Page 101 of Filthy Twisted Devil

“Please promise me my kids will think I’m this cool when they grow up,” Cat says.

“Kids?” Pippa shrieks. “Don’t tell me you’re already going for round two. I can’t handle it.”

“I promise, Sylvie’s enough for now. Ask me in a year though…”

Pippa turns to Brinley. “Oh, god. Please tell me you won’t catch baby fever after marriage, too.”

“Maybe I have already,” Brinley says, waggling her eyebrows.

“With the amount of vodka you have in your system?” Maura says. “I think she’s safe for now, Pips.”

Brinley throws her head back in laughter. Her crown of white and pink flowers contrasts beautifully with her dark hair, and she’s glowing with happiness, surrounded by love. It’s everything I ever wanted for her, and seeing it makes me thrilled and heartbroken at the same time.

We haven’t talked, really talked, since our elevator argument. For the past month, we've been acting like we're not friends. I play the polite, professional wedding planner, and she plays the grateful, eager bride. I miss her so much that it hurts, even though she’s always only a text away. She’s just not acting like Brinley.

My eyes sting a little, warning me of tears. I quickly excuse myself to the kitchen to refill the snack bowls. I’m opening a new bag of Sour Patch Kids when Brinley appears at the kitchen door, her face flushed and grinning.

“Hi,” she says. She stumbles the tiniest bit on her way to the kitchen counter, letting me know that the drinks have gotten to her.

“Hi,” I reply carefully. “Can I get you anything?”

She shakes her head. “You’re already on candy refill duty. That’s all I need.”

“Good.”

I open a bag of peanut M&Ms, wondering if now’s the time to talk to Brinley about everything. Maybe I can ride tonight’s good energy into making her forgive me for letting things go too far with Luke. Maybe she’ll agree that falling in love with him, knowing I can’t have him, is punishment enough.

I stop myself from saying anything. I’m not about to ruin her bachelorette party by starting up an awkward conversation.

Like she can read my mind, Brinley reaches for my hand and squeezes it tight.

“Eden, you’re so good,” she says. “You’re so incredibly good at planning. I’m blown away by how perfect tonight is. Everything—the cottages, the wildflowers, the whole week—it’s better than I ever imagined it. Thank you.”

I smile tentatively at her. “I’m happy to do it.”

“I’m serious.” She leans forward, her eyes bright behind her glasses. “Your talent is incredible. You’re already doing great things with Flair, but in a few years, you’re going to build something even bigger. I know it.”

Joy fills my chest, making me feel like I could float away. “You don’t know how much that means to me, Brin. Especially coming from you.”

Brinley scoffs. “You mean coming from the girl who has no idea what it takes to plan an event? Who had never once thought about wedding favors until you asked me?”

“No,” I say fiercely. “Coming from the owner of the Peppermint Press, one of the most exciting new businesses in the city. You built a phenomenon, Brin. If I weren’t already your friend, I’d really want to be. I admire you so much.”

“Don’t make me cry,” she says. “I’m already susceptible to big feelings tonight as it is, and I don’t want to ruin my makeup for pictures.”

“Brinley.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “If you think I would let anyone take pictures of you at this stage of drunkenness, then you don’t realize what a consummate professional I am. Nobody is going to have evidence of you taking Jell-O shots while you lip sync to Rihanna.”

She throws back her head and laughs, and has to grab quickly for her flower crown to keep it from falling off, which only makes her laugh harder.

“I guess I better get back to the party before your mom decides to go to bed,” she says. “But we should talk. About—well, you know. Not right now, but maybe after the wedding?”

“Yes. Of course.”

I smile weakly as she makes her way back to the porch. Once Brinley and I get around to that conversation, the thing she wants to discuss won’t even exist anymore. Luke and I will be broken up, and everything can go back to normal—at least, for Brinley.

Grabbing the candy bowls, I plaster a smile on my face and rejoin the group. For the rest of the night, my plan is to take the wine bottle and keep on pouring. If I have a job to do, maybe I won’t think too hard about how this new chapter in Brinley’s love story will be the last chapter in mine.

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