t believe we’re all here!” Kitty squealed.
Don’t vomit. Don’ t get a stress migraine. Don’t have anxiety diarrhea. Be cool. It’s your best friend’s wedding. Kitty needs you.
“Annie, you ready?” came Kitty’s whisper at the curtain.
“Coming!” I painted on the Markham smile and watched myself in the mirror until it met my eyes.
Ignore the fact that Kitty paid for everything for you and subsidized the bachelorette party because she knows you’re broke. When you get out of debt, you can get her back. And if you ever get married . . .
I fought back tears, sniffing as Kitty peeked around the curtain.
“Annie? Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just feel a sneeze coming on,” I said, looking at the low lighting above me to induce a sneeze that didn’t exist.
“Your allergies bad? It’s not even fall yet!” Kitty said. “Come on. Let’s get you relaxed.”
Twenty minutes later, I was in a private tub, soaking in the famous mineral waters, wondering if anyone would be able to tell I cried the whole session. What the hell had I been thinking, inviting the guy I was having an affair with to this wedding? Being involved with him in the first place? I put my job at risk with all of it. How could I ever think he’d choose me over the woman he married? I didn’t have money like she did. I just had a good set of volleyball records and a law degree.
The tears mainly came because I realized how low I’d let my self-worth go. Why did I even stick around as long as I did? Was I that desperate? Not only did I have an affair with a married man, but when I told him I was bi, he’d asked if maybe I’d want to do a three-way with his wife. If I’d introduced the idea, fine, I guess, but it was so glaringly obvious that he was fetishizing me. How did I not see that red flag?
Why was I first in everything I did except love?
But it was all behind me. Sort of. I’d never told Kitty that it was an affair, making her believe he was just a normal boyfriend. And now, to keep up appearances, I had to withhold all details because it was Kitty’s wedding weekend and I had to keep things drama-free.
“Ready for your shower and spray?” came a cheerful voice from behind me.
“Oh, sure!” I said brightly, wiping my tears.
She lowered her voice as she held out my robe for me to step into. “Happens to a lot of people, dear. The waters take it out of you sometimes. The spray’ll blast all the bad out of you.”
I gave a soft laugh. “Spray away, then.”
After I was showered, sprayed, massaged, and showered again, all the girls sat in our robes getting our nails done.
“Don’t forget that your dresses are peach, ladies,” Kitty said. “Plan the nails accordingly.”
“I don’t think we could forget,” Tania said. “You only emphasized peach four hundred times when we were picking our dresses.”
“But you’ll all look so beautiful in them,” Kitty said with an overzealous smile.
“Save your flattery,” Violet laughed, then shivered. “I’m here even though you’re making me see Colton again.”
Kitty raised her eyebrows. “Aw, come on, Vi. He’s grown up a lot. It could be your magical reunion.”
“Doubtful,” Violet scoffed. “He was only ever good in the sheets.”
“Is there some sort of alchemy with these hockey players?” I asked. “I’m the only person here who hasn’t dipped into that pool.”
“And me,” Tania added.
“I smell love in the air at this wedding,” Kitty sang.
“There’s love in the air just because it’s a weekend away from our kid,” Mel said. “I know that makes me sound like a bad mom.”
Tania waved a freshly manicured hand. “Nah. I bet kids take it out of ya.”
“I mean, I’m really glad you guys are getting married!” Mel added to Kitty.
“We wanted everyone to relax. I’m glad we’re here a day early so we can just be together. We’ll have all morning and afternoon tomorrow too. The boys are going golfing in the morning, so we can hit the pool.” Kitty took a lingering look at me. “You can golf with the boys if you want, Annie. I know you love it.”
“Oh, no way. I’m here for you, Kitty. I can golf anywhere. You only marry that hunky French hockey-playing boy once.”
She giggled. “Do you still have my first crazy texts saved?”
“Sure do. I have plans for those this weekend,” I said with a grin. “Miss ‘Claiming Dibs.’”
“I mean, good thing I did, or this could be a very different wedding,” Kitty said.
I rolled my eyes. “Like anyone could have kept you two apart.”
* * *
Well, the massage therapists tried to warn us. We were all individually told not to drink too much after our massages. And yet, there we were, all completely hammered off very few drinks.
After we were all good and sloppy, Guy’s old teammate Branson pulled out a guitar from who knows where and started a rousing round of singing campfire classics. The night had a summer camp vibe, but with us wearing fancy clothes and slowly adding sweatshirts and other layers as the night air cooled.
We’d made it through “Brown Eyed Girl” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand” before Kitty pointed at me with her beer bottle. “Annie, sing some Petty.”
“Yeah! Free Fallin’ is so good!” Mikey added. “Everyone will love it.”
“Oh, you know I can’t sing, and you always get all the words wrong, Kitty,” I objected, especially in the presence of so many pseudo-strangers. Sure, I knew the girls from the bachelorette party, but that wasn’t intimate enough for me to sing in front of them.
“Oh, come on, it’s just campfire singing. It doesn’t have to be good,” Jessie said. “Mikey makes me sing all the time even though I’m miserable at it.”
“I know the words.” Nick’s voice cleared through the chatter, making everyone go quiet. When someone who doesn’t talk as much talks, people tend to listen, and I’d noticed how he was a little more reserved. Still smiling and laughing with everyone, but not a center-of-attention kind of guy.
“Nick, go sit with Annie and sing it with her,” Kitty said with a wink. “She’s being bashful.”
He giggled this little drunk hyena sound and stood, wiggling his butt to squeeze between me and Jessie.
