Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
“Come on, come on, come on,” Charlotte says, clapping at me and pointing to the makeup chair. “We gotta get you ready.”
“Um… I actually need to speak with Joey’s family first. Do you know where they are?”
“I do,” Julia says cheerfully.
My heart drops at the sound of her voice.
My guilty gaze snaps to Jared’s lovely wife. She looks so pretty with her red hair already done, her burgundy bridesmaid dress hugging her body in all the right places.
But I can’t meet her gaze because all I can think of is last night when I had her husband’s cock in my mouth, in my pussy, when I had his cum on my belly and painted on my nipples.
Maybe it’s a good thing I’m not marrying into this family. I don’t know how I could ever look at any of them again.
But poor Julia doesn’t know to hate me, so she loops her arm through mine and leans close conspiratorially. “Are you excited? You look nervous.”
“I think I might throw up,” I murmur.
“That’s totally normal. Even when you love the guy, going up in front of all these people and promising forever to him… it’s a lot.”
Joey’s mom Penny is in the altar room down the hall checking to make sure everything is perfect. My stomach knots up when I step into it and see the beautiful floral arrangements on all the pews, the candles waiting to be lit along the aisle.
Tears well up in my eyes as a sudden burst of sadness hits.
I really wanted to be a wife.
I blink away the tears. This isn’t the time for them, and once I tell Penny the wedding is off, there’s a good chance she’ll make me cry, so I should save them.
She turns around when we approach and dims at the sight of me. Her tepid smile is fake, and her eyebrows rise as she looks me over. “This is an interesting choice.” Her gaze snaps back to my face. “You should be in the makeup chair, honey. You need it.”
I suck in a breath. She’s already being rude, and I haven’t even told her yet.
Great.
“Um… actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t really know how to say this, but…” I watch her face, wishing for her to save me from having to come up with the rest of this sentence. To tell me Joey has already called her and told her everything, but I know he hasn’t because she would never be here doing all this if he did.
“What are you doing in here?”
I jolt at the sound of the voice behind me and turn, eyes wide, to see Joey standing in the open doorway. My heart freezes when I see he’s wearing his traditional black tux, then accelerates because what the fuck?
He doesn’t look happy to see me. He doesn’t look like he even wants to look at me, and he is definitely nursing a hangover. I can see it in his face, and I have to resist the urge to go fetch him a glass of water—what I would usually do if he seemed a bit under the weather. Check in with him. Make sure he’s all right. Take care of him.
“I… I was just going to tell your mom…”
His lips thin with annoyance. He strides down the aisle and grabs my arm. His touch hurts more than Marcus’ did when he grabbed my arm last night. He didn’t do it to hurt me, just to guide me, but after last night, Joey wants to hurt me.
Julia rushes after us. “Don’t keep her long. We still have to get her ready.”
“What are you doing?” I ask Joey, my heart racing. “Why are you here? In a tux? Why does your mom still think we’re getting married?”
“Because we are,” he says shortly, and my heart sinks.
“What?” I whisper.
His grip on my arm tightens. “I was understandably angry last night. I wanted to hurt you. Hell, I meant it when I said it. I couldn’t imagine marrying you after…”
I flinch, those words hurting more than his tight grip.
He clears his throat. “But it’s too late. All our friends and family are on their way. I have aunts that have flown in for this. There’s a fucking photographer that I paid ten grand waiting to take our photos. It would be too much to cancel all of it, so we’re going through with it.”
“I spent last night in your brother’s bed,” I blurt, disbelieving.
His jaw locks. I see the anger flash in his eyes, but he doesn’t look at me. “You thought we were over. Obviously, now you know better, so you’ll keep your fucking legs closed.”
This feels more wrong than anything I experienced last night.
I can’t marry you.
But I can’t say the words, either.
Tears sting behind my eyes because I don’t think I can get out of it. I was stressed about telling his family and all our friends the wedding was off, but this feels much worse.