Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Naturally, I’d woken up this morning to an ambush. Agnes, Dallas, and Farrow had waited at my doorsteps to usher me to a dress fitting I never scheduled.
Agnes looped her arm around mine. “Oliver told us you were too stressed to book a wedding dress salon, so I did it for you.”
My first reaction was to charge upstairs and punch Ollie square in the face. Then, I remembered my vow as a devout pacifist.
My second reaction was to run for the hills. Sure, I’d caught a case of the feels for Oliver. But the engagement was still 100% fake. Pretty soon, I would return to Los Angeles for work. In fact, I’d spent the past week searching for new apartments (and gagging at the prices). This could never work out – just as I could never put myself last for someone else again.
The fake wedding merely served as an icebreaker. A way to tease one another while conjuring cute date ideas. A never-ending game of who-can-blink-first.
Of course, I wouldn’t blink first.
My competitive streak would not allow it. Bonus points that not snagging an invitation enraged my parents.
The only problem with the sham? Agnes’ genuine excitement.
Farrow sipped champagne. “Yes, you’re the only one who sees cake.”
“I love wedding cakes.” Dallas sighed and tossed her head back, staring at the ceiling with stars in her eyes. “The weddings themselves are basically just the bonus.”
“If you love cake so much, why don’t you be in charge of the cake at Ollie and Briar’s wedding?”
I wanted to strangle them both. They knew the wedding wouldn’t take place, but they still played pretend in front of poor, eager Agnes.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” Dallas spun to me. “Briar, how does a ten-tier cake sound?”
“A heartburn waiting to happen,” I mumbled. It didn’t matter. It wouldn’t happen.
“Good. It’s settled, then. A twelve-tier cake.” Dallas clasped her hands together. “Is anyone else hungry right now?”
Farrow finished off her champagne. “No, but I’m craving a pumpkin spice frappe.”
“Careful, you might be pregnant.”
“I haven’t gone off birth control. Yet.”
“Fun fact.” I tried to adjust the plunging V-neck on the dress I wore, rearranging it so it covered more of my boobs. “One frappe has more sugar than twenty donuts.”
Dallas shot off the couch, her jaw dropping. “You mean to tell me that, all this time, twenty donuts aren’t as bad as I thought? I feel like I just learned something monumental.”
Fae slapped her forehead. “That’s what you got out of that?”
Agnes returned with a plastic box full of push pins. “Briar, honey, the dress looks perfect on you.” She fixed the pure-silk train of the Mikado dress I’d tried on. “Oliver is going to lose his mind when he sees you.”
I couldn’t help but spin, watching myself in the mirror. “Hopefully, he doesn’t get tired of me before the wedding.” It would do us both good to plant seeds of doubt in his parents’ minds.
“Are you kidding me?” Agnes set down the pin box, crossing her arms. “You were always his one and only. I saw how depressed he was after you two broke up. He never fully recovered. Not until you came back. I haven’t seen him this happy since …” She stopped, frowning to think about it. “Honestly, ever.”
This was torture.
I hated lying.
“You brought so much light back into his eyes,” she continued, hanging her gaze on my face like I’d painted the sky with the moon and the stars. “For the first time, I’m not worried about him and his future. All because of you.”
I spun to face her, clutching her shoulders. The tears brimming her eyes needled into my conscience. This elaborate prank would end up hurting her. So would telling her the truth. We never should’ve let it get this far in the first place.
Correction: Oliver shouldn’t have blasted the announcement on the New York Times.
I bit my lip, forcing myself to tell her the wedding to Oliver wouldn’t happen. “Agnes, I …”
Dallas shot up from the couch, inserting herself between us. “Agnes, I heard you collect precious coins. Please, tell me about them.”
Agnes jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion. “Well, what do you want to know?”
“Anything and everything.” Dallas pushed Agnes away from me, helping her onto the couch. She whipped her head around to mouth to me, “Don’t you dare break this woman’s heart.”
But what were my options? I could break her heart today or I could break it after she secured a special visa, hopped on three separate planes, landed in Nauru, and hitched a ride to the wedding venue with a generous local, only to discover that I’d abandoned her precious son at the altar. Horrible plus horrible only equaled horrible, no matter how you did the math.
Dallas parked Agnes on the sofa and bombarded her with questions about precious coins.