Making Me Sane (Sanity Book 2)

by Lindsay Paige

  “What in the hell just happened? Did you know he was going to propose?” I shake my head. “I can’t process this. It’s only been almost three months. THREE MONTHS! What are they doing? What if this is just some crazy idea they came up with? You know they’re impulsive. What if we should’ve talked them out of it? Are we seriously going to Vegas tonight? I…what…how…but…”

  I grab her shoulders. “They didn’t ask for our opinion or approval, so we aren’t asking questions. They’re excited, they came here and asked us to go with them because they want to share that moment with us, and we’re going to go and be supportive. Can you do that?”

  She nods, but picks up her phone. “What am I supposed to wear to this shindig?” she asks when Melissa answers the phone. I leave her to talk and head to our bedroom to pack. Ten minutes pass and I nearly have both of us packed when Brittany joins me. “I still think this is crazy.”

  “That they’re getting married or that they’re eloping to Vegas last minute?”

  “Both.” She peers into the piece of luggage and shifts through it. “I hate this shirt.” She pulls out one I snagged off the hanger and goes to get another one. If she hates it, why keep it? I keep that question to myself, though. “I hope she realizes how much I love her. I’m getting back on a plane and going back to Vegas. Just for her.”

  “This time will definitely be better than last time. Consider it a do-over.”

  She frowns as I toss in our toiletries. “There wasn’t anything wrong with the last trip.”

  “I didn’t even hang out with you one day and I bailed early another day.”

  “Yeah, but that didn’t make it a bad trip. You couldn’t help it and I wasn’t disappointed.”

  I smile. I’ve alway felt a little shitty about that, so it’s good to know she didn’t see it like I’ve been seeing it. “I love you.” I kiss her temple. “Am I forgetting anything?” I ask, looking down at the luggage we’ll be sharing.

  “Clothes? Check. Pajamas? Check. Underwear and bras?” She lifts the bra and panties I chose for her with a raised eyebrow.

  I take them and toss them back into the luggage. “Check.”

  “Hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste? Check, check, check. I guess whatever shoes we wear on the plane will be fine because Melissa said we’re renting outfits for the wedding. I feel like we’re forgetting something.”

  “Meds,” I say as it hits me.

  “Right.” Brittany grabs the pill bottles off my nightstand and throws them in as well.

  “Anything else we forget, we can buy. Let’s make sure Lily is set with plenty of food and water while we’re gone.” I zip up our luggage and carry it to sit by the front door while Brittany gets Lily set. While she does that, I find her purse and start digging through it. The first time I did this, for the same reason as now, Britt freaked out on me. I told her I wouldn’t care if she went through my wallet to get something for me, so what’s the difference? It took a surprising amount of conversation, meaning she didn’t agree with me at first, but then she was okay with it. I grab her panic pill, remembering that she doesn’t particularly like flying.

  “Lily’s all set,” Brittany says as she comes into the living room.

  “Here. Take these now for the flight.”

  “Why now? We’ll be at the airport for an hour and a half before we take off. I don’t need to take them until we get past security.”

  “Good point.”

  “Wait, no, give me one now. This whole thing is making me nervous.”

  I hand her one of the two pills and place the other one back in the bottle while she dry-swallows the medication. “It’ll be fine.” I grab her hand and pull her into my lap.

  “It is pretty cool that our best friends are getting married, but I need more notice for a plan like this.”

  “I’m guessing you’d never elope?”

  “No, but that’s because I’d need my parents to be there and I could never go off and do something like that without them. Oh! I need to call them. Just so they know we’ll be gone and where we are in case something happens.” She leaves my lap to get her phone from her purse. “Chargers! We need phone chargers.”

  “I’ll get them. Call your parents.”

  I do that and by the time she’s done on the phone, Melissa and Ben are here. We say goodbye to Lily. Then we load up into the car and head toward the airport. Melissa directed me to the front seat, so she could sit in the back with Brittany and recount how he proposed.

