Chapter One #2
Maybe that’s the excuse I’ll use when I tell Eddie what happened. It’s the one he used on me, after all. Or better yet, I’ll tell him the dude slipped something in my drink. That’s the only explanation I have for not remembering anything about the guy. I had to be drugged!
Though I’m not sure why I am freaking out so much. If I was drugged, it was by a really hot Australian guy that pretty much blows any fantasy man I could ever dream of out of the water.
At least I picked someone hot to cheat on Eddie with. At least there’s that.
God, I’m a horrible person.
Once I hear the water turn on, it’s time to flee. All my clothing is scattered across the floor, along with an odd-looking black thong that I know isn’t mine. A sea of used condoms is sitting on the floor around the bed.
Gross! Did we really go that many rounds last night? Yuck! What if they aren’t all mine? What if this guy had other women in his room before me and I just didn’t notice his collection of semen slingers littering the ground?
A small amount of bile develops in my throat, and I have to choke it down, trying not to picture all the women who have probably been in his bed.
Throwing on what I can, I swiftly grab my purse, making sure I don’t leave any trace of me behind before racing for the door, shutting it carefully behind me so he doesn’t hear me leave.
I know I’m doing the walk of shame right now, but I need to get back to Poppy and Pippa, and figure out how to ask for forgiveness when I committed the ultimate betrayal.
Maybe Eddie will understand?
Maybe he won’t break up with me the second I come clean.
Once in the lobby, I find myself in the Excalibur Hotel, a full block and a half away from the actual hotel I have a room at.
How did I end up here?
The concierge smiles at me as I walk past his desk, addressing my dress that’s slightly askew with a knowing raised eyebrow. “Thank you for joining us at the Excalibur. Have a pleasant day.”
I frown, keeping my head focused on the ground. No witnesses. Shouldering past some guests, I race out of the hotel, practically knocking down a sign that’s just outside the door. I briefly read it as I stand it back up.
Australian Male Dance Revue. Nightly Showings.
Purchase tickets at the box office.
Momentary flashes of sexy, sweaty men dancing on a stage filled with smoke and overhead lighting take over my brain, but I’m too distraught to really focus on it.
Where the fuck are my friends?
It takes me a full thirty minutes to find the correct hotel I was staying at. Once up in my room, I pound on the door, filled with anger, desperation, and the need to make everything that happened disappear from existence.
A sleepy Pippa opens up the door, rubs the sleep away from her eyes, and grins.
“What’s up, Slut?” She laughs, raising a brow at my disheveled hair and crooked wardrobe. “Seems like you had fun last night?”
“Shut up, Pippa. Why the hell did you guys ditch me last night?”
“You’re the one who ditched us,” Poppy chimes in, appearing behind her twin, equally sleep deprived. “One minute we were having fun dancing at a club, the next minute you were gone. You didn’t even tell us where you went.”
“Bullshit! I would never have left without telling you guys where I was going.”
Pippa and Poppy share that stupid twin look I hate so much.
We’ve been best friends since the age of twelve, but they’ve always had this secret twin language between them I didn’t understand.
It was like they could read each other’s minds.
Even without saying anything, I know their inner-twin telepathy is talking shit about me. I can see it in their damning eyes.
Could I feel anymore guilty?
“Well, you didn’t,” Poppy finally says, breaking the awkward silence. “What happened to you last night?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember anything at all.”
“Nothing?” Pippa’s back to grinning again. It’s a little off-putting, especially since she and Eddie were friends before I ever met him. Will she rat me out the first chance she gets?
“Not even what I had to eat.”
Both girls giggle.
Pippa motions for me to enter the room. “It’s probably better that way. Get in here. We want to hear every dirty detail.”
“What dirty details? I told you I don’t remember anything.”
“Why don’t you start with where you woke up this morning?”
Pure dread takes over me as they turn their stupid grins my way.
Pippa’s head slightly turns to the side. “Okay, so you cheated on Eddie. Was the guy you cheated with at least hot?”
I nibble on my bottom lip.
“Oh my god! He was sexy as hell, wasn’t he?”
I sigh.
“Crap. You don’t remember anything about him, do you?”
I shake my head in frustration. “Are you done reading my mind yet, bitch?”
