Piecing Together Sydney (A Sydney West Novel Book 3) (3 page)

He cocked his head to the side, studying the past me I saw more as a ghost now. “That’s intense. The only thing I tried was pot.”

I ran my hands up and down my thighs, not comfortable with the topic of drugs. “I tried more than I should have, but never meth. That shit ruined my father and I swore I’d never touch it.”

He nodded. “Yeah, that shit is bad. I’m glad you kept that oath to yourself.”

“Yeah.” I touched his knee. “Speaking of messed up fathers, you can talk to me about yours if—”

“Shower is open!” Hunter held Amelia close to his chest, they were only wearing towels.

“We’re going to bed. Night!” He towed her to their bedroom. I could only guess what those two were about to do.

“Let’s take a shower.” Jason stood up and offered me his hand.

“All right.” So much for the topic of fathers.

Jason shelved my photo album on the bookcase and undressed me in the bathroom. As the water poured down on us we kissed, and the cool wall pressed into my back. Jason’s hand slid down my moist skin, finding my sweet spot.

My mind blanked and my eyes rolled back into my head. “Holy fuck,” I murmured.

He kissed me like it was urgent, as if he’d never see me again. He grabbed my hair, pulling my head back as he entered me. All his built up frustration was pounded into me, making my folds open for Jason as he went deeper and deeper. If it wasn’t for his arm around my waist and the other lost in my hair I would’ve slid down the wall and disappeared through the drain in a pool of mush.

When we finished, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body. Jason wanted to shave, so I left him to it as he prepared the sink. There was a light blue sticky note on the bedroom door. I tilted my head. Hearing Amelia and Hunter’s bed springs, I knew they were getting it on, but why leave me a note first?

I grabbed it and read.

We’re wedding planning  tomorrow! I’m waking you up at 9.

-A

“Damn, I hate when she wakes me up. She’s like a drill sergeant.”

A nervous pit twisted in my stomach. Wedding planning. God help me.

At nine on the dot, Amelia pounded on the door and let herself in. She walked to my side of the bed and nudged it with her legs, making it shake. “Get up, sleepyhead. It’s time to plan your wedding!”

I moaned, rolling over. “Can’t I—”

She ripped the blanket off of Jason and me. “Nope.”

Jason sat up and reached for the blanket. “Why am I being punished?”

“You don’t get to sleep if I don’t.” I elbowed him in the ribs. “Get up.”

He grabbed his pillow and buried his head under it. “Can’t make me.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a child.”

Amelia snickered. “Just wait until you have kids of your own.” She grabbed my arm, pulling me out of the warm sheets. “Now come on. I have a tasting lined up and we’re looking for flowers. I wanted to do dresses later, but your mom wants to be here for that.”

My head spun. Flowers? Tastings? Dresses? Children! This was too much for me. All I wanted was to curl into Jason’s chest and sleep forevermore. Why did that have to involve so much work?

Despite what I wanted to do, I left my bed and went into the bathroom to piece myself together. I ran a brush through my long, dirty blonde hair, but didn’t bother to tame the crazy waves. I didn’t like my wavy hair, but my mom always insisted it was pretty. I was going to believe her today; besides, I wasn’t sure how to look for

tastings and flowers anyways. I mean, I was the bride, but did I always have to be perfect? After slapping on some foundation, a bit of blush and a touch of eye shadow, I was done with makeup. Jason sat on the foot of the bed with his hair pointing in all directions as he put on his shoes.

“She finally got you up.”

He gave me a mean look. “Your best friend
pushed
me out of bed.”

I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing. “Oh? I didn’t hear any thud.”

Jason ran his hands through his hair and looked over at the closed door. “Okay, she
almost
pushed me out of bed. I was on the edge and finally gave in and got up.”

“She does that.” I sat next to him, kissing his cheek. “I’m sorry, but we’re tasting cakes, so that’s good, right?”

“I guess so.”

A knock came from the door. “Are you two dressed and ready?”

Jason moaned. I kissed him again and shouted back to Amelia, “Yes, we’re ready.”

My best friend was born a wedding planner. She had the planners, the folders, everything. Jason and I dragged our bodies down the stairs to a super happy Amelia. She wore a sundress, but to us she was a dragon wearing a pretty girl’s skin.

She looked up from her phone and took us in, frowning. “I know you two aren’t big on weddings, but you need to look like you care. I’m here to help. I’m a master! I’ve seen all the movies with the best wedding scenes and my romance books have prepared me. Don’t worry about a thing.”

