“I’m not going to hurt her,” he yells over his shoulder, tucking the box under his arm like he’s carrying a game-winning football to the end zone.
“Great, then stop where you are and we can talk!”
“Not until she sees what I have for her in this box.”
Please don’t be something nasty.
He doubles down on his sprint, but he’s not fast enough. I catch up to him quicker than he was anticipating, and slam him to the ground.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Annie
My sisters are finally home from their trip, and tonight is Amelia’s bachelorette party at our house. She didn’t want to go out and party—surprise, surprise—she wanted to stay in and watch an Audrey Hepburn movie. We still made her wear a sash and a veil, and we hung spicy lingerie all over the room. Oh, and we’re all wearing penis necklaces. So that’s fun.
The wedding is only two days away. All the details are finalized, and Amelia’s dress came back from the seamstress today and it fits like a glove. Everyone seems to be remarkably calm about the impending nuptials. Not me. Because what it all means is that in three days, Will is going to be gone from my life for good.
I’m trying with all my might to pay attention to my sister’s story about how in Mexico a male teacher got wildly drunk and went streaking down the beach and wasn’t found until an hour before their flight the next day, butt naked on the beach, rear end pointed up to the sky, but my mind can’t seem to stay put. Instead, it’s willing my phone to light up with a text message from a bodyguard.
“And I didn’t get to see it, but, apparently, his white ass was fried like a lobster!” Maddie winces and looks at me expectantly. When I smile, pretending I’m actually engaged in her story, she frowns. “You’re not going to pull out the tally book?”
“Huh? For what?”
“For saying ass,” says Maddie with a duh expression.
“You get a freebie tonight.”
All three women gasp.
“Something is wrong with you. You haven’t recovered from your cold yet. Are you dying?” says Emily with a slight laugh, only 10 percent kidding but trying to convince us she’s not 90 percent worried.
“I’m fine, Em. Just distracted.” I unconsciously look down at my phone.
They all stare at me expectantly. “Distracted about…”
I look at them. “Stuff.”
Maddie laughs. Emily groans.
“I swear you’re harder to get information from than Noah,” Amelia says with an affectionate smile.
I shrug, thinking there’s only one person in this world that I’ve ever felt like telling everything to. Great, and now I’m sad. I’m never sad. I have this uncanny ability to see the positive in most situations, but I don’t see it now. I have this sinking feeling that Will is gone from me forever—just as I knew from the beginning he would be. This whole situation has turned me into an angsty pessimist! How dare it!
“You’ve been over here huffing and puffing all night and scowling down at your phone like it pinched Grandma,” she says, adjusting her body to face me on the couch.
“Speaking of Grandma, how was she when you guys went to visit her today?” I ask my sisters, knowing they went first thing when they got back in town this morning.
Madison throws a pillow at my face. “No freaking way are you distracting us that easily. Grandma was fine—now what’s wrong with you, my angelic little buttercup? Your petals are drooping.”
Knowing Maddie usually speaks in inappropriate innuendo, I look down at my chest.
“I’m not talking about your boobs, Annie. Did something happen with Will?” Madison jumps on the couch beside me so she can fix me with a closer-than-comfortable stare.
“Did he hurt you? That jerk, I’ll wax him from head to toe!” says Emily, standing from her chair.
“Sit down, Emily. He didn’t hurt me.”
Emily folds her arms. “I’ll only sit if you tell me exactly what he did to you and why it’s making you wilt like a sunflower without water.”
“So many flower analogies today.”
Madison nudges me. “Is it that he wanted to take your lessons to the next level and have sex? Don’t feel bad for waiting until marriage, though—everyone knows it comes with the territory of dating Angel Annie. Stick to your rules because you’re going to have to put in a good word with the Almighty to get us into heaven with you! Heaven does accept plus-ones, right?”