  By the sounds of it, they were having sex and he popped the question, which ended the sex while Melissa had a meltdown. Ben had to convince her that he was serious and meant it. Once she said yes, sex resumed until she suggested we leave for Vegas. They booked four airline tickets and two hotel rooms after seeing that there was an open reservation at a chapel in one of the hotels on the strip. After that, they came to see us. Apparently, Ben bought a ring after a month of dating her, but has been holding onto it until now. He didn’t even tell me it was that serious.

  That’s such a crazy whirlwind of events.

  We make it to the airport and through security without any issues. Brittany and Melissa are still huddled together, talking. I glance over at Ben.

  “So, going to propose and tie the knot within forty-eight hours?”

  “Yep.” He grins and his eyes slide to Melissa. “I’d only do it with her.” He shifts his focus back to me. “You’ve been married. Any advice?”

  “It was a marriage that failed,” I point out.

  “And assuming you learned from your mistakes, you should have some good advice.”

  Well, he has a point. “I didn’t really learn from my mistakes until we broke up last year. So, my advice would be to share shit with her and talk to her about all the stuff you don’t want to talk about or deal with.”

  “That’s it?” Ben seems surprised.

  “That’s the only mistakes I made, so yeah, that’s it. She agreed to marry you, so you must be doing something right already.”

  He grins. “That is true.”

  “Stop gossiping like us,” Melissa says as she sits sideways in Ben’s lap and Brittany comes to sit next to me. She’s squeezing her wrist, so I take her hand to make her stop.

  “We weren’t gossiping. Trace was giving me marriage advice.”

  “Yeah?” Melissa looks at me. “What’d he say?”

  “That it’s crucial to do two things.”

  “Which are?” she drawls.

  “Talk a lot and have sex once a day, minimum.”

  Everyone laughs but Brittany. Ben and Melissa start talking quietly to one another and I angle toward Brittany.

  “What’s wrong?” I whisper.

  “Nothing,” she whispers back.

  I keep my gaze on her and wait her out.

  She sighs. “It’s nothing. I’m just wondering what your actual marriage advice was, but you asked what was wrong before I could ask.”

  “It was more relationship advice than marriage advice. I told him to talk about the hard stuff.”

  The corners of her mouth move as she tries not to smile. “That’s it?”

  “Why does everyone keep saying that? That’s the only mistake I’ve ever made. What else am I supposed to say?”

  She laughs and leans forward to rest her forehead against mine. “You could’ve told him to love her forever no matter what.”

  “That seems kinda obvious to me, Britt.”

  She giggles. “You could’ve told him that the little things really matter the most.”

  “He should know that too.”

  “Sounds like you’re a know-it-all when it comes to marriage, then,” she quips.

  I just laugh and shake my head at her.

  The four of us talk to pass the time until we’re called to board. Brittany took another panic pill while we were waiting, but she’s still on edge once we’re in the air. We ended up in a small plane with two seats in a row. Brittany and I are on one side with Melissa and Ben
on the other. They’re lost in their own world already.

  “Tell me about your dream wedding,” I say. If I can get her to talk, maybe it’ll distract her.

  “Why?” she asks as if my question came out of nowhere.

  “Because we’re on our way to a wedding and you’re tense.” I pull her fingers away from her wrist and interlock them with mine. “Talk and see if that’ll help.”

  She takes a deep breath. “Right. Sorry. Let’s see, my mom had a beautiful, timeless dress, and I’ve always pictured myself wearing that. Plus, I know my mom would love that. My dad would walk me down the aisle that would be dotted with red roses. I don’t want anything big or extravagant. Just something simply beautiful. I’d want only the people who mattered there, my parents and close friends. Mom wore a veil, and I’d want to wear one, too.

  “There’s one photo from their wedding where you can see just how happy and in love my dad is with my mom when he lifts her veil. It’s one of my favorite photos. Then, the reception would be our favorite foods. Fried pickles would so be at my wedding. That’s really all the details I have because once I start thinking about the reception, I get hungry and stop thinking about it to go eat.”