“If that’s true why am I needed?” I snagged my purse from the rocking chair and checked to see if my phone was inside; it was.

She clicked her tongue. “Because it’s
your
wedding, Sydney. You need to approve things, like colors and themes. I can’t do everything. Most brides think of their wedding for months on end. You ignored your wedding while in school, so we have to hurry to make your July date.”

“Can you blame me? Classes and work were pressing at the moment, the wedding wasn’t.” Plus I didn’t want to think of flowers and dresses. It might’ve put me more on edge. Jason and I were going from zero to sixty on the relationship scale.

“Whatever you say, Syd.”

Jason wrapped his arm around my hips. “It’s okay, Syd. We got this.”

We walked toward the door to leave. “I hope so.”

I hit the unlock button on my key fob and got into my silver Charger, turning over its engine. Amelia slid into the passenger’s seat and buckled her seatbelt. Jason sighed and got into the backseat without a word.

“Where are we going first?” I buckled myself in and lowered the volume on the radio so we could talk.

She looked at her phone. I could only imagine all the schedules she had planned on there. If she was like this for my wedding, I could see hers now. It would be like a royal wedding with people all over and honestly so much chaos it gave me a headache to think about.

“Hmm.” She kept sliding through things. I backed out of the driveway and put the car into park. We idled next to the road.

I tapped my fingers on the top of the steering wheel. “I need to know which direction to drive.”

She nodded and pressed her lips together in thought. “Yeah, I know. We should do the tasting first. It starts in a little over an hour, but we still need to drive there. It’s in LA” She gave me the address and I pulled onto the street, moving toward the highway.

“How do you feel not partying the summer away anymore?”

I looked into the rearview mirror, meeting Jason’s eyes. Jason knew about my past, but it still felt weird to have it brought up with him around. “I’m good. The clubs were too mainstream and it all became a blur to me after a while. It’s better to just chill with friends and surf. Plus Jason is amazing in the bedroom.”

Jason snickered. Amelia shook her head. “Of course you had to make it dirty.”

I shrugged. “You asked.”

She nodded. “Being in love sure makes us act strange. I can’t wait until I’m married and having babies. You know?”

I bit my bottom lip and held onto the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. “Mmm-hmm.”

She patted me on the thigh. “Never mind. This is a lot for you being anti-love for all those years. But can’t you see this is better for you? Haven’t you learned anything in your psychology classes about love?”

I continued to stare out the windshield. The traffic on the highway wasn’t bad, but it was still all around me. I envied the fast lane, but sadly it cost money to drive in it. “Yeah. I know people need people to survive. We’re built to want to keep our family heritage going. Besides, being married will help me relate more to my future patients. Who’d want a therapist who hated relationships and had never been in a long-term one in her life?”

Jason laughed. “Yeah, that wouldn’t make for a great career.”

“Thanks for that, dear.”

Amelia played with the radio, changing the channels. “Agreed, you two being together has been fantastic for both of you. Your lives have just begun.”

I side-eyed her. “What?”

She looked down at her nails. “That’s how romance books are anyways. The two lovers don’t know what life is until they meet, and then it’s all about being together.”

“Hmm, but we’re not in a novel. We’re real people.”

Jason cut in, “I see her point though. She’s all about love opening your eyes to the world and such.”

“Yes!” Amelia cried. She hit my arm. “See? Your man gets it.”

“Yeah. Okay, it’s a lot to take in. I just need to think of this in steps and we’ll make it.”

Jason touched my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Syd. We’re in this together.”

Amelia nodded. “That’s the spirit. Once we start piecing things together, I think it will finally come full circle for you and you’ll burst with excitement.”

I smiled, feeling my once cold heart warm at the thought of being excited about something other than parties. “Here’s hoping.”

To change the subject, I turned the radio up. It was playing “Hotel California” by the Eagles, and soon we were all singing along. At least we were, until a red car weaved in and out of lanes, driving like an idiot. I needed to get in front of him before he collided with me. I hit the gas pedal and passed three cars, putting that insane red car a good mile or two behind us.

“What was that about? Trying to kill us?” Amelia looked over her shoulder, trying to see why I floored it.

“Dude in the red car was drunk or something. I’d have to beat his ass if he hit my car with all the weaving he was doing.” I moved over to the right again, seeing our exit coming up. “Plus our exit is close.”

Jason playfully hit my arm. “Damn, Syd, you need to stop watching
Fast and the Furious
films.”

