Chapter Twenty-Five
Amber
“Where is she?” I growl the second I step through our door and find the living room empty. Poppy’s in the kitchen cooking something on the stove, but she barely looks at me.
She knows something, otherwise she’d be chatting my ear off.
“Poppy, where the fuck is she?”
She abruptly turns around and pretends to take an Airpod out of her ear. There’s no fucking Airpod.
“Amber? I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Where’s Pippa, Poppy?”
She shrugs. “She was here a few minutes ago. Maybe you just missed her?”
“Her car’s out front.”
“Maybe she’s in the shower?”
My fingers ball into fists by my sides, the rage only building. Eddie’s right, we can’t have her in our wedding. Not after everything she’s done and the hell she’s fucking put me through.
I’ve been thinking about this the entire drive home. Pippa’s gone from one of my closest friends to my mortal enemy, one who’s about to lose every strand of hair on her head if I get ahold of her.
“You look angry, Amber.” Poppy wipes her hands on her apron, and turns to face me. “Talk to me, what’s going on?”
“You tell me, Poppy. You and your sister are the ones hiding shit from me.”
“What the hell did I do?”
“It’s what you didn’t do, Poppy. You didn’t protect me.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’ve done nothing but protect you since we met, Amber. We all have. We’ve told you what we’ve thought about Eddie, and you blatantly ignored us. It’s not my fault you’re a glutton for punishment.”
“I fucking love him, Poppy.”
She shrugs. “But is love enough? Can love survive everything he’s put you through? Because it can’t, Amber, not really. He doesn’t deserve your love or protection. Isn’t that what you’re doing right now? Protecting the last strand of a frayed roped that’s holding you two together?”
“Shut up.”
“I won’t. Not this time. You’re getting married in a week, Amber. Once you do, there’s no turning back. Once you’re married, you’re tied together for life. Is that what you really want? To be tied to a man that will cheat on you and try to pretend like it’s all your fault?”
Tears fall down my face, but I can’t keep up with them.
“I just want everything to go back to normal. Like the day I met him… our first date. I want that Eddie back.”
“That Eddie was fake, Amber. The real Eddie is the one you’ve been trying to hold together—the one that disappoints you repeatedly. That’s who he is.”
I shake my head, wiping my face with the back of my hand, teeth clenched so hard my jaw trembles. “You’re wrong. You don’t know him like I do.”
“I know what he’s done to you. Do you think it’s easy for me to continuously be here for you when I’m constantly picking up the pieces of you that he shattered?
I love you, Amber. That’s why I’m saying this to you.
I don’t want you to make a mistake. I can’t watch you hurt anymore.
” Poppy’s voice trembles, but it only fuels the inferno burning inside of me.
“Then tell your sister to back the hell off!”
Poppy’s eyes widen as a door shuts, and a floorboard creaks behind me.
My whole body goes still, feeling her presence before I ever see her.
The turn is slow and hesitant. Every nerve is on edge, the hair on my arms rising without warning. Then our eyes meet, her smirk condescending and filled with conceit.
Fucking Pippa.
She pats at her long dark hair with a towel, drying it as she walks, not caring one bit about the shitstorm she started by taking me to see Ryder last night.
She blinks at me like I’m some kind of surprise she didn’t see coming. “Oh,” she says, too casual. “You’re back.”
My blood spikes.
She should look worried, maybe even apologetic. She shouldn’t look so fucking smug.
“Did you do it on purpose?”
“Hmm?” she hums, cocking her head to the side. “I’m sorry, I must have water in my ears.”
“I asked you a question,” I say, stepping forward. “Did you do it on purpose?”
She blinks. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Don’t pretend that you’re deaf now. I want the truth, Pippa. Did you fucking plan that shit last night?”
She shrugs. “And if I did?”
“Then consider yourself out of my fucking wedding!”
She smirks, her laughter grating on my nerves.
“What wedding, Amber? Do you mean the one that you’re putting together with Elmer’s glue and silly putty?
Because that shit won’t stick, no matter how hard you work at holding it together.
” Pippa lifts an eyebrow, mouth quirking with amusement as she assesses my shaking fist that I can barely contain by my side.
“Just tell me the truth, Pippa. Did you plan that shit?”
“I just wanted you to see that there were other options out there, Amber. Ones better than Eddie.”
“Do you know how fucked up that is, Pippa? You went out of your way to try to sabotage my relationship.”
“How’d he take it?” she questions, assessing my face for all my tells. “Ah, I see. He took it quite well. And why is that, Amber? Why didn’t he react this time?”
“Because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
She mocks me with more laughter. “Keep telling yourself that, babe. That man’s hands were all over you last night, and you allowed it to happen. Admit it. You wanted it. Fuck, you wanted more.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Or what, Amber? Are you going to hit me? Are you really going to ruin years of friendship over some guy?”
“No, I’m going to end our friendship over a heartless bitch that’s been manipulating me for years.”
