Spicy Sapphic Christmas

29. Bunny

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.

“What happened, Bunny?” Piper asked, her voice gentle. “Because this is more than simple acrimony.”

“I…” But where would she even start? Bunny’s chest pulled in, almost collapsing on herself, which made it so hard to talk or even think. Everything hurt. “I fucked up.”

“No shit, Sherlock. What happened?” This time Piper sounded angrier than before.

Bunny wished she had the ability to tell Piper off, but she really didn’t. Not this time. Because she deserved the anger and annoyance. “I confronted her about your engagement when I found the photos online and the chitter about everything.”

“Confronted her?” Jo squeaked.

“Angrily. It wasn’t her fault, I know that, but it was easier to be mad at her than you two.” Bunny pointed at them.

“Why would you be mad at her?” Jo furrowed her brow, a deep line forming in the center of her forehead.

“She wasn’t mad at Bea,” Piper said and then scoffed. “She’s mad at herself for being such a fucking idiot.” The harshness was back. Bunny shied away from it even though she felt she deserved the full brunt of it. “Tell me exactly what you did.”

“I yelled. I accused her of having an angle, that her whole goal was to use us to build their career, and I ruined everything, Piper. Isn’t that what you want to know? I got in my own damn way and then got in our way and I ruined it all.” Hot tears formed along Bunny’s eyes, and they stung like hell.

“You’re such a fucking idiot,” Piper repeated.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Siena said loudly, coming into the room. Anger was written all across her face.

Bunny had been on the butt end of that anger more than once, but this was the first time she really and truly felt as if she deserved it. This was the first time she would take everything they threw at her.

“Have you told her yet?” Siena pointedly looked at Jo and Piper as soon as she reached the piano.

Piper shook her head. “We hadn’t gotten that far.”

“Then now is the time.” Siena crossed her arms.

“Time for what?” Bunny looked at them curiously, her little band of idiots that she’d come to love. Even Jo—though she wasn’t ready to admit that one out loud yet.

“The proposal was a setup,” Piper said, her voice soft and worried. “It wasn’t supposed to get out into the news.”

“What?” Bunny stood up sharply, glaring at Piper and then at Siena. “You let them do this?”

“It was supposed to be only for your eyes and Bea’s eyes.” Siena put her hands on her hips and glared at the other two. “What we didn’t anticipate was such a public setting and word getting out that wasn’t in our control.”

“Control? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Jamie Kettlehouse was there,” Piper muttered. “And before you fly off the handle, we invited her. We wanted to make it look as real as possible.”

“Why? Why would you even begin to think that was a good idea?” Bunny cut her hand across the air.

“Because you needed to realize that being queer in this day and age isn’t going to be the end of our careers.” Piper pointed at Bunny. “And you’re such a stubborn idiot, that only something this in your face would work.”

“Work?” Bunny squeaked.

“Yes.” Piper put her fists on her hips, ready to go toe-to-toe with Bunny. “You’ve been the most ridiculous asshole the last month that I’ve ever seen you be. This isn’t about some charity event. It’s about the fact that you fell hard and fast and then you wanted to kick yourself in the ass instead of just admitting that maybe you might not want to be so stuck in the closet.”

“Piper—”

“No. I’m not done yet.” Piper pointed a finger at her, eyes locked on Bunny’s face. “I’m tired of dealing with your mood swings, your uncontrollable bitchiness has got to end. This isn’t who you are. And I’m tired of trying to convince other people of that. You’re better than this. So much better. And I’m not sure what crawled up your butt to make you such a jerk, but enough’s enough already.”

Bunny’s jaw dropped. Piper had said exactly what she was thinking about herself, exactly what she’d been berating herself over for the last week at least, if not longer.

“Where’s the kind Bunny who’s my best friend?” Piper asked. “Because I miss her. The one who would be head over heels ecstatic that I’m engaged.”

“You’re not engaged,” Bunny pointed out, flicking her gaze to Siena for confirmation.

“Well, if I was!” Piper yelled. “You would be happy for me. You’d be congratulating me like it wasn’t your death sentence. I want that friend back. Not whoever you’ve become.”

Bunny sucked in a sharp breath and nodded firmly. “All right. I hear you.”

“Do you?” Piper raised an eyebrow at her. “Because I’m not going to say this again. Your behavior’s been atrocious. And I’m sick of it.”

Bunny nodded again, her head bobbing. “Yes, I hear you, and I agree with you.”

Piper faltered, as if she hadn’t been expecting Bunny to agree so quickly. She reached for Jo’s hand, lacing their fingers. Bunny wasn’t sure it was entirely a setup—she’d seen them pressed together against the wall when they’d gone out to karaoke, and she’d seen the way Piper had been enamored with Jo ever since, the way they’d gotten closer.

She had to fix this.

