Page 40 of Storm in a Teacup (Love in Edinburgh #3)

Linny

I wake up on my back, one arm resting above my head and the other resting across my chest, holding on to the hand attached to the arm Ben has draped across me.

His face is nuzzled in my neck and he is breathing deeply, still sound asleep.

I allow myself to lie there for a bit in this morning bliss, unwilling to check the time because I know whatever time it is will be a signal for me to get up.

I could stay here forever with Ben this close to me.

Ugh , I really should get up. Ben and I aren’t supposed to be doing this.

This is not “fake” dating, this is just dating.

We spend time together whenever possible.

We have deep conversations. We have sex.

We sleep an entire night in each other’s arms. Then we lie to ourselves and say that this is nothing.

That we’re not dating. That we’re nothing more.

We can’t be more. I’ve let myself get in too deep. I really, really care about this man, but I cannot let myself fall for him. My head will remain below my heels. I can’t do it. I refuse.

But the problem is, he makes me feel whole, too. He’s not supposed to do that—because it will hurt so much more when he realizes that he does not want what my future holds.

However, I’m content to enjoy the rest of this morning—the rest of today, rather. The last day I will allow us to have.

Carefully, I stretch an arm out to grab my phone and glasses from the nightstand.

I slip the glasses on first, angling them awkwardly on the tip of my nose so I don’t have to lift my head to look at my phone.

When I do, I see three missed calls from Mel and two from Kensie, along with over a dozen panicked texts.

“Shit.” I slide out from Ben’s arms and run to the bathroom, putting my contacts in as I try to call Mel. She doesn’t answer, so I try Kensie.

She answers on the first ring. “Linny, thank god. Mel is flipping out. She got so worked up that she didn’t sleep a wink last night.

She showed up at our hotel room early this morning in tears because there was a black mark on her dress.

We got it out, it’s fine, but now she has locked herself in the loo and won’t come out. ”

“Shit,” I say again. “Okay. Okay. I’ll be right there.” I pause. “Not to be insensitive about this, but do I have time to shower? I mean, I’ll get there and I’ll get her out of the bathroom and the wedding will go on, so I’m going to need to be clean, right? Or no, I should just come.”

Kensie lets out a light laugh. “Shower. Please. But do so quickly.”

I hang up and turn on the shower, hopping in before the water fully grows warm to start scrubbing myself down.

I opt out of washing my hair because I washed it yesterday, but I do take the time to shave my legs.

It’s a chop job, and I surely left some patches of hair on my knees, but my dress is floor length, so I don’t care.

I wrap my robe around myself before I grab a large cosmetics bag from off the shelf in my bathroom and throw all of my makeup into it, my curling iron, dry shampoo, and hairspray.

I run back into my room to find Ben awake and sitting up in bed. God, he’s cute as he smiles at me, sleepy and happy with his hair sticking up all over the place. But his smile drops when he sees the panic on my face.

“Mel locked herself in the bathroom,” I explain, stripping myself of my robe, not caring that Ben is watching me, and pulling on leggings and a T-shirt.

“I have to go talk her off the ledge.” I sit down on the edge of the bed to tie my sneakers.

“Can you feed Oscar Wilde for me? You can let yourself out. I’ll leave my keys, and you can give them back to me at the wedding.

” I get up and grab my dress from off the door and shoes from my closet. “Is that fine?”

He stands from the bed and places both his hands on my shoulders. “It’s fine. Go on. I’ll take care of everything here.”

My body sags gratefully—and even though I want to kiss him, I don’t.

I turn on my heel and rush out of my building.

The hotel that Mel and everyone coming in from out of town are staying at is closer to the church than the city center, so I have to catch a bus there.

I take the bus, then run the entire ten minutes it takes to get to the hotel on a road with very little shoulder with my arms very full.

I get to the hotel and rush past reception to head toward the elevator, wondering too late if I need a key to get up to the rooms. Thankfully, I don’t, so I press the button for the fourth floor with my foot.

I find the room quickly once I get to the correct floor. The door flies open before I even have the chance to knock.

“I heard you coming,” Kensie says, gesturing me inside.

She’s in a pink robe with her dark hair done up and about half her face etched with makeup.

I’m sure with nothing else to do with Mel locked in the bathroom, she started to get ready.

Which I get. A wedding will be happening today.

Jen waves at me from the bed, still in sweats, but her hair also done.

