It Started with a Snap by Piper James

Chapter Three

Ember

“Here’s to Dakota! May she always be as happy and in love as she is right now.”

I clinked the neck of my beer against the raised glasses, took a sip, and lifted the bottle into the air, adding, “And may the hot sex never turn into boring, old, married-people sex, humping missionary-style under the covers with all the lights out on Tuesdays and every other Saturday.”

“Hey!” Belle shouted after spewing out some of her drink. “I’ll have you know married-people sex is even hotter than single-people sex.”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that,” I responded, smirking as I lifted my beer bottle in her direction.

Sage shook her head at me, unable to contain her smile, and Dakota chuckled as she took another drink of her cocktail. I blew a kiss at Belle and winked, and in return, she lifted her hand and flipped me off. She, Sage, and I had been best friends since elementary school, practically inseparable. Dakota was a year below us in school, so while we knew her and had considered her a friend, she wasn’t a part of our tight circle. Not until last year, when Sage and I asked her to come to Belle’s man-bashing party when she and Ryder broke up for a short time. She fit right in like she’d been there all along, and the rest was history.

I was trying not to overdo it. These women knew me better than anyone, and if I became too loud and obnoxious, they’d know something was wrong and call me out on it. But I also couldn’t curl up into a ball and cry like I desperately wanted to. I needed to act as normal as possible and celebrate my friend’s joy. Then I could go home and wallow in my own pity for a while before pulling myself together and figuring out a resolution to my problems.

“Belle, how are you even drinking? Isn’t that bad for the baby?” Dakota asked, nodding toward Belle’s whiskey sour.

“Yeah, is Jamie going to get drunk off your breastmilk and start slurring his screams and farts?” I asked, keeping my expression as innocent as possible.

“First of all,” Belle said, shooting me a dark look, “my baby is perfect, and he does a lot more than scream and fart.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes exaggeratedly toward Dakota.

“Shut up,” Belle said, laughing as she reached over and thumped me on the shoulder. “And secondly, no, I won’t be feeding him with this glorious booze in my system. I have fresh, clean milk in the freezer, and I plan on executing the trusty old pump and dump tonight.”

“The…what?” I asked, horror twisting my expression as I stared at her with wide eyes. “What the fuck is that?”

Belle’s laughter washed over me, and I looked at Sage. She shrugged like she knew exactly what Belle meant. I couldn’t tell if they were fucking with me, or not. I knew next to nothing about babies or how to breastfeed them. It all seemed alien to me. I was pretty sure whoever gave out the mothering instinct was out of town the day I was born.

“You pump the milk and dump it out. Pump and dump,” Belle explained.

“Oh,” I said. “That makes sense, I guess.”

I refused to tell her I was having visions of her pumping her breastmilk while on the toilet, taking a dump. It made zero fucking sense, and I have no clue why my twisted brain went there. Like I said, I knew nothing about babies and how to keep them alive.

“I thought you meant you were going to pump the milk, then take a shit to get the rest out,” Dakota said as she barked out a laugh.

I fell into a fit of giggles fueled by the alcohol in my system. At least I wasn’t the only clueless one. Belle and Sage laughed, too, and as soon as they turned their attention to the waitress who came to refresh our drinks, I held up a fist to Dakota.

“Same,” I chuckled as she bumped hers against it.

“Right?” she said, her eyes wide. “Whoever came up with that term had a twisted sense of humor.”

“So, I have more news,” Dakota said when the waitress left and we all had fresh drinks. “Noah and I are planning to visit my parents in Florida so they can meet my fiancé.”

She dragged the last word out, singing it in a high-pitched voice as she held her hand up to show off the ring again. We clapped and cheered while she preened and fluttered her eyelashes. It was all so silly, but shit, we were celebrating. It was okay to be silly every once in a while.

“When will you leave?” Sage asked.

“We booked the plane tickets this morning. We leave next week. Oh, and my sister is flying out from San Diego to meet us there.”

“That’s great,” Belle said. “They’re all going to love Noah.”

“What’s not to love?” Dakota asked, her expression going all dreamy for a second.

“Barf,” I said, covering it with a cough, and Dakota shoved my shoulder.

“Wait until I show you the video he made to propose to me. You’re going to be bawling like a baby within seconds.”

“You said he worked on it for months?” Sage asked, taking a sip of her drink.

“I guess he bought the ring in April. He carried it around with him every day and took videos of me while I wasn’t paying attention, always putting the ring in the forefront. I had no fucking clue he was doing that. I was a mess watching it, tears and snot flying all over as I tried not to die from pure happiness and shock.”

“That’s so sweet,” Belle said, swooning a little. “Who would’ve thought Noah would turn out to be such a romantic?”

“I knew,” Dakota said, raising her hand in the air. “Anyway, it’s going to melt your heart, Ember.”

