1. Blue
ONE
Blue
" Y ou look like a princess," Thea says as I step onto the platform in front of the mirror.
"If princesses had blue hair," the attendant mutters under her breath.
"Last I checked, this was her love story, not yours Becky, and in this story the princess has blue hair."
I smother a laugh with my fist. Thea's been my best friend for eight years now, and while she's always been a handful, the last two years with her hot surfer boyfriend have only served to make her... bolder.
"Seriously, Blue." She comes to stand behind me. "You look beautiful and when you walk down the aisle next week, Blake's not gonna know what hit him."
"You think?"
She nods. "Hells yeah. Now, get changed. I'm starved."
Back in the fitting room, I dial Blake. "Yeah?" he says, sounding put out.
"It fits like a dream!" I murmur excitedly, somehow balancing my cell phone between my cheek and shoulder while simultaneously trying to extricate myself from the layers and layers of tulle.
He sighs. "That's great Blue, but did you really have to call and interrupt me just to tell me about a dress?"
"It's...my wedding dress. I just...thought you'd be excited."
"It's just a dress. And our wedding is just a piece of paper. A formality."
I sniffle. "Romance is alive and well here, folks."
"I really don't have time for this."
"Sorry," I whisper.
"Are you still going to lunch with your friend?"
"With Thea, yes." I hate that even after two years, he won't call her by name.
"Great. See you tonight."
"Love you," I say, but he's already ended the call.
A sense of melancholy crashes over me. Blake used to be so different—warm, passionate, and funny. But, now it's like I hardly know him.
"You all ready?" Thea asks.
I finish changing and step out of the dressing room. "Sure." I shake my head and then say, "No."
"What's up?"
I shrug. "I think I'll just go home."
"Dream guy still not acting so dreamy?" she asks, her voice tinged with sadness.
Another shrug. She's right though. When Blake and I first met, he was everything I wanted in a guy. Smart, witty, good looking, and a great sense of humor to boot.
But recently, he's become more like a stranger than my future husband. Literally, we haven’t had any physical contact in almost a month. He says it’s so our wedding night can be extra special, but what’s the point of that when we’ve spent the last two years fucking like rabbits?
I conceded though, because marriage is about compromise, right? About both sides bending a little to meet in the middle, but here lately, I'm the only one bending and I'm pretty sure I'm about to freaking break.
"I don't know what his deal is. Stress, maybe?"
"Have you tried talking to him?" she asks as we exit the bridal boutique.
I take a deep breath, knowing what I'm about to say is going to sting. "Every time I try talking to him about it, he makes me feel like I'm crazy. Like I'm just imagining things and making problems where they don't exist. He says it's just pre-wedding jitters."
Wetness gathers along my lashes, but the tears don't fall until Thea wraps me in a hug. She's shockingly strong for her small stature. "Go home. Take a nap. Drink some wine. I'll text and check on you later, okay?"
I nod and we head our separate ways, with me walking back to my apartment and her to her old yellow Jeep.
I'm halfway up the stairs to my unit when inspiration strikes.
Maybe it really is stress that has him acting so cold.
I know when I'm stressed, a little pampering and coddling go a long way.
With that in mind, I run upstairs and into my apartment to grab a change of clothes and some cleaning supplies, shoving them all into an overnight bag
Maybe coming home to a clean house and a nice, hot meal will make him happy.
I toss my bag into my backseat and make a quick detour into the grocery store for a few things.
I'm immediately on high alert when I pull up to his place. I double check the clock on my dash; it's only two o'clock... He shouldn't be home.
And yet there’s his car—in the driveway.
A sense of dread fills me as I grab my bag and approach the door.
He shouldn't be, keeps flashing through my mind, until a far more insidious thought kicks it to the curb— maybe he was just banking on me not being here.
I slide the key he gave me into the lock and quietly slip inside. I leave my bag on the porch, prepared to head home after the argument I know we're about to have.
