Page 111 of The Killer Card

“Nothing about anything you just said is boring,” Nelly argues and the stylist turns her chair so the bride can face me while she continues to pin her hair. “While we were separated?! Really?! What, were you two like, using each other to cope with my break-up—”

“No,’ I roll my eyes.

“Then what the Hell—”

“It just happened, okay?” I throw my hands out. “We just fell into bed together one night and couldn’t stop!”

“Hold on,” Clara’s brow furrows. “You said while they were separated. That was like, December? But you hooked up with the Sharks team in March.”

“Naomi!” Nelly’s eyes get wider and Theresa starts actually praying. Ivelisse is cackling her ass off, only covering it with the tips of her fingers. “You were cheating on Graham?! No wonder he was so upset at your party—”

“We were never exclusive,” I hold up a finger. “It was all just… Really good sex...”

“Jesuchristo—”

“Oh, go judge someone else,” I wave off Elias’s elder sister who is looking at me with so much shock you would think I’d butchered a priest.

“Naomi,” Nelly chastises me. “Be respectful.” To her future sister-in-law, she forces a bright smile. “I’m so sorry about her, Tessa. Could you maybe go and speak to the coordinators about having some waters and coffee sent up?”

Theresa looks all too willing to be anywhere else, making herself absent with a nod. Nelly glares at me across the room. “Could you be a little kinder to my future family—”

“You’re interrogating me—”

“Over another member of this family! Maybe not by blood, but Graham is like a brother to Elias—”

“And I’m like a sister to you!” I shout back. “So why am I the one getting this kind of inquisition—”

“Because you’re the one who keeps lying to me!”

I blink because when the fuck have I ever—

“I know about the car accident!” Nelly cries and even the stylist pauses, gaze flicking between us. The bride takes the opportunity to launch furiously out of her chair. “And I know about rehab! We both do!”

Clara immediately averts her teary gaze.

My cheeks flush and suddenly both Ivelisse and the stylist find somewhere else to be as Nelly fights back tears to avoid ruining her pristine makeup.

Swallowing back my own tears, I whisper, “How do you know…?”

Her shoulders straighten, clearly glad I’m at least not denying it. “How do you think? Nathan called me, Naomi. He called me the day after you were checked in and told us not to mention it. He said that you would tell us when you were ready but,” she gestures broadly. “Here we are a whole fucking year later! We’re your best friends, Naomi!”

“I…” My lips open and close several times, but I’m honestly not sure what I should say anymore. “I didn’t know how to tell you… I’m sorry…”

All the wind leaves Nelly’s sails, and then she’s just my friend again. My overexuberant, too passionate friend who somehow is always the shoulder to cry on even when her own life is filled to the brim. She’s getting married today, and yet her entire focus, everything in her golden fucking heart is on me and my awful mistakes.

“No,” she shakes her head. “I’m sorry—”

“We’re sorry,” Clara corrects.

Nelly nods quickly. “Because we never should have made you feel like you couldn’t tell us when you were struggling. Especially with something like this. I mean… God, Naomi. The four of us debated for hours whether or not we should even allow alcohol on this trip—"

“I don’t want you giving things up for me,” I tell them quickly. “I’m the one who needs to be strong here, not you—”

“That is exactly what we thought you would say.” Clara is nodding emphatically behind her. “And then we figured if we abstained you’d get suspicious and awkward- or worse think one of us was already knocked up—”

“Still mildly surprised you are not,” I admit.

Nelly smirks. “My dress is lace and very tight. Elias has been very diligent.”