Pippa studies my face, then smiles triumphantly. “At least you used a condom.”
I groan in frustration. Pippa has always been able to read me like Poppy. She’s the queen of body language. In fact, she’s studying to be a criminal investigator who specializes in reading body language. I think she watches too much Criminal Minds.
“God, I hate it when you do that.” I bury my face in my hands and fall backward onto the bed. “I have no idea who he was.”
“What did he look like? Maybe we can piece together who you went home with by ruling out some of the guys who hit on you last night.” Poppy has always been the methodical one in our group.
She’s the smart twin—the one who can compute any math problem in her head while writing a novel at the same time.
Even though they’re nearly identical, I can always tell who’s who because they’re both so drastically different.
“He had shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Green eyes the color of Spanish moss. A perfectly sculpted, well-manicured body, and I swear he had a nine-pack instead of a six-pack… if that’s even possible.
He smelled like leather, sandalwood cologne, and sweat.
Oh! Did I mention he had an Australian accent? ”
Both twins’ mouths dropped in tandem. They share another look between themselves before screaming like twin banshees. I have to cover my ears to block out the shrill decibels rattling through my head.
“You went home with the Australian? We were chasing that guy around the club all night. He wouldn’t even give us a second look.
We tried to work the twin thing on him, but even that didn’t turn his head our way.
Holy shit! Are you the luckiest girl in the world or what?
” Pippa squeals again. “Tell me all about it. Was he as good in bed as I dreamed?”
“I don’t remember.”
“What did he say to you this morning?”
“He asked me if I would join him for breakfast, and told me that last night was amazing.” I wish I could share in their enthusiasm, but the only thing on my mind is how I’m going to tell Eddie about what happened.
“Ugh, forget about Eddie! He’s an asshole. You know he cheated on you with Jinafer, so why are you even worrying about what he will think?”
Pippa really needs to get out of my damn head.
“If you want my opinion, I would go back to that hotel and apologize to Mr. Amazing Australian for skipping out on him, and spend the rest of your day exploring the Outback.”
“I just want to go home,” I mumble. The guilt is eating me alive.
“Lame. You just want to get home to Eddie and apologize for doing what he already did to you. We all know Jinafer wasn’t the first girl he cheated on you with, and she sure as hell won’t be the last.”
“Shut up!” I scream, throwing a pillow at her head before collapsing back onto the bed. “I can’t believe I did that last night. I’ve never been that reckless before. How could I be so stupid?”
“You weren’t stupid. You were having fun, which is exactly why we brought you out here in the first place. You needed to know what it was like to be Amber without Eddie,” Poppy states, trying her best to soothe my guilt.
My head flops her way, my eyes narrowing at her. I hate it when she talks badly about Eddie. Poppy has hated Eddie since we started dating. She thinks he’s a big pile of horse manure. I’m not sure exactly why she hates him so much, but she does.
“Our plane leaves in four hours. You still have time to make things right with Mr. Amazing. At least go give him your number,” Pippa adds, wiggling her eyebrows. “Do it for us ugly folk who couldn’t even bribe him with a twin sandwich.”
The Kiplinger twins are far from ugly. Both have been blessed with a very exotic look, one that has most men drooling and pining after them.
It’s probably because they look like Italian Barbies, with their perfect racks, olive complexions, and mega-watt white smiles.
They’re also curved in all the right areas and barely have a speck of fat on their bodies.
From head to toe, the twins are a solid ten.
If they couldn’t pull the Aussie last night, I sure as hell shouldn’t have stood a chance with him, either.
“I’m perfectly fine with returning home and forgetting everything about Las Vegas. If I pretend it didn’t happen, then it didn’t happen.”
Although, I do need to come clean with Eddie. It’s only fair since he was honest with me about Jinafer.
“You know you don’t have to tell Eddie, right?” Poppy sits next to me on the bed, weaving a reassuring arm behind my neck. She lies back on the bed with me and puts her head against mine. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
“Not you too. You’re supposed to be the reasonable twin, Poppy.”
“Sometimes it’s easy to read you, Amber.
You don’t have to major in body language to read what you’re thinking.
Seriously, think about the consequences that will happen if you tell Eddie.