I flipped my hair over my shoulder. “Just don’t play against me in a
Need for Speed
video game because I will beat your ass. If they gave trophies away for that game, I’d own a few.”

“I don’t know. I’m pretty good at—”

Amelia turned in her seat and waved her hand dramatically to shut Jason up. “No! Never play against her, she’s worse than me. She’s crazy when playing those games.”

“No, I’m not. I just cuss every few minutes because the computer-run cars fucking cheat.”

Amelia sat back in her chair, keeping a good grip on her seatbelt. “It’s fine, Syd. We both know you’re a daredevil and love cars too much. God forbid there’s one scratch on your baby.”

“What?” I looked in my driver’s side mirror, searching for a mark on my silver paint. The urge to pull over and inspect my car flooded over me. “Did you see a scratch? If someone even put a small dent in my car, so help me—”

She shook her head violently, making her brown hair fly around her shoulders. “No. I was just saying.” Amelia shifted her weight toward the door, looking out the window. She was nervous around me when I had an edge to my voice.

“There’s nothing wrong with your car, Syd.” Jason assured me by squeezing both my shoulders for a moment.

“Okay.” I loosened my grip on the wheel. The blood loss was making my hands tingle. I got off the death trap of a freeway and turned left onto Orchard Avenue.

“The tasting place should be on the corner. We can park around back. It’s a fancy place, so please don’t embarrass me.”

I touched my chest, acting offended. “Me embarrass you? When have I ever?”

She let out a puff of air, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. “How about that one time in high school when you took my phone and texted Tony, knowing I was too scared to talk to him? You invited him to your house to party with us!”

I shrugged. “He said he was busy, so nothing happened.”

“But something could’ve happened, and then he knew I liked him. I had to avoid him in the halls after that.” She looked at the cement wall of a building as if it was playing the memories for her.

I chuckled. “God, talk about holding onto the past. I learned a few different ways to let go of resentment. You can realize you’re using resentment to replicate old dramas and acknowledge the past cannot change. You can forgive the person, not for them but for yourself, because it is only—”

She hit herself on the forehead. “Sydney, you don’t need to give me your psychobabble. I was simply pointing out a time you embarrassed me.”

I spotted our location and turned my blinker on, turning down the side street that lead to the parking lot. “All I was saying was you need to let that stuff go.”

I parked next to a black Porsche. Amelia unbuckled herself and grabbed her purse. “Whatever you do, if you don’t like something, don’t spit it out.”

A frown bent my lips. “I’m not five. I’ll get a napkin and spit it inside that. Do you think my mom taught me nothing?”

She opened the door and stood up. “I don’t know if you remember her lessons. You like to wave things aside.” She brushed away invisible lint off her dress to avoid my gaze.

I got out of my car and stood in front of the hood. “Ouch, talk about a burn.”

Amelia offered me her arm in a way of friendship. “Let’s make this civil and pick you out a wedding cake.” Jason stood behind us, not wanting to get in the middle.

“Come on.” Amelia hooked her other arm with Jason. She dragged us both around the side of the building. Amelia dropped both of our arms and opened the door. Jason motioned for me to enter first.

The scent of vanilla and chocolate hit me like a train. My mouth watered at the sight of all the display cakes. There were towers with frosting and the typical bride and groom on top. Others were different; they had Hawaiian flowers, and the colors were rich reds and oranges. I moved to the display glass next to the register. A blue cake with white sea shells caught my eye. I wanted my cake to not only taste good, but also stand out. Jason and I weren’t a typical couple, and we didn’t deserve a boring, traditional cake.

A woman about my mom’s age, maybe a few years older, came out of the back. She had on an apron covered in flour. She smiled at us and looked at a calendar next to the clock. “You must be Sydney and Jason. Ready for some samples?”

Amelia grabbed my arm, digging her nails into my flesh to remind me to behave. “This is Sydney. I’m their wedding planner and maid-of-honor.” She pushed me toward the woman.

We were alone with the woman in the cake shop. She pointed to a table by the arched window. “Take a seat and I’ll get the tray of samples for you.”

“Okay, great.” Amelia beamed at the woman and shooed Jason and me to the table. We all sat down and were quiet. I traced a circle on the purple and white polka dotted tablecloth with my finger until the woman returned.

“I forgot to tell you my name, I’m sorry about that.” She placed a tray full of thin slices of cake, three pieces of each, onto the table. “I’m Karen.” She offered me her right hand.