What I'm not prepared for is the sight of his bare ass as he shoves his dick down some woman's throat.
I watch in horror as he grips her long, blonde hair and fucks her face. I don't even realize I'm crying until a sob breaks free, alerting them to my presence.
He whirls around to face me.
"How could you?" I scream, not giving him a chance to speak.
"Blue!" he says, his hips still pumping. "Fuck baby, slow down."
A giggle erupts from the woman on her knees—a sound I'd know from anywhere. After all, I spent five years being best friends with the bitch currently sucking off my fiancé.
She ditched me in middle school, and Thea was there to pick up the pieces.
"You...how could you?" I ask again, my words failing me.
"What are you doing here?" he asks, his ass cheeks clenching as Bianca doubles down on her efforts. Jesus. They have no shame.
I throw the key he gave me to the floor. "We're done!"
"It's not what it looks like!" The fact that he has the balls to say this while his are being fondled by someone who is very much not me is astounding.
"Are you kidding me? There's nothing you can say to justify this. There's nothing you could ever say that would make me believe this is anything other than exactly what it is. I'm not stupid or na?ve, Blake!" I throw my hands in the air. "Or maybe I am because I trusted you, you lying asshole!"
I tug his ring from my finger and throw it at him, pegging him right between his stupid eyes.
"What the fuck, Blue?" he shouts, making Bianca giggle again. We both gag when he silences her with a forceful thrust, holding his pelvis flush with her face.
Rage like I've never known swims through my veins and darkens my vision. I want to make him hurt, the same way he's hurting me. But deep down, I know there's no point. He obviously doesn't even remotely care about me.
Case in point, she's still sucking his dick like she's auditioning for Hoover and he hasn't even tried to make her stop. He hasn't even tried to salvage this.
"We're finished, Blake Murphy. Fucking finished!" I shriek as I turn and run from his house, not sticking around to see the finale.
"I don't understand how I didn't see this coming!" I wail into my best friend's chest as she holds me while I break down. Again.
It's been six days since my engagement exploded and all of my future plans slid down Bianca Wilkinson's throat. "All of the signs were there. How did I miss them?"
"Blue, you have to stop beating yourself up." Thea rubs my back in a soothing circular motion.
"How? This is such a small town and I just know I'm going to see the happy couple everywhere I go. I literally want to stab someone. In the face."
Thea releases me, pulling back until we're eye-to-eye. "Have you considered getting out of town?"
I throw myself dramatically back onto her couch. "Where would I even go?"
"Last time I checked you were supposed to leave tomorrow night for Cozumel."
My tears come harder at the reminder. I'm supposed to be getting married tomorrow. "You were supposed to walk me down the aisle to my forever." I sniffle.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"How can I think about my ruined honeymoon at a time like this?" Seriously, why isn't Thea grasping how wrecked I am?
"Well..." she drags out the single syllable, and I brace myself, knowing whatever she's about to say is probably going to be next-level crazy. "You can think about it while packing. You’re going… solo."
As quickly as they came, my tears dry. "Really?" Maybe this is more crazy-good than straight up crazy? "You think?" I ask, and then just as quickly, "No, I couldn't.
"Why couldn't you?"
"It's just... It was meant to be our trip, you know?"
"Blue from what you told me he wasn’t even excited about it. You said his exact words were ‘why would we go to the beach when we live at the beach?’"
Hope tickles my chest, like an annoying but persistent itch. "You really think I can do it?"
"You're already off work. The trip is paid for, nonrefundable and on your dime, in case you forgot. I think you'd be crazy not to do it."
"That's all true..."
"What was it you told me when I was trying to sort my shit with Dane?" Thea taps her chin, pretending to think. "Something about not hiding like a sissy. You told me to confront him head on."
"Not really the same thing." I can't help but to laugh at her lackluster analogy. "However, I get the point you are, very poorly, making and... I guess I'm gonna do it."
Thea squeals in delight. "This trip is gonna change your life, Blue. I can freaking feel it!"