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.