  I laugh and mentally pat myself on the back for paying attention to all of that.

  “I know guys don’t care about weddings, but if you could change one thing from your last one to your next one, what would it be?” she asks.

  I take time to think about her answer, even though it hits me the moment she asked. I sigh. “I do believe that there is that one person who’s just perfect for everyone. I think part of me knew Faith wasn’t my person. If I had to change one thing, I’d want to marry the person who I unwaveringly knew was my person.”

  “Do you regret being married to her?”

  I shake my head. “No, not really. We both survived it and moved on.”

  “Okay. Enough of this marriage talk. I’m starting to get sleepy.” She lifts the arm rest between us, grabs my arm to hook it around her neck, and leans into me. “Keep an eye on the lovebirds across the aisle. We don’t want them to get kicked off the plane for attempting to join the mile high club.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I chuckle, kissing the top of her head.

  With the time difference, it’s not quite as late in Las Vegas as it is back home. Ben and I are practically having to carry the girls to the hotel room. Ben booked rooms in one of the nicer hotels than when we were here before. He even booked us separate rooms across the hall from one another. He grinned at me when he was handed two sets of keys and said he didn’t want to have to share a room, or kick us out of one, in the hours after they were married.

  Melissa doesn’t believe that superstition about the bride not seeing the groom before the wedding, which means I get to go to bed with Brittany tonight.

  “Trace,” Brittany says. She’s sitting on the bed in our hotel room, peeling off her clothes. “I’m tired.”

  “I know,” I laugh.

  “So, throw me my pajamas before I go to sleep half naked.”

  I grab her pajamas and her pills and take them to her. By the time I’ve changed, taken my pills, and finished getting ready for bed, she’s sound asleep. I plug in both of our phones, so they’re fully charged for tomorrow, and then crawl in beside her. She curls into my side. There’s no better woman to have in my bed, by my side, and on a trip with me than her.

  She’s my one person who’s perfect for me. I’d go anywhere with her and do anything for her. I’m one hell of a lucky bastard.

  There’s a banging on the door and the bed shifts as Trace gets up to open it. Melissa and Ben invade our hotel room.

  “Why aren’t y’all up yet?” Melissa asks. “Get up. There’s a lot to do today. Chop chop,” she says, clapping her hands.

  “Once y’all are ready, we’ll go grab a bite to eat. Melissa and Brittany are going shopping and we get to gamble for two hours before going to rent our tuxes,” Ben adds.

  “Give us thirty minutes,” Trace tells them.

  They nod and go back to their room. Trace and I share the shower to save time and somehow manage to get ready in the timeframe he gave them. I still can’t believe we’re in Las Vegas for our best friends to get married. It’s both very exciting and mind-boggling at the same time. I’m just glad my anxiety from last night seems to be gone today.

  Melissa lets us know that there may be a change in plans. Originally, we were going to rent the clothes for the wedding, but she’s decided she might want to keep her dress, so we’re going shopping. There are a ton of stores within the casino, so we might not even have to leave the building. That’s what I’m secretly hoping for because even when we came in last night, it was hot outside. No way I want to go out there in the daytime unless it’s necessary.

  When we part ways with the boys, Melissa hooks her arm though mine and leads the way to the third floor.

  “What kind of dress are we looking for, Melissa?”

  “Something beautiful and tasteful and white. I may be eloping in Vegas, but I want a white dress, damn it. It doesn’t have to be a wedding dress, but something dressy that I can put on again at some point.”

  “What do you want me to wear?”

  “I’ll know it when I see it.”

  Oh, that could be bad.

  “We only have three hours to find our dresses, so let’s hope that’s enough time.”

  We find my dress first. It’s knee-length, a pretty green, and hugs me in all the right places without being too showy and tight. I look amazing in it. I keep turning this way and that as I look in the mirror.

