Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
I grit my teeth and remind myself this is her wedding. “I know, Brynn. I have all the arrangements and the boutonnieres right here. Everything is taken care of.”
She rolls her eyes and spits out a laugh. “Right, don’t act like you have it all together. We all know you’re a mess.”
“Excuse me,” Cruz starts, but I put my hand up to his chest to stop him. “No, let her finish.”
She lifts her chin. “We all knew you would try to ruin my wedding day. You’re so jealous that of course you couldn’t just be happy for me.”
I’ve had enough and hold my head up high. “I did all the decorations for this wedding as a gift to you. It cost me a small fortune, but I did it. I’ve tried to be your friend, Brynn, but I’m now finding out that will never be possible. Grant was my boyfriend. You had sex with him, you lied and told him you were pregnant when he said he didn’t want you, and you made sure I caught you having sex with him. If anything, I think you’re jealous of me.”
Brynn’s face is bright red, but she tries to play it off and scoffs. “Right. Like I’d be jealous of you.”
Defeated, I shrug. “I hope you have a good wedding. A good marriage. You and Grant deserve each other. Now I’m leaving. You have your wish. You don’t have to worry about me ruining your wedding, your pictures, your flowers, or anything else. Goodbye, Brynn.”
I turn on my heel, and the tears don’t start until I’m at the stairwell. I’ve left my cart behind, but I don’t care at this point. I’ll just have to buy another one.
I’m halfway up the stairs when Cruz catches up to me and stops me. “Tara, wait, honey.”
He pulls me toward him, but I struggle out of his arms. “Stop, Cruz. I can’t do this right now.”
“I just want to be here for you. Let me hold you.”
I hold my hand up. “Cruz, look at me. I’m a mess.”
He shakes his head. “You’re not.”
I laugh bitterly. “I am. My own family hates me.” I suck in a breath, but it feels as if I can’t get any oxygen into my lungs. “Look, I’m sorry I got you mixed into all this. This was supposed to be easy. One night, fake date. That was it, and now it’s over.”
“It’s not—” He starts, but I can’t stand here and listen to him while he looks at me with pity on his face. “Look, I’m going to grab my stuff and get out of your hair. You’re off the hook. I’m not going to the wedding… so you can go home.”
“Tara, please.” He pleads with me, but I’m already backing away from him. “Cruz, please, this is embarrassing enough. Thank you for everything. Really.” I suck in another breath, hoping that I’m not about to have a panic attack. “Last night…” I put a hand to my chest over my racing heart. “Last night was perfect and everything... Thank you for that. I’ll never forget it.”
I turn on my heel, running up the next two flights of stairs. I get to the room and grab my clothes, leaving my bridesmaid dress in the closet as I stuff everything into my suitcase. I haphazardly throw all the toiletries into the same bag and then I walk out of the hotel room, down the hall, and to the elevators.
I’m making the right decision. Walking away from this wedding and how my family treats me is the best thing for me. And it’s better to walk away from Cruz now. It already hurts, so there’s no sense in dragging it on.
No, I can pick up the pieces and move on, and I’m going to do just that after this Valentine’s Day is over.
18
CRUZ
“Where is she?” I ask my sister as I look around Tara’s flower shop. Her car was outside, but she’s nowhere in the store. I point toward the office. “She in her office?”
Lexi looks at another woman in a pink apron. “Kaci, can you watch the register?”
The woman looks me up and down with a smile and nods at my sister.
I follow Lexi through the store to the office. She stops and glares at me, putting a hand on her hip. “What did you do to Tara?”
I hold both hands up. “Nothing, look, I’m here to fix it. If you’ll just tell me where she’s at.”
She starts tapping her foot. “Is she right? Was it a one-night stand?”
Fuck, am I really having this conversation with my sister? “Not for me it wasn’t. She had a blowup with her sister.”
“I heard. Bitch had it coming.”
I nod. “I agree, but Tara didn’t want to talk to me. She just wanted to be done, and I thought if I let her cool down, we could talk, but I’m going crazy here.”