It's What You Do to Me

It's What You Do to Me (Epilogue)

“It’s hard to believe that he actually tried to get you and River to break up,” Marnie informed us, her toes squishing into the carpet a little as she painted her toenails. “I mean, you guys are just such good friends now and everything that you wouldn’t think he had a crush on you.”

“Well, he got shot because of me,” I reminded her flatly, not wanting to remember that horrible night all those years ago. The only good part about that night was that it was the last time that I had ever seen Kendra. I didn’t know where she was now, but I honestly didn’t care at all. As long as she was far away from River and me, that was all I cared about. “I wasn’t about to be a bitch and be ungrateful.”

“It’s not going to bother River that he’s there, is it?” Julie now asked me, pulling her knees up to her chin as she sat next to Marnie on the carpet. “I mean, he did know that Jay had a crush on you…”

“The better question is whether or not there’s going to be paparazzi or not,” Alice interrupted before I could answer Julie. “I mean, Jay’s still pretty popular even though it’s been years since he got famous. The wedding’s at your house, so what happens if it gets swarmed by paparazzi?”

“We’re screwed?” Bekka guessed, and I couldn’t help but laugh at this. “Unless Jay has bodyguards or something, there really isn’t anything we can do about that. The last time we all had anything to do with cops, it was with Delilah and that Higginson guy.”

I grimaced. “Jeez, don’t remind me of him. The most important day of my life is tomorrow and you’re terrifying me with thoughts of the past.”

Bekka smiled apologetically. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I shrugged, letting out a deep breath that I didn’t even realize I had been holding. I was so nervous about getting married, and thinking about Mr. Higginson didn’t help me out at all. I hadn’t heard from him since Mr. Ridgeway and Ms. Vierra’s wedding, and that was definitely a good thing. I also hadn’t heard from Keith, and I couldn’t help but wonder how things were going with him. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I would ever hear from Keith again.

“Is not seeing River since yesterday just driving you insane?” Marnie asked me with a sly grin, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her. “I mean, you guys are so inseparable that it’s like he’s inside of you!”

“Gross,” Bekka commented, not even looking up at her nails that she was inspecting.

Marnie’s eyes widened, and her face turned bright red. “I… I didn’t mean it in that way!”

Alice winked at her. “Sure you didn’t.”

Marnie buried her face in her hands, waiting until her cheeks cooled down to look back up at us. I understood what she had been saying, but I couldn’t help but laugh when everyone else took it dirtily. I definitely did love my friends more than anything…

“But I think River is probably having a worse time without Delilah,” Bekka voiced her opinion, still not looking up from her nails. “He’s like Delilah’s little puppy or something.”

“He is not,” I defended, pulling my knees to my chin now. Wow, we still sounded like we were in high school. “River just loves me, that’s all.”

“And Avery loves me, but he’s nowhere near as devoted as River is to you,” Bekka informed me, pointing the nail file at me when she finally looked up from her nails. “It’s a compliment, dude.”

When there was a knock on my bedroom door, I was the only one that jumped in surprise. I still wasn’t good with those kinds of things, and I didn’t think that I ever would be. After everything that happened with Mr. Higginson, I was probably the most jumpy person on the planet.