Page 46 of Beyond the Fame

“How did you sleep?”

I smile. “Very well, actually.”

He takes my hand and kisses my palm.

“Good. Because we’re not sleeping tonight.”

He gives me a cocky grin before turning over on his side, his back to me. He's already fast asleep.

We're not sleeping tonight.

Fuck me.

I’m thankful for the bath with Jensen last night because I had no time to shower or even look in the mirror this morning. I dress in a pair of leggings and an oversized button-up shirt. After putting my hair into a messy bun, I slip on some flip-flops and grab the bag containing my bridesmaid’s dress and ballet flats. I make it to Ginger’s bridal suite at the other side of the resort with one minute to spare.

People are running around taking care of the last-minute wedding details. A woman takes my bag, hands me a robe to change into for hair and makeup and points me to a bathroom. Once I emerge, a different woman collects my discarded clothes and hands me a glass of champagne. Then a third woman clutches my elbow and leads me through one massive room to another massive room (everyone is moving so fast that it’s all a blur, and I can’t even admire the décor) where the bride, Lana, Gram, and Bruno’s mother are sitting.

“Rebecca!” Lana holds up a near-empty glass of champagne, waiting for me to clink my glass with hers, and giggles.

“Are you drinking?”

She nods giddily, looking away from me after I accept her offered toast. She proceeds to clink her glass with Ginger’s almost full one and Gram’s half empty one. “Champagne to celebrate Ginger’s big day!”

“She’s clinked our glasses five times already. The booze is going to her head,” Gram snorts.

“It is not,” Lana gasps, giggles again, then playfully slaps at her grandmother’s arm. “I’ve only had one glass.”

“Being that you never drink,” Ginger begins, smiling at her best friend, “and the last time you had a drop of alcohol was, what, over twenty years ago in college… I’d say you’re feeling pretty good right now.”

“And you feel the effects of champagne faster because of the carbon dioxide in the bubbles,” I add. I learned that the hard way while briefly dating a politician. He took me to a charity event in Washington, D.C. and I had way too many glasses of champagne. I got wasted fast and tripped over my dress, knocking into a server, who spilled food all over a table of rich donors. Let’s just say, I immediately left that event, hailed a cab, and holed up in my hotel room for the rest of the night. The following day, I nursed a killer headache and ignored the politician’s calls until he realized I would never show my face around him ever again.

“Okay, fine,” Lana concedes. “My head is a little woozy and now my stomach hurts, but it’s totally worth it.”

Ginger rolls her eyes and snatches Lana’s glass, setting it far away from her. When she turns back, her eyes land on me and widen.

I look down to make sure I'm not flashing her.

“What?”

Of course, me saying that has Lana and Gram looking at me closer too. Lana cackles so loud, I swear I saw the walls vibrate.

“Did you have fun last night?” Gram asks, a mischievous grin on her wrinkly face.

“Oh yes. The bachelorette party was a blast.”

“What did you do after?” Lana prods.

My heart thuds in my chest. Do they know? How could they know?

“I... went to sleep?”

“Liar!” Ginger and Lana yell at the same time.

A woman standing near a wall of windows with a fantastic view of the ocean looks up from the clipboard to stare at us. Bruno’s mother, who doesn’t speak a word of English, smiles and darts her eyes between us all. She doesn’t speak English, but she sure understands it.

Eloise, who had been sitting in a chair in a corner, messing with her camera, hears the commotion and stands to join us. Her brow raises pointedly at me. “Damn girl, who left that hickey on your neck?”

I suck in a breath, my eyes bugging out, as my palm slaps the side of my neck.

---