“Cue it up, maestro,” Kitty said, pointing to Branson as if she were an actual maestro.
Branson strummed the iconic opening chords and my heart thumped, my chest instantly going splotchy. Nick put his arm around my shoulders and tugged me close to him, his hyena laugh subdued to a softer, musical thing. “Ready?” he asked as the last round of intro played.
I dared a look into his eyes to find them glittering conspiratorially, his smile shining. Maybe there was something to the hockey boy charm. Even though he was less audacious than his teammates, he had this gentle openness about him that made my stomach tickle.
When was his rookie season? Is this kid even old enough to drink? My brain went a mile a minute, blurred by the massage and booze-induced buzz. Fuck it. You deserve some fun.
I bit my lip just before launching into the first words, Nick fully backing me up and not hanging me out to dry. The rest of the group joined in quickly once the right words were established.
I shivered between lyrics. Nick leaned into my ear with a voice that was soft and husky, like we were sharing a little secret. “You cold?”
I nodded and he pumped his hand up and down my arm to warm me, singing with me all the while. It was such a boyfriend-like touch and it just felt so nice. His hand slipped from my shoulder, trailing down my side to my hip and I had to fight a different kind of shiver.
Kitty seemed to have forgotten all about Roger, giving me an approving eyebrow wiggle as she watched his hand move on me.
When Nick and I mutually messed up the beginning of the third verse, that hyena laugh was back as we got our composure. God, why was he so cute? His skin was randomly perfect even though he’s a dude and probably just used frickin’ hand soap or something stupid to wash his face.
The song ended and he turned to me for a hug, which I fell into wholeheartedly.
“Thanks for backing me up, bub,” I said into his shoulder.
“Anytime, Annabelle,” he murmured, his tone a gravelly scrape that sent a ripple of want through me. What the hell was I doing?
“Look at all the new friends!” Mel cooed. “Did you two know each other before?”
“No! They didn’t!” Kitty shrieked, folding her hands beside her face. “Guy-Guy, I love seeing our friends loving each other like we love them. Y’all are just the best.”
A deep “aww” issued from the set of us as Kitty dissolved into drunken tears, Guy kissing them away.
“You activated her soft side,” Guy said.
But then Kitty wouldn’t stop crying. I exchanged a look with Violet and Tania, a silent bat signal between bridesmaids for when to rein her in. I made the first move to haul Kitty off to bed, knowing she’d be pissed if she got drunker and was thus more hung over on her rehearsal day.
We collectively ended our obnoxious sing-along and sent everyone off to bed, much to the resort staff’s relief.
* * *
Guy knocked on our door fairly early, bringing us coffee and checking on his woman before the boys’ tee time. Kitty had been almost puke-drunk by the time us girls loaded her into my bed, setting up a sick station just in case.
There was a part of me that was grateful she was so gone. It meant no interrogation about Roger, or about whatever cuteness had gone down with Nick.
The rest of the girls piled into our room one by one. The only person who seemed to come out fresh as a daisy was Mel, who was a mom and used to being up early. She passed out Ibuprofen doses and electrolyte packets so we could haul ourselves down to breakfast and the pool.
“You’re getting married tomorrow!” Violet sang as she spooned Kitty in the bed.
“I can’t. Move,” Kitty groaned.
I got up and went into the bathroom to put my swimsuit on, listening to the girls try to pump Kitty up while she moaned and wollered in the bed. As I came back in the room, there was a knock at the door. I opened to a golf-attired Nick.
“Hi!” His voice was several octaves above his normal range. He cleared his throat. “Um. Wow. Yeah. I guess you guys are swimming? Later?” He pulled at the back of his neck, drawing a shallow breath.
I cocked my head at his stilted awkwardness. “Yeah. Once we get Kitty up, we’re going to breakfast, then the pool. Y’all are just golfing, right?”
“Golf? Yeah. We’re golfing. I mean, we will be. Right now I’m,” he pointed at his feet on the ground with a little chuckle, “here. Do you, uh, usually wear a necklace when you go swimming?”
His fingers reached for the thin gold chain at my neck, barely brushing the skin of my chest. I touched my hand where he’d just been. “Um. Yeah, I guess? I don’t think about it much.”
“It doesn’t . . . rust?” He tilted his head. The room behind me had gone quiet with an occasional giggle leak.
“Nick, what brings you up to this room?” I asked, cutting through whatever strangeness he’d created.
His eyes lit up. “Oh yeah! Stelle wanted me to bring this for Kitty.” He handed me a credit card. “I should get back. Gonna miss tee time. Byeee!”
Nick whipped around and was gone. I closed the door, shaking my head.
“OBI’S GOT A CRUUU-UUUUSH!” Jessie screeched.
Kitty was kicking her feet and squealing, invigorated by the encounter at the door. “You could do worse, Annie,” she teased.
“Stop. He can’t even have a sane conversation with me,” I said, tossing the card to Kitty. “Yesterday we were on the elevator together and he wouldn’t stop talking about my body.”
“Because he was flustered,” Violet said, “by your bangin’ bod.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, have a wedding weekend fling!” Kitty sat up, looking at me like she’d just birthed the idea for sliced bread.
“Nah, I was thinking I’d finally bag your brother,” I said. Kitty threw a pillow at me.
“You’ve got your stupid boyfriend anyway,” she sulked.
I don’t, but if I say that, it’ll become a whole thing .
“He’s not here, though, is he?” Tania said with a chuckle.
I had to terminate any conversation about Rog. I was half-hungover with a 40% chance of spontaneous crying. “Alright, I’m friggin’ starving. Can we go eat already?”