Page 83 of Call You Mine
“To throw you a bachelorette party!” Rumi yells, causing heads to turn in our direction.
“So, what do you say?” Emerson asks, her more chill demeanor balancing out Rumi’s overly excited one.
“I say,” I pretend to think about my answer for a second, “no.”
Rumi groans. “Come on, Av. It’ll be fun! We can get all dressed up and go to a nice dinner, just the three of us. Then we can go to the casinos. Or, we could have a pool party. Or, go dancing. Oh! We can get you one of those “Bride to Be” sashes!”
“Orrr.” I stretch out the word. “Why don’t we save all of thosesuperfun ideas for when you and Jack get engaged?”
I hate that I’m shutting down these ideas so quickly, especially because I know Rumi and Emerson just want to be supportive. But the last thing I want to do is make my marriage with Anderson a big deal. It’s already confusing as it is, and my feelings are just getting more and more complicated the deeper we get into this.
Ever since that morning in the shower, I can barely tell what’s real and what’s fake when it comes to how I feel about him, and that’s the last thing I need to be worrying about right now—not with the adoption still in the balance.
Rumi’s face falls slightly, but she tries to hide it. “Okay, whatever you want.” She crosses her arms. “We just wanted to do something fun for you. I know this marriage is important for Georgie’s adoption, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make it special.”
“Are you sure this whole marriage thing is even a good idea?” I turn to look at Emerson, her elbow balancing on the armrest between us, her chin resting against her palm. “I know you guys said it’s supposed to help with you getting Georgie, and that your relationship was headed in that direction anyway. But, I don’t know. You seem a littleoffabout it all.”
My stomach drops.
She’s getting suspicious.
I’m supposed to be excited about getting married.
Not acting like they just asked me to go get pap smears together.
“I’m positive,” I quickly answer, needing to play the part.I brighten my voice. “There’s just no need for a bachelorette thing.”
“Why not?” she asks, raising a brow.
“Because we’re getting married this weekend.”
“What?!” Emerson and Rumi shriek at the same time. Once again, loud enough for heads to turn in our direction.
“We figured Las Vegas was the perfect place to tie the knot,” I explain, trying to muster something akin to excitement in my voice. Initially, we were just going to do it in secret and use the staff at The Little White Chapel to sign the paperwork. No muss, no fuss. Quick and dirty, like we agreed. But the excitement on Rumi’s face and the suspicion on Emerson’s has me adding, “And, we’ll need witnesses.”
“We’d be honored!” Rumi squeals, wrapping her arms around me.
Emerson taps her palm against my thigh, giving it a squeeze to show her agreement with Rumi.
“Did you bring a white dress?” Rumi asks as she unwraps her arms from around me. When I shake my head, she says, “That’s fine, maybe we can find a thrift store or something. We can get Anderson a tux there, too! Something fun and nontraditional because that’s definitely your guys’ vibe.” Rumi keeps going with questions and her ideas, and while it feels nice not to be the one to plan everything for once, I wish it were under different circumstances.
“Okay, with all of that settled,” Emerson interjects, “now you can sleep.”
I huff out a breath. “I can’t sleep now, not with this one.” I jut my thumb in Rumi’s direction.
“Want me to sing to you?” Emerson deadpans.
I roll my eyes, reaching down between my legs and pulling out my tote bag. I grab my headphones and my eye mask, which I have tucked into the side pocket for easy access. Putting them both on, I throw the hood of my sweatshirt over my head.
I tap my two best friends on their arms. “Goodnight.”
It isn’t until I’m just about to fall asleep that I remember we took off, and everything is fine.
And I didn’t even check the zipper again.
I let the hotel door close behind me, and I think I’m even more tired than I was when I woke up to my alarm early this morning.
The sleep I got on the plane was mediocre at best. Emerson’s shoulder was a good pillow, but I just couldn’t get comfortable. With my period due in the next couple of days, my cramps were annoying enough to keep me awake, and my boobs are starting to feel sore.
