I had never felt so alone in my life.
Reed had fallen off the grid after his numerous calls, which I hadn’t answered out of fear of Jasper following through with his threat. I had tried to put him out of my mind, but it was impossible. It didn’t help when I’d been scrolling through social media on my phone, and a photo of Reed in his boxer briefs appeared. It was a promo shot. He held a football in one hand, that cocksure expression toying with the camera. I wondered if my message, telling him it was over, had finally sunk in. A huge portion of me hoped not. With every nerve in my body, I was waiting for something to happen on one hand and praying it didn’t on the other. Messed up, I know.
The thought that those who cared about me had a plan had given me a slight fizz of hope, but as the afternoon of the rehearsal wedding dinner appeared, the hope dwindled: like the fading flicker of light when a candle burned down to the wick.
I was now resigned to my fate. The drug that I doubted Reed even knew about would still be sitting in his system. One anonymous tip from Jasper, and it would be game over, literally.
I knew the night that was stretched so painfully before me was purely a practice, but that didn’t stop my insides from clenching in denial.
The wedding rehearsal dinner was being held in the same venue we had booked for the actual wedding. We would say our vows in the Blue Suite and then adjourn for the wedding breakfast in the Grand Ballroom of the Kilbrae Country Club.
The venue was only an hour away from the Summer’s estate, but the heavy traffic during the drive over had stretched my already frayed nerves. I had sat in the car next to Jasper, feeling carsick. Thankfully, we didn’t talk much, and nothing was saidabout his threats towards Reed. As we made our way to our separate rooms in the hotel, Jasper took a phone call, something about a break-in at the office. Panic flared in my chest, but he didn’t mention it when he ended the call. That must have been Nix and Reed. I wondered what they may have discovered there with a hint of hope in my chest. I now knew that Jasper was marrying me for my money, but was there something else?
As I sat in my suite all alone, reading myself for the practice dinner, I drew in a breath as my mind wandered. Since those years I had snuck around with Reed, I was no longer that wild and free person. I was probably now the reigning queen of caution, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about going out of the window. It was good enough for Rachel and Emily from Friends, right?
Thankfully, Jasper and our separate room situation gave me that not-so-clever opportunity to shimmy down the drainpipe, but that wasn’t a good idea. There were numerous people from our wedding party in that wing.
The guests who could attend had been offered overnight accommodation at my father’s expense for both the practice and the big day. The bill for everything was being funded by my family, even the honeymoon. Jasper’s parents hadn’t paid a dime: a sign that he was the one marrying up the social ladder and not the other way around.I reminded myself that he also needed a wife to cover up who he really was. If Jasper had been a better person, I would have felt sorry for him that he felt he had to hide his sexuality. That couldn’t have been easy.
The irony of the situation was that the point of the dinner was to practice the ceremony, show hospitality and thanks to the wedding party, and allow families to meet in a relaxed setting. The entire evening was crafted to ensure an intimate celebration was held before the big day, to ease nerves and set a pleasant, enjoyable tone. So why did I feel like I was going to hurl?
Because you know it is all a farce, and you are biding your time for Phoenix and Reed to come through for you.
Part of me regretted not picking up my cell when Reed called, and the message stating it was over.
There was an entire butterfly house fluttering around my stomach as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The dress I wore was white, but did not resemble the Couture wedding gown I would wear on my fated wedding day.
My attire for the evening was a form-fitting ivory dress with a heart-shaped neckline. It fell just above the knee, and it should have felt like silk against my skin. Just my luck that the material was as scratchy as fuck. It felt like a cage, a gilded, exquisitely embroidered cage, but a cage nonetheless. I had complemented it with gold strappy heels. My makeup was simple, just a dash of lip gloss, and I wore my long hair down. It fell in soft waves over my shoulders and halfway down my back: a perfect curtain to hide behind during the entire farce that awaited me downstairs.
Pushing to my feet, I eyed the small bottle of Moet I had taken out of the minibar fridge. It sat there empty, like a huge mistake. Turning up hammered to my own wedding rehearsal wasn’t a good idea, but I knew I needed one drink to take the edge off.
I was a firm believer in the wholemaking your own bed, so lie in itshit, but seeing an article in the press about my forthcoming union was like the final nail in the coffin. Things had gone so far now with the planning and arrangements that the fallout, if I didn’t go through with it, would be a major embarrassment for my family. Especially my father. Before he’d set off for his conference in East Beach, Daddy had called me to his office and asked if I was certain that marrying Jasper was what I wanted. He must have noticed how much more withdrawn I’d been ever since Reed came back. It really did feel like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I wanted to tell him the truth, but the terror of what could happen to the man I loved had stopped me.
A knock on the door jolted me out of my trance.
My bridesmaids to be, Molly and Harper, had come to collect me and lead me to my doom.
“You look beautiful,” Molly complimented, beaming at me as I opened the door. She looked like an angel as usual. The girl had always outshone me by a mile. I remembered the first day I met her at school. I had taken the job of giving her a tour to earn more credit and had been blown away by how pretty and nice she was. Thankfully, she’d drawn Hudson’s eye and not Reed's. The fear of her stealing the boy I was seeing in secret had made me treat her like shit.
And then there was Harper. It had taken us years to become friends. I remember how I had bullied her at school. Again, that had been because I was jealous. She had been tight with Reed, but only as a foster sister. I hadn’t seen things like that then, though. I had just seen a girl whom he had protected and vouched for, who wasn’t me.
“You both look like you're hiding something,” I replied, not taking the compliment. They both exchanged a look.
“Everything’s in hand. Don’t worry.”
“What does that even mean?” I asked with a flustered look.
“Please, Storm. Just relax. The guys are downstairs.”
My ears pricked up. When she said the guys, who exactly did that mean?
I shoved that indulgent thought away, but had to add, “Reed isn’t going to do anything stupid, is he?”
They stopped and turned to face me at the elevator. “You know Reed never does anything without thinking it through,” Harper advised truthfully. “He isn’t the impulsive Sawyer.”
“That doesn’t answer my questions, Harper.”
“You have enough to worry about. Just paint that perfect smile on and go with the flow,” Molly suggested in a firm voice. Her strength surprised me.