  “Trace just might propose when he sees you in this dress,” Melissa laughs. I roll my eyes. We’re good, but I’m not sure we’re that good yet. “Let me see if you can keep it and if they can find shoes for you.” She leaves the fitting room and minutes later returns with a salesperson to remove the tags and a pair of shoes for me to try on. Once we all approve of the heels, Melissa leaves to swipe Ben’s credit card. They are insisting that we pay for nothing.

  I gather the clothes I was wearing, drop them into a bag another salesperson brings me, and meet Melissa out front.

  “An hour and a half left,” she comments, glancing at her phone. “The guys should be getting fitted for tuxes right now. Should I text to make sure they are?”

  “If it’ll make you feel better.”

  “Just to be safe,” she says as she texts him.

  He texts her back by the time we’re in the next store, saying they’re on schedule.

  “God, I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Melissa mutters as we’re flipping through a rack of dresses.

  “What do you mean?” I ask instead of agreeing that I can’t believe it either.

  “That I’m marrying Ben. That he wants to marry me. That the three months I’ve spent with him have been the best three months of my life. That I get to spend the rest of my life with him. That we eloped.”

  “How did y’all decide to do that, by the way? Like, I could never do it until my parents are coming with me. I’d need them there. Y’all don’t want your parents here?”

  Melissa shrugs. “Not really.” She holds up a dress that is gorgeous.

  “Go try that one on. I think it may be the one.”

  I follow her into the fitting room, sitting outside her door while I wait for her to change and come model it.

  “Do you think you and Trace will ever get married?”

  Yesterday, when he asked me what my dream wedding looked like, I could picture it. Picture him standing at the end of the aisle, waiting for me and then marrying me. “Maybe,” I answer aloud. I don’t like predicting the future. Not anymore. I don’t want to say that yeah, I think we’ll get married, only to be disappointed if it never happens. Besides, we’re happy with the way things are right now. “I think it depends on how Trace feels. He’s already been married once before. He’s not going to do it again unless he believes it’s with the right person and it’s going to
be his last marriage.”

  “Oh, shut up. You already know he loves you like crazy. If he’s ever going to marry anyone, it’s going to be you.”

  “Can we focus on one wedding at a time?”

  “No. Do you trust him yet? Completely and wholeheartedly trust him?”

  I think about the past few months since he reentered my life. Everything he’s done for me, for us. All those little things Mrs. Potter told me to keep an eye out for added up. He’s talked to me on his bad days, and we’ve helped each other through those days. “Yeah,” I finally answer. “I trust him.”

  “Does he know that? Have you told him?”

  “What is taking you so long?” I ask, letting my irritation be heard, because no. I haven’t said those words to him.

  “I was making you talk.” She laughs and opens the door. “So?”

  “You look beautiful, Melissa. Do you like it?”

  She stands in front of the three mirrors and looks herself over. Then, she sighs. “This is the one.”

  “I’ll tell the lady we need shoes. Any requests?”

  “Yes. Red heels, please.”

  “Done.”

  Once we’ve wrapped up at the store, it’s almost time for the wedding. The guys are talking outside the chapel doors when we get there. They glance over at us, but do a double take when they realize it’s us. Ben doesn’t say a word. He closes the distance between them and kisses her hard. Trace takes my hand and whispers in my ear, “You look magnificent, Britt.”

  “Thanks. You look handsome.”

  “I’m glad you’re mine.” He kisses my neck, but after a moment, I gently push him away.

  “Let’s get this started,” Ben says before I can respond to Trace. He takes Melissa’s hand and drags her toward the doors.

  I quickly lift onto the tips of my toes, a necessary action even in heels, and kiss Trace. “I’m glad you’re mine, too. Let’s watch our best friends get hitched before they do it without us.” I drag him into the chapel with me.

  Melissa and Ben are filling out paperwork, so luckily, we haven’t missed anything. This place is nicely decorated. There are flowers everywhere and Melissa gets to pick out a bouquet. Once that is done, Ben and Trace are ushered into the room where the wedding will actually take place. There’s a photographer inside, taking a few pictures of them before she comes out and takes a picture of us. She disappears back into the room right before music starts to play as my cue.