“I agree with Piper,” Siena said, stepping forward. “And what’s been happening has been ripping through everything, and causing so much strain and hardship where it doesn’t belong.”

Bunny narrowed her gaze at Siena, at a loss for what she was even talking about.

“You’re going to break everyone up if you continue this tirade,” Siena clarified.

“What do you mean break everyone up?” Bunny kept her gaze direct on Siena.

“I’ll stop working with you,” Piper chimed in.

“Bea already has,” Siena added, flicking her gaze toward Jo. “And she’s not working with Jo anymore either.”

“What?” Bunny’s eyes widened. “She abandoned her sister?”

“She thought she was giving me the freedom to find my own way.” Tears silently slid down Jo’s cheeks. “She thought she was doing what was best for me to continue working with you and Piper.”

“Like hell,” Bunny mumbled under her breath. “She broke up Sole Sisters ?”

“Yes,” Jo confirmed. “She did.”

“Fuck.”

“You need to fix this.” Piper was pointing at her again. “You broke it, you fix it, and I’m not going to help you this time.”

Bunny’s heart sank. She’d used Piper to get her out of a mess last time, but Piper was right. Bunny needed to grovel on her own, and she needed to make it worth it. Running her fingers through her hair again, pulling at the ends, she plopped onto the piano bench defeated.

“I think I need to apologize to all of you first.”

“Hell yes you do!” Piper charged.

Bunny flicked her a warning glance before cowering again. She spent the next hour apologizing to all three of them, groveling, telling them how wrong she was, and by the end of it, she was so drained that she could barely stand upright to give Jo and Piper hugs. But Jo was smiling again, and so was Piper. Siena was still wearing her permanent scowl, but she didn’t seem that annoyed anymore.

“Feel better?” Piper asked as Jo packed up her things to leave.

Bunny gave a half-hearted shrug. “Not really.”

Piper sighed and waited for Jo and Siena to leave. Then she squatted down and put her hands on Bunny’s knees, forcing Bunny to look directly at her. “When are you going to admit it?”

“Admit what?” Bunny whispered.

“That you’re in love.”

Bunny shook her head. “I’m not.”

“Not if you don’t allow yourself to be. Let’s be real here, I’ve seen you like this one other time in all the years I’ve known you, and that was with you know who. Be real. I’m tired of the anger.”

“I’m not in love,” Bunny said, although the words felt like a lie on her tongue. She wanted to be in love. She wanted all those feelings again, but she didn’t want to admit that to anyone but herself at this point.

Piper’s narrowed eyes said she probably understood that. “Then why all the anger?”

“I’m scared, Piper. I don’t want to lose what we have.” Bunny grabbed Piper’s hand with her own and squeezed it once before letting go. “Not just our careers, but you.”

“Oh, Bunny, you’re not going to lose me.”

“You’re already changing things.”

“Yeah, I am, because that’s what time does. It changes things. But it doesn’t have to change the essence of us. You’re still my best friend. You’ll always be that for me.”

Bunny nodded, not sure if she could believe Piper or not. She wanted to, but it was so hard to even think about it right now. “And I think you and Jo should be together, actually together.”

“We’re not…”

“Don’t be an idiot like me.” Bunny gave her a sad smile. “Just don’t. You’re better than me.”

“We can talk about me later. We’re here for you today.”

Bunny rolled her eyes. “I know what I have to do.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. But I’m not sure that it’ll work out in the end.” Bunny twisted her hands together. She had to figure out where Bea’s show was tonight and then she had to show up there and make this right. She’d call or text, but she was pretty damn sure that Bea wouldn’t answer. Assuming Bea hadn’t blocked her number already.

“You’ll never know unless you try,” Piper whispered. “And I really hope that you do try. I just want to see you happy, and there’s no reason for you to think that you can’t be happy, that you can’t be in love and still have me and still have this job that we love. The three aren’t incompatible unless you make them that way.”

“I think I’m starting to get that.”

“Good.” Piper pulled her phone out and flicked through something on the screen so quickly that Bunny didn’t catch what she was doing.

Bunny’s phone buzzed in her pocket. Frowning, she pulled it out and stared at the screen which held a text message from Piper. “What’d you send?”

“Bea’s show tonight is at IBT Club.”

“You’re kidding me.” Blood rushed from Bunny’s face, cold washing over her.

“No. And if you want to fix this, then you’ll go there tonight, and you’ll fix it.”

Breathing in fresh air, Bunny nodded. “I know, but it’s a gay bar.”

“Then it’s the perfect place for you to get on your knees and beg for forgiveness.” Piper wrapped her arms around Bunny’s shoulders and tugged her in for a hug.

Bunny didn’t want her to let go. She held on tightly, keeping Piper as close to her for as long as possible. Finally Bunny pulled away slightly and rolled her eyes. “Then I’m going to gay up the Itty Bitty Titty Club.”

“Perfect.”