Her eyebrow slightly lifts. “If you only knew, girl,” she says, tsking me with her mouth. Something in her tone sets me off. It’s smug. Aloof. It’s the same tone she’s used in every fight we’ve ever had. But this time she’s keeping something from me. Something big.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” she says smugly, still trying to dry her hair. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have hair to dry.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” I snap. “Not till you tell me what the fuck you’re hiding. You’ve been off for weeks. Whispering with Poppy, walking into rooms and going quiet the second I show up. And now you’re standing here pretending like you know something that you’re refusing to tell me?”
“Not everything is about you, Amber.”
I laugh bitterly. My tongue lashes out like a cracking whip. “No, it’s never about me, right? Not when you’re busy making yourself the center of my wedding.”
Poppy tries to step between us, pressing a hand to each of our chests. “Okay, let’s all calm down—”
“No,” I cut her off. “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 folds her arms. “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 scoffs. “You’re paranoid.”
“No,” I whisper, stepping even closer. “I’m finally waking the hell up.”
Pippa doesn’t back down. Her jaw locks, shoulders pulling back as she lifts her chin like she’s daring me to say more. She’s not scared, and that’s what pisses me off the most. She’s standing there like I’m the crazy one. Like I’m the problem.
“Get out of my face,” she says.
My hands curl into fists, nails digging into my palms. “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,” I snap. “Always have.”
She smirks. “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.”
That smug look is all it takes.
I shove her.
Hard.
She stumbles backward and slams into the hallway wall, knocking a picture of us in Cabo off the nail holding it. The glass shatters on the ground just as Poppy jumps between us, shrieking something, but I’m too angry to hear her.
“You fake, manipulative bitch,” I yell, lunging at her again.
Poppy manages to stop me with a protective hand, but I can see it in her eyes. She’s protecting her sister here… not me. Never me.
“Jesus Christ, Amber, are you serious?” Pippa shouts, face beet red, hair sticking to her face like spider webs.
“You’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you?” I scream. “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,” she laughs bitterly. “Your life? I wouldn’t want your pathetic life if it came with a million dollars and a mansion.”
“You’re jealous,” I snarl. “You always have been.”
She snorts. “Of what? You? Your emotional outbursts? Your perfect little relationship that’s built on cheating and lies?
No fucking thank you. You can keep that shit.
Hell, even your own mother doesn’t fucking want to be at your stupid wedding.
Tell me you’re fucked up without telling me you’re fucked up. ”
Her head snaps back, my fist connecting with her perfect jawline. “You leave my fucking mother out of this.”
She spits at the ground, blood coating the carpet. “I don’t have to. Your mother does that on her own. And guess what, Amber? Eddie will leave you one day too. The second he realizes that you’re full of bullshit like we all have.”
Her words sting. I feel each one like I’m stuck in a beehive of angry wasps.
“You’re one of my best friends,” I snap, my voice wavering. “You’re supposed to have my back.”
“And you’re supposed to be sane,” she spits. “But your right hook says otherwise.”
“And I’m going to give you a left one, if you don’t shut your damn mouth!”
Poppy throws her arms out between us again. “Stop it. Both of you. Just stop.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down,” I growl, glaring at her. “You’re just as bad. You let last night happen and didn’t even try to stop it.”
Poppy looks guilty, but doesn’t say anything more.
“Just let it go, Amber,” Pippa growls. “Or fucking embrace it. At this point I just don’t give a fuck anymore.”
I step closer to Pippa again. “I stopped giving a fuck about you a long time ago.”
She shrugs. “The feeling’s mutual, babe.
You think I actually want to be a part of your wedding?
I was only going out of pity because you literally have no one that gives a fuck about you enough to go.
That’s the only reason Poppy and Mallory are going too.
They pity you as much as I do. So, how’s it feel to have a one-sided wedding, Amber?
One where every single person that shows up doesn’t give a fuck about you and are only there for him? ”
That cuts. It hits harder than anything else she’s said.
I step back, the room spinning around me like I’ve just been punched in the chest.
“You’re out of the wedding,” I say, voice shaking. “I want you out of my fucking life for good.”
She smirks. “Thank fuck for that. If I had to sit through one more Amber pity party, I’d probably off myself.
I’m going to stay at Daniel’s tonight.” She gives me one last fleeting glance over her shoulder before opening the door.
“Good luck with your marriage,” she says. “You’re gonna need it, bitch.”
The door slams shut like bitter punctuation.
I don’t move.
I can barely breathe.
Poppy lowers her arms slowly. “Amber…”
I shake my head. “No. Don’t.”
“I didn’t want to get in the middle—”
“What middle? She’s your sister, Poppy. How can I compete with that?”
She doesn’t answer.
She doesn’t have to.
Pippa said enough for the both of them.
“Amber, please rethink this. I don’t want you to leave, not like this.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Poppy. At least not today. But when I get married next week, consider this the end…”
“The end of what?”
“The end of everything.”