“How many different damn ways can you remake a tuxedo?” We’d already been in the shop for an hour and we were no closer to making a decision than when Blake, Walker and I walked in. “Can’t I just wear the tux I already have? Either of them?”

“No. Poppy has something very specific in mind so that’s what we’re doing.” Blake, once again, coming to his bride-to-be’s defense. No shock there.

“It would be nice if she knew what that was,” Walker offered, laughing as he strutted in front of the mirror in a three-piece suit. “Maybe I’ll get this for my own wedding.”

Blake and I both froze but it was Blake who spoke. “Strange since I don’t recall you asking for my permission.”

“Or mine.”

He looked at us in the mirror and smirked. “Stranger still you think I should considering Lacey is an adult woman capable of making her own decisions. Besides, who said I did the asking?”

He was fucking with us, I knew it. “After everything I would think you’d at least pretend to give a damn about our feelings.” I’d been pissed at first when he hooked up with Lacey but they were the real deal, just like Blake and Poppy.

“Fuck you, Luke. Did you ask Poppy before you started fucking her best friend? And you Blake, did you ask Maple or Talia for permission? Better yet, did either of you talk to Lacey before you went dropping your cocks all over town? I didn’t think so.” He disappeared into the dressing room and once again, I felt like an ass.

“What the hell is your problem?” Blake looked at me like I was in the wrong.

“My problem is that I’ve done every damn thing you’ve asked and now we’ve been in this place for an hour with no end in fucking sight!”

“You have someplace else you’d rather be?”

“You’re unbelievable, you know that? You and Poppy deserve each other. You’ve both been unbearable these past few months, making every fucking demand on the planet and thinking a sheepish ‘thanks’ was all that was required. And do you even have the decency to respect my time or Walker’s today? No, because you do whatever Poppy wants and fuck the rest of us.”

“Maybe if you-,”

“No! Fuck that. You don’t get to do that right now, not right now. You both have been absolute assholes, selfish assholes about all of this so when your chick gets her shit together, let me know and maybe I’ll be back.” I brushed past Walker and left the boutique, taking a left and just walking. My head was too full of everything and until I cleared it, I wouldn’t be able to make one damn decision.

I walked and walked, stopping for a bottle of water or a sandwich when I needed it, but otherwise I just walked. The changing scenery and people helped, but not much. All I could think about was Talia and how angry I was at her and for her.

She’d thought the absolute worst of me and that sucked but the fact that Blake and Poppy saw nothing wrong with their behavior pissed me off on her behalf. It was an unfamiliar feeling to me, but it needed to be said and I wouldn’t apologize for it.

Just like I wouldn’t be apologizing to Talia for something I didn’t do. Each time the thought popped into my mind, I could hear Maple saying she was going to run, and I felt sick to my stomach.

I wasn’t surprised when the phone rang and it was Lacey. As twins we often had weird, unexplainable moments of connection. She knew when I needed her and vice versa. “What’s up, Lace?”

“Walker said you blew up at Blake and left the tuxedo shop, why?” She gasped and swore as I told her everything from the first day Blake gave us the wedding plans until today inside the shop. “That’s…fucked up. It also doesn’t sound like either of them.”

“Which is probably why Talia hasn’t told them to shove it up their asses yet.” I hoped that was why and not something worse.

Lacey was quiet for a moment and I thought maybe the call dropped, but she was doing her quiet thinking thing. “She has seemed off lately but I believed her when she said she was just tired.”

Yeah me too. But maybe it was just easier to believe that than to look inside a person and see the truth that they wouldn’t or couldn’t share. Talia only had Poppy to open up to and now Poppy’s life had changed drastically, effectively leaving her behind.

“Shit.” I was as bad as everyone else, taking from her with no regard for what Talia wanted or needed. “Shit!” I needed to find Talia. Now.

We had a lot to talk about and I wouldn’t let her go until we did.