Page 95 of Spicy Sapphic Christmas

love, you didn’t do right by me

TWENTY-NINE

bunny

Bunny was late.

And she was never late for anything.

But she hadn’t been able to drag her sorry ass out of her condo that day no matter what she tried to do. She’d run on the treadmill instead of outside. And even that hadn’t burned away the pain in the center of her chest like it normally did.

She couldn’t stop thinking about Bea, and the look of finality in her eyes when Bunny had left her apartment. God, she was such a fucking dick. An idiot. She ruined just about everything she touched when it came to personal relationships. Ever since the sister-in-law debacle, Bunny had never managed to get her head on straight again.

She snorted at that thought.

Straight.

She wasn’t, and she’d never wanted to be. She just wanted the world to think she was. But now with the news running wild about Piper and Jo’s engagement, it would only be a matter of time before the vultures started digging into her past and prying into her personal life again.

Bunny just wanted to make music, play music, and be a musician with an actual livable income. Was that so hard to manage?

Stumbling into the rehearsal room an hour before they were supposed to quit for the day wasn’t what she’d intended either. But here she was. Showing up for what? Because it wasn’t like she was going to get much rehearsing done, and she definitely wasn’t in the right mindset to be around people.

Yet she was drawn to Piper like she was every time she was upset.

Piper and Jo stopped dancing as soon as she entered. Their chests heaved from the exertion of the workout, but neither one of them looked happy to see her. Bunny immediately scanned the room, looking for Bea’s beautiful face, but she found it nowhere. Her bright blue eyes were missing, along with the salacious curves that Bunny had yet to manage to wipe from her memories.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Piper said, her voice reverberating around the room. “Did you just roll out of bed?”

“No,” Bunny fired back and then winced. She softened her tone on purpose as she dragged her feet toward the piano bench. She plopped her ass on it, staring at the keys and wincing again. There was one very particular memory on that piano that she didn’t want to forget. “No, I didn’t just roll out of bed. I never really went to bed. That would require sleep.”

“You haven’t slept?” Piper was suddenly concerned.

“No.” Bunny glanced at the both of them. “I haven’t offered my congratulations yet. So, congratulations.”

“You don’t seem pleased.”

“Did you think I would be?” Bunny could have said those words with so much vehemence, but she didn’t. It was brutal honesty. “I didn’t know the two of you were even in a relationship.”

“It was… quick,” Jo supplied, wrapping an arm around Piper’s.

Bunny pursed her lips, looking both of them over. “Where’s Bea? I owe her a wallop of an apology.”

Piper narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“Not your concern,” Bunny challenged back. “I’ll be back tomorrow, right as rain and ready for rehearsal.”

Jo glanced up at Piper before settling her gaze on Bunny. “You haven’t talked to Bea?”

“No, not since… not since the other night.” Was she really going to have to tell them what an ass she’d made of herself? Because she had been the worst person on the planet by her count, and she wouldn’t be surprised if Bea would never see her again. But she wanted to try and at least apologize, perhaps ease some of Bea’s obvious pain.

“She quit,” Jo murmured.

Bunny jerked her chin up, her gaze flicking from Jo to Piper. “She what?”

“She quit. She’s not coming back,” Jo said, more confidently this time. “She took me out for brunch and told me about it. I just assumed…” Jo trailed off. “Well, we both assumed you and she had talked about it.”

Bunny threw her hands through her hair, tugging at the strands until it hurt. She should have anticipated this. She’d fucked up over and over where it concerned Bea. Forget the relationship they didn’t have, when it came to being in business together, Bunny had been the least professional of everyone.

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