Remember what happened the last time a guy hit on you?
The guy ended up with a concussion after spending three days in the ICU.
I can’t even imagine what he would do to Aussie with a body if he found out about you two.
My advice is to not tell him.” Pippa’s gaze is both penetrating and humbling.
“I didn’t ask for your advice, Pippa. It’s your fault I’m even in this situation. I told you I didn’t want to come to Vegas! And because of you, I fucking cheated on my fiancé!”
“I didn’t drop you on the guy’s dick, Amber. You did that all on your own. Don’t blame me for not being able to keep your damn legs closed.”
I’m two seconds away from jumping up and starting a catfight, but I decide to take the high road and ignore her, starting an old-fashioned glare off instead.
The heat and anger vibrating between us could melt the polar ice caps. But instead of fighting more, she turns and stomps into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
“She was only trying to help, Amber.” Poppy moves away from the bed and knocks on the bathroom door. “You okay, Sis?”
“I’m fine. I just don’t have time for her whiny bullshit this morning.”
Clenching my fists, I force myself to stay calm. Fuck her for calling me whiny. The girl hasn’t had a serious boyfriend in years. How dare she judge me when she has no idea how to properly navigate a relationship herself.
“You both should get ready; we have a plane to catch in a few hours,” she shouts from behind the door, just as the shower turns on.
Poppy gives me her own version of a death glare before sitting on the other bed.
Being friends with twins isn’t easy. If you piss one off, you piss off them both.
It’s been that way since we were little kids.
Twenty minutes later, Pippa comes out of the bathroom, looking beautifully refreshed.
Her black hair is pulled into a tight ponytail.
She’s wearing this gorgeous black and white dress over long black stiletto boots.
“Going for sexy go-go dancer this morning?” I question as she put on her lip gloss.
“Yup.” Her answer comes out clipped, popping the ‘p’ as she smacks her lips together and glares at me from the mirror. She’s still pissed.
I shouldn’t blame her for my fuck up, but for some reason, my head wants to make it all her fault. It’s easier than looking in the mirror and seeing the guilt in my own eyes.
Poppy disappears into the bathroom behind her, then reappears in a T-shirt and jeans.
Her hair is down and brushed until it reaches that achieved smoothness where every strand looks like it’s made of black silk and could be woven into a royal’s clothing.
She fishes out her cute retro eyeglasses from her tote bag before sticking her nose straight into her e-reader. That girl is always reading.
“I’m going to take a shower and wash off.”
Pippa throws me a condescending smile. “You should. You smell like sex.”
“Bitch.”
She shrugs. “Takes one to know one.”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she pretends to be offended by my smell as I walk by her.
I take a quick sniff of myself and grimace; I really do smell like sex. I can hear them both whispering and snickering behind me, but I do my best to ignore them. I’m the one who lashed out at them. They have every right to be angry.
“Be back in a bit.”
Once behind the door, I collapse onto the floor. The guilt of me cheating on Eddie hangs across my chest like a hundred-pound weight that’s forcing my body to the ground.
The guilt’s not even the worst part. Not remembering the guy’s name, or what happened last night, is what bothers me the most. Sure, he was hot, but I’m not the cheating type—not unless I’m heavily under the influence of something like drugs or alcohol, apparently.
Plus, it takes more than a pretty face to turn my head.
A guy has to make me laugh too. That’s one thing Eddie has always been good at… making me laugh.
Man, I’ll probably never see him smile or laugh again.
The shower doesn’t help at all. I think more water leaked out of my eyes than it did from the faucet above my head. I’m angry with myself, and how I acted.
Eddie may have cheated on me in the past, but two cheats don’t make a right. This is not an eye for an eye or a fuck for a fuck type of situation. We’re both adults, and yet neither one of us knows what it’s like to be completely faithful to the other.
Maybe I should take that as a sign that we’re not meant to be because there’s no way in hell he’s ever going to forgive me for this.
How the hell should I tell him? What will I even say?
Looking down at my hand, whatever hint of a smile I had instantly fades when the absence of silver around my finger is replaced by a tan etching of its silhouette against my skin. The cute little heart engagement ring Eddie placed on my finger eight months ago is gone.
Shit, I lost my ring too?
Could this trip get any worse?