“I just… I have to be honest. This is rather shocking. I mean, I know I was a mess, but how… what is wrong with you?” I stand and start to pace.
“Not everyone is you, Gia. I can’t vomit out all my shit all the time,” she yells, then looks horrified. “I’m so sorry.” She wipes her runny nose. Her mascara drips down her cheeks.
As I stare at her, tears form in my eyes, and I drop back into the seat. “You’re right. It’s not easy being my friend, but come on, I love you. Why wouldn’t you say anything?”
She sniffs loudly, tosses her blond hair off her shoulder, and reaches for my hand.
“It happened when I came and got you. I thought he was everything, and you were in such pain I couldn’t tell you. Then he vanished. It was like he dropped off the earth and I… was so humiliated. And my dad…” She sighs, trying to get a good breath. “I couldn’t tell him about Ryder. I mean, could you imagine?” She shakes her head. “Then I didn’t hear from him. It went from one day, to a week, then a year, and now here we are.”
I bite my top lip while still piecing this together. “So. Ryder was your first?”
She nods.
“And you haven’t seen him in eight years?”
“Exactly. So you understand why I can’t go.” She takes the blender that I was preparing to drink from and starts to swallow the contents in big gulps. Thankfully the ice is melted, so hopefully it’s watered down. Standing, I take it away.
“Well, that definitely explains a lot of things.”
We sit in silence as we both let everything sink in. At last, Julianna says, “I feel so much better letting that out.”
I nod. “I bet. So what time should I book our flights? I need to do it before I’m too drunk.” I reach for her phone.
“What?” She jumps up.
“You’re coming. Fuck them. I had to deal with Rhys. You can deal with Ryder. Call it closure. Trust me, this is meant to be… for you.” I start searching for flights. “We’re going first class, unless we can use your dad’s plane?” She only stares at me.
“I’ll take that as a no.” I start booking us on American when she stands and straightens her shoulders.
“You know what? You’re right,” she says.
I glance up at her, my brain somewhat sluggish, but I’m not going without her. Sure, Ryder has some weird thing going on with Cindy, but if Julianna is his soulmate it needs to be explored. Also, one of us needs to be happy.
“I know I am.”
“Fuck him. I need to go to at least tell him what I think.”
I glance up. “Well, maybe don’t tell him off right before the wedding. That’s why we should get there today because tomorrow is the wedding. There.” I smile at her, trying not to look at her puffy, splotchy face. Not that I look any better, but I still had to remind her to hold off until afterward.
“We’re booked for six p.m. We should be able to get our shit together in four hours, right?”
“We need showers, and I’ll get Dean over here to do hair and makeup. I don’t care that he might have fucked Matthew. He’s the best.” I nod supportively. Either she’s in shock or completely smashed.
I stand and make my way to my horrible bedroom to shower. “I need to raid your wardrobe. Actually, just pack for both of us.”
“Already on it.” She waves me off, causing me to frown. God, I hope she’s not going to make a scene. She’s acting weird.
Screw it. My brother is far from perfect and has caused numerous scenes. And fuck Ryder. How dare he blow off my best friend. She deserves answers.
Screw all of them.
GIA
Present – Twenty-five years old
Los Angeles, California
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Los Angeles. If you have checked luggage, please go to carousel three, and thank you for flying American Airlines.” I blink my eyes open and look around. Thank God we made it.
My mouth is dry. I lick my lips and clear my throat; I’ve got to quit smoking. I passed out about twenty minutes ago—enough time to screw up my neck, but not enough time to sleep off my hangover. I blink again and look over at Julianna. If I look as bad as she does, we might be in trouble.
“Hey, we landed. They’re getting ready to open the doors.” Her eyes pop open and she groans as if it’s only now dawned on her where we are and what we’re doing. We got fucked up with Dean while he did our hair. Of course, we missed our flight and had no choice but to take the redeye. Now we’re landing at 9:00 a.m. on the day of Axel and Antoinette’s wedding.