Chapter Thirteen
Poppy
(Day of the Wedding)
Amber’s been an absolute train wreck since the day of her bachelorette party. Not that I blame her. What happened that night was awful.
Not only did my sister blindside her with a recreation of her night of infidelity, dragging her to a club where the same exact male exotic dance group was performing, but she also put Amber face to face with the guy she cheated on Eddie with.
Now everything’s blowing up beyond what I can help with anymore. Pippa’s spiraling after the huge fight she got into with both Amber and Eddie, and I haven’t seen her around the house since.
It makes me worried.
My sister usually isn’t one to spiral, but her obsession with Eddie is unhealthy, and I’m not sure she can bounce back from this, especially since Amber dis-invited her from the wedding.
Hell, I had to pull the two of them off each other that night, their rivalry turning physical for the first time.
I’ve never seen either of them like that before, and now, as I sit on Amber’s bed, all I can think about is poor Wesley and how he’s not here to help ease some of the turmoil.
As much as I hate the guy, he has this uncanny way of easing tension in a room and diffusing already bad situations. Maybe that’s his silent gift?
“Poppy, are you okay?” she questions, following my blank, vacant stare that’s focusing on a squirrel outside her window.
“I was just thinking about Wesley. It really sucks that he can’t be here today.”
“You were thinking about Wesley? That’s a first,” she says curtly.
I shift to look at her. “It’s not like he consumes my thoughts or anything like that,” I snap.
“Of course not.” Her smirk says she can see right through me, and I hate it.
“Have you heard from…” She doesn’t finish her sentence.
“I haven’t seen her in two days,” my tone comes out angry and clipped with frustration.
I hate being put in the middle, and here I am, smack dab in it.
“You could’ve been nice and at least let her come.
” For a second, I look at my shoes, knowing that defending my sister is only going to make things worse.
But it’s weird not having her here. It’s been the three of us for so long that I don’t know how to function without her.
“After what she did? Absolutely not! You know she planned on me running into Ryder again.”
My head snaps up. “Was it such a bad thing? You smile more when you’re around Ryder. There’s no history of bad breakups or cheating.”
“I was drunk, Poppy. Ryder is nothing more than a fucked-up fantasy. How would you feel if a male stripper fixated on you?”
“I’d go with it. The sex was probably amazing.”
Amber throws herself onto the bed and sighs dramatically. “From what I remember, it was life altering—the kind of sex that can ruin a girl.” She glances my way. “Consider me thoroughly ruined.”
“But that sex you had with Eddie the other night, that rendezvous in the rain, wasn’t it—”
“Life altering? Yup…” She pauses, nibbling on her bottom lip for a few seconds before asking, “Is it possible to have mind blowing sex with two different men and not feel so confused?”
My laughter fills the room. “My guess is no. Are you going to do anything about it?”
She shakes her head, the misery sitting in her eyes with a heaviness I can’t quite explain. “Nope. I’m just going to show up at that chapel, marry Eddie, and get this over with. Has Mallory arrived yet?”
“I’m sure she’s just stuck in traffic; you did pick an insane time to get married,” I remind her, glancing at the clock. It’s almost five.
“It’s all they had available. I know it’s just one of those marry quick and get out of there places, but they still were fully booked.”
I chew on my lip for a few seconds, unable to shake the feeling that my sister needs to be here. If she doesn’t invite her, there’s no telling what will happen. “You know she really wanted to be here, right? She’s told me a million times how bad she feels about the bachelorette party.”
Amber rolls her eyes. “And yet she planned every miserable minute of it. Purposely. She’s sooooo sorry.” She gets up and moves to sit in the chair.
Mindlessly, I start playing with her hair, styling it up for her.
“I thought you hadn’t seen her in two days?” Amber questions, throwing me off guard.
“She’s called me, but she hasn’t been home in two days.
She doesn’t want to upset you anymore than she already has.
You know, she actually considered calling the cops and pressing charges on you that night.
” She hasn’t called. That’s a boldfaced lie, but my sister’s not one for admitting when she’s wrong, and I know she’s sorry.
Somewhere deep inside that fucked up head, she’s sorry.
“Wonderful.”
“I talked her out of it.”
“You’re such a gem,” Amber responds sarcastically.
“She really is sorry, Amber. I know you don’t believe me, but she is. My sister is…”
“Fucked up? A psychopath? A fucking gaslighting manipulative bitch that everyone tiptoes around because it may hurt her pathetic little feelings?”