“Doubtful,” I said drily. “Stone doesn’t melt.”

“Oh please,” Belle said, grabbing a lock of my blonde hair and tugging it. “You have a huge squishy heart. You just like to hide it from everyone. But you can’t fool us.”

“So, Florida, huh?” I asked, my eyes imploring Dakota to change the subject.

I did not need my friends getting all drunk-sappy on me. Because if they did, I would crumble and tell them everything. And I didn’t want my troubles to rain on Dakota’s parade.

“Yeah,” she said, taking the hint. “My parents are so excited, and Virginia is, too. They’re ready to welcome Noah into the family with open arms.”

“How long are you staying?” Sage asked.

“For six days,” she said, then stiffened slightly. “Which reminds me, would one of you be willing to look after Kane while we’re gone?”

Kane was Noah and Dakota’s dog, a tiny fluff ball of pure energy they’d adopted several months ago. Sage and Belle both had dogs of their own, and I knew they’d happily take him in for a while, but something made me pipe up.

“I’ll watch him,” I said quickly before the others could offer.

Dakota tilted her head to study me like I was the last person she’d expected to volunteer. And honestly, I normally would be. But something about having that adorable fuzzy pup to snuggle on for a few days appealed to me.

“Thanks, Em, but…you don’t have a yard. Are you sure you’d be up for walking him every day?”

I nodded. “I know I live in town, but there’s a nice park a block down where he can do his business. I don’t mind, really. I’d love to take him.”

I flinched internally at the desperation in my voice. I didn’t know why it was so important to me. I’d always liked dogs, but I never felt the need to have one of my own. They were a lot of work and demanded a lot of attention.

But I could handle the responsibility for six days if it meant I got to cuddle with Kane and not be alone for a while.

Dakota nodded in agreement, and I smiled, pushing out the confusion wracking me after that last thought. I liked being alone. God, this turmoil in my life was really fucking with me.

“Okay, it’s settled, then,” Belle said. “And if Kane proves to be too much for you, Ember, you can always bring him to my house.”

“You don’t think I can handle a tiny puppy?” I asked, arching a brow.

“Tiny puppies are the craziest,” Dakota said. “But it’s a wonderful kind of crazy. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“Damn straight,” I replied, clinking my beer against her glass when she held it up to me.

“Noah said with us being gone and Ryder taking some time off for baby-bonding with Jamie, Chase and Ethan might just shut down PBC for a couple of weeks,” Dakota said, turning her attention to Sage.

Sage nodded. “They might. I know they’re finishing up their current projects, and Chase has mentioned taking some time off. We can’t really go on a vacation right now with Daniel and I having school, but he needs a break.”

“I know Ethan is trying to finish up the exterior on his house before winter,” Belle said, bringing up the fourth Perry brother. “Wait until you guys see the place. He’s done a remarkable job, and all by himself. It looks amazing.”

“No, thanks,” I muttered with a frown.

“Oh, come on Em. You’re not still holding a grudge, are you?” Sage asked, shaking her head.

“He called me slutty,” I gritted out, my body filling with anger like it did every time I thought of that man.

“That was months ago,” Sage chided, shaking her head. “And he was drunk. And he apologized. Profusely, if my memory is correct.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I grumbled. “We all know alcohol is a truth serum. He said exactly what he thought of me.”

I’d never forget the night I walked into Chase and Sage’s house to hear a drunk Ethan complaining to an equally drunk Chase that I was loud and annoying. And Slutty.

Mother fucker. Who the hell does he think he is, slut-shaming me?

When he tried to apologize to me, I told him he had a stick up his ass the size of a telephone pole and it would take the jaws of life to pull it out. Not my most mature moment, to be sure, but I was fucking irate.

“And I still don’t understand why it bothered you so much,” Belle said, pulling me from my thoughts. “You’ve never let what anyone thinks about you get under your skin. Not once, in all the years I’ve known you.”

I shrugged. “It just hit me the wrong way, coming from him.”

“Yeah, that much was obvious. But it still doesn’t explain why,” she shot back.

“And it doesn’t explain why you’re still pissed. It’s been almost eight months, Ember,” Sage added, arching an auburn brow at me.

“Ethan Perry can suck a dick,” I said instead of explaining.

Because I couldn’t explain. I didn’t know why his words crawled up under my skin and festered there when stuff anyone else said about me rolled right off my back. And there’d been a lot of stuff said about me over the years. I knew that, and I owned it. It was my life, the only one I got, and damn it, I was going to live it.

I gave zero fucks what anyone had to say about me. Until Ethan.

Fucker.

“Enough of that,” I said, shaking off the dark mood creeping up on me. “We’re here to celebrate Dakota and Noah. To the happy couple.”

I lifted my beer, and the others followed suit. We had a great night, and I somehow managed to push all my troubles aside for a few more hours.

Tomorrow would be soon enough to start stressing again.