Page 22 of Merry Mix-Up

Oh, my God, Amber was the perfect person for the job of maid of honor. She was just as obnoxious as Naomi, and I knew she'd have made sure every detail of everything was worked out perfectly for her best friend.

"It's fine. Okay? I'm just making this look good so she knows you're—or I'm—not coming." Keeping things straight was getting frustrating.

"Okay, well make her happy. Oh, and I heard you hurt your ankle." Amber's words made my blood cool, but it was the tone with which she said it that alarmed me. I tensed and wondered how she'd heard anything, or from whom. It wasn't me, and it definitely wasn’t Newt, so that only left my parents.

"Yeah, I told you. Slip and fall…"

"Uh, down the hill at the lodge with Newt?" she grumbled. "I told you he was off limits, Jade. What if someone had seen you two out?"

"No one saw us," I hissed and glanced at the closed bedroom door. Naomi was still putting the dress on and I was glad. "It was eight o'clock in the morning and there wasn’t even anyone there." I felt guilty even defending myself. I was toying with her reputation and it wasn’t even on purpose. I really liked Newt a lot, and I wished he knew I was me. But I was pretending andI knew any second, this whole thing could backfire for everyone involved. "Why can't you just come and?—"

"Is that Jade?" Naomi squeaked. "Jade, get your ass over here!"

I felt the blood drain from my cheeks. My bickering match with Amber was over for now, but she had only just started. I knew the call later tonight would only be more of her telling me what a horrible position I was putting her in.

"Just tell her I'm too busy screwing your life over to show up." The snarky comment upset me, but I had it coming.

"Fine," I grunted, and I ended the call and locked my phone to deal with Naomi. She looked beautiful in the dress even without hair and makeup. I knew I'd outdone myself on the tailored fit, too. She would only need a few alterations, if any at all.

"Is she coming?" Naomi asked, and I could already hear the annoying tone she got when she was going to say something negative about me, thinking I was Amber. It was disappointing, to say the least.

"Uh, no. She's too busy screwing up my life right now…" The words stung as I said them because I knew it was something Amber would really say about me, and it was true, too. I was screwing with her life. Openly dating Newt had always been off the cards, so I had been stupid for risking being seen with him in public like that yesterday.

"My God, she has to be the biggest pain all the time. Doesn't she understand how important this day is to me?" Naomi's whiny tone took over now, and it was easier to deal with than the rude, snarky tone but still annoying. "I only get one dream wedding."

I took her by the shoulders and forcibly pushed her into the bedroom to stand in front of her full-length mirror where I could focus her on her beautiful dress instead of the momentarydiscouragement of "Jade" not showing up. I did realize how important this day was to her, and while I should have just taken my lumps for wrecking Mom's car and gotten it over with, at this point, we were in too deep.

Naomi might have been annoying, but Amber was my sister. I had to keep up the ruse and make sure her friendship didn't suffer. Besides, I was too nice and my heart was too kind to sabotage the twin swap just because my sister was a tool at times.

"Who needs her? Look how gorgeous you are." And with that the squealing commenced again, and I just had to play pretend a bit longer. Then I could go home and hide and try to think up a way to avoid Newt for the next few days so I didn't piss Amber off any more.

He was just so damn tempting…

14

NEWT

December 15th

The music was pumping, strobe lights flashing in time with the beat, and I was on the dance floor having the time of my life. The DJ I hired for this combined bachelor-bachelorette party was on fire, playing the hottest hits from a few decades. Naomi and Jared were enjoying it too and getting wasted in the process. As an outsider from their friend group, it seemed they all got along well, except Amber, who seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. She was rigid and serious and stone-cold sober. I hadn’t seen her drink one sip all night, though I had plenty of time to check out that red miniskirt she wore, showing off her sexy legs.

I also had barely interacted with her. Having given her my promise that I'd keep our fling on the down low, I couldn't exactly ask her to dance. And since I wasn't even close to Naomi's friends' age, I felt a bit out of place trying to fit in and dance with them. So I stuck to the edge of the room where I could observe Amber and enjoy the night, but I kept dancing, anyway.

When Amber slipped away to use the toilet, I picked up a few drinks from the bar and followed. The old lodge felt more like abarn that had been renovated and turned into a venue for events. It was rustic with wood paneling on the walls and pictures of the horses they stabled here mounted in rustic frames. It had a very unique atmosphere, and I could see why Naomi wanted this for her wedding venue.

Amber walked out of the bathroom and looked shocked to see me. "Newt, I, uh…" Her eyes flicked toward the dance floor just down the hallway. The lights were brighter here, and I could see how she worried her lip between her teeth.

"You've been having some fun tonight… I thought maybe we could just talk a while." I handed her the drink, and she looked into it and then back at the party we were missing. I wondered if my standing here in this hallway talking to her constituted our being alone together or risked a negative reaction from Naomi.

"Uh, sure, we can talk." She sipped the drink, but I noticed her nose scrunch a little.

"You seem to be avoiding me tonight, and I wondered if it was because?—"

"Just don't want Naomi's big day to be shadowed by us flirting and hanging on each other. That's all." The way she cut me off seemed uncharacteristic, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt. She was the only sober person in a room of wild twenty-somethings getting their groove on.

"Your ankle feels better?" I asked, remembering how she was just out there twirling around the dancefloor easily.

"Yes, much." Amber took another sip and her nose scrunched again. It was cute.

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