She’s all that and more. God, I hope the truth never comes out, because the fallout is going to change everything.
“She’s difficult…” I put down my brush, unable to make things better. “Just think about it, okay? There are too many years of friendship between us for you to just throw everything away over a mistake. I don’t want to have to choose between you two.”
“I’ll never let that happen, Poppy. She’s your sister, and I respect that. If it ever comes down to a choice between the two of us, I’ll make it for you.”
“Amber, I don’t want to lose you. You’re my best friend.” The thought of losing her makes my stomach twist with that familiar yearning. I’ve been out of my stash for the last week, and I don’t have the materials I need to make more. So I’m slowly detoxing and doing my best to hide it.
“I’ll always be your best friend, Poppy. That’s never going to change.”
Until you find out I’ve been lying to you for Pippa.
I brush off the intrusive thought and try to smile. “Let’s do something about this hair, shall we? No need for all these tangles on your wedding day.”
Mallory shows up later than we had planned and climbs into the car with us that’s headed for the wedding venue.
“You ready for this?” Mallory questions, looking absolutely stunning in her green dress. Green doesn’t look as good on me. Even the red in my hair and freckles don’t help it. But this is what Amber chose, and I’ll wear it for her, even though I’m preparing for everything to blow up today.
If I know my sister, she’s got something up her sleeve. I just don’t know what.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Amber whispers, her voice slightly quivering.
“You look nervous,” I observe.
“Is it that obvious?” Her hands keep shaking, and I gently take them, trying to calm her nerves. “I keep feeling like something bad is going to happen.”
“Nothing bad is going to happen, Amber. You got this!” Mallory cheers, but she wasn’t there when the blow up happened between Amber and Pippa… I was.
“Not everything is about you, Amber,” Pippa growled, their argument spiraling out of control.
Amber scoffed, her mouth pulling into a menacing sneer. “No, it’s never about me, right? Not when you’re busy making yourself the center of my wedding.”
I stepped between them, doing my best to hold them apart. “Okay, let’s all calm down—”
“No,” Amber shouted, her voice becoming frantic. “I’m done calming down. I’m done pretending like what she’s doing is okay. You may be cool with it happening, but not me. She’s a fucking selfish bitch, and you know it.”
Pippa smirked as she crossed her arms, looking at Amber with nothing but animosity. “Look in the mirror, babe. Trust me, you won’t like what you see.”
“I know you’re hiding something from me. You both are! My gut’s never wrong, and it’s been twisting for weeks every time I’m near either of you. So, what are you both hiding? Tell me! Tell me before you’re both out of the wedding.”
Pippa played it off perfectly, pretending Amber was out of her mind when she wasn’t. “You’re paranoid.”
“No,” Amber whispers, silently fuming. “I’m finally waking the hell up.”
Pippa squared up to her, begging her to throw the first punch. “Get out of my face.”
Amber’s fists clenched by her sides, the argument seconds away from becoming physical. “Or what?”
“You really wanna do this right now? You wanna have another Amber meltdown, one that will result in you losing one of the last people that gives a fuck about you?”
“You only care about yourself, Pippa,” Amber fired back. “Always have.”
My sister smirked. “At least I actually like myself, Amber. Can you say the same? Can you look at your reflection and love the person staring back at you, like I can? I’m not a fucking train wreck, Amber. Not like you. You fucking derailed the moment you met Eddie.”
Amber finally snapped, shoving Pippa into the wall, knocking down a picture frame in the process. My sister stumbled to her feet, reaching forward to grab Amber by the neck, but I stepped between them again.
“Both of you, stop it!” I screamed, neither of them surrendering.
“You fake, manipulative bitch.” Amber lunged again, and it took everything in me to hold her back. The last thing I wanted was for the cops to come and Amber to get arrested so close to her wedding.
“Jesus Christ, Amber, are you serious?” Pippa violently pulled a strand of hair from her mouth, breathing erratically.
“You’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you?” Amber screamed. “You’ve been hoping I’d fall apart just so you could step in and pick up the pieces. You want my life, don’t you?”
“Oh my god,” Pippa shouted, laughing in amusement. “Your life? I wouldn’t want your pathetic life if it came with a million dollars and a mansion.”
“You’re jealous. You always have been.”