I drop my things over the desk and chair, and then go to the bathroom door. I knock hard. “Mel? It’s Linny. Can you let me in?”

No response or indication that she even heard me. If we weren’t on the fourth floor, I’d be afraid she climbed out a window.

“Melly?” I try again to no response. I sigh. Fine, I’ll do this the invasive way. I go back to my bag and dig out my wallet. From it, I pull an old gift card. Kensie watches me curiously, likely wondering what I plan to do with it.

I stick the card in the door and wiggle it until I hear the lock click open. I smirk back at the other women. “My mom taught me that.”

I push into the bathroom, saying, “Mel?” She hardly glances up at me from the bathtub where she has stationed herself.

She’s in her white, silk robe, hair poorly pulled into a claw clip and eyes red from lack of sleep.

I close the door behind me, the wedding dress hanging on the back of it slapping against the wood.

I slip off my shoes and climb into the tub across from her. She still doesn’t say anything, but holds the open Champagne bottle, likely meant for mimosas, across the tub for me to take. I play along, accepting the bottle and having a swig of it before setting it down outside of the tub.

I take her hands in mine, sliding my feet across the porcelain to interlock with hers. “What’s wrong, Melly?”

Her shoulders lift, then she lets out a little Champagne burp.

“Classic case of cold feet?”

She says softly, “Julien doesn’t look at me like that anymore. ”

I cock my head. “Like how?”

“Like how Ben looks at you.” She pulls from my grasp and throws her arm out in a gesture toward the bedroom. “Like how Kensie looks at Jen.” She drops her forehead on her knees.

I can’t say anything for how Ben looks at me because I’ve never noticed any significance in it, but I do know what she is talking about with how Kensie looks at Jen.

It’s the same as how Jen looks at Kensie.

How Isla and Rachel look at each other. How David and Callum look at each other.

And, the same as how Julien looks at Mel.

I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it and been so deeply jealous of it.

“Yes, he does,” I say firmly. “Maybe you stopped noticing it because you’re used to how he sees you, but he looks at you like that. He loves you so much, Mel.”

She glances up at me with big eyes. “You think?”

“ Yes ,” I say vehemently. “My eyes are not always to be trusted, but I have seen the way he looks at you. He is crazy about you. And I’ve seen the way you look at him, too.”

“I love him,” she says, a tear slipping from her eye.

“I know you do.” I grab her hand again. “You want to marry him. And he wants to marry you. You’re a little scared. It’s perfectly natural.”

She nods slowly, then stares at her dress. “There was a black mark on my dress this morning. It felt like a bad omen.”

“Kensie got it out. It’s not a bad omen. I bet it was just grease on the door hinges that you hung it on. But it’s in plastic now, so it’s safe.”

“But…” She shakes her head.

“But what?”

“But is that it? One thing goes wrong and we fix it, but it completely breaks me. What if something worse happens? ”

“Nothing worse will happen. Something always has to go wrong, but this was it. And it’s been fixed. Everything else will be fine.” I knock lightly on her head. “Knock on wood.”

She swats my hand away, but smiles. “Yeah.”

“Mel, do you want to marry Julien? Like, if you didn’t marry him today, would you be sad?”

She stares at me like I’m crazy. “I’d be devastated.”

I lean back in the tub. “Then, that’s that. We get through the ceremony, which we rehearsed quite well yesterday, then we have a party. And you’ll be married. And you’ll have so much good sex tonight.”

She laughs wetly.

“And you’ll continue to be outlandishly, obnoxiously happy. Okay?”

“Okay.” She leans across the tub to pull me into a tight hug. “Thank you, Linny.”

“Of course.” I sigh, thinking about what she said about how Ben looks at me. When I pull back, I say, “Not to make this about me, but can I tell you something?”

She waves me off. “I welcome the distraction.”

“Ben and I aren’t dating.”

She cocks her head to the side, confused. “You broke up?”

“No. We were never actually dating. I lied. He’s been pretending to be my boyfriend.”

She continues to look extremely confused. “Why?”

I lose her eye. “You told me Atti would be at the hen do, and I freaked out. I needed someone by my side.” Quietly, I add, “I also wanted to show him that someone else could love me.”

“Oh, Linny. Of course someone else could love you. Things didn’t work out with Atti because he’s a wanker.” She purses her lips. “But Ben is not. Why aren’t you actually dating him? ”

“I don’t want to date anyone. You know this. And he’s in love with someone else. It’s complicated.”