Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Those insecurities slammed back into me full force when Health cheated on me with her. It was just once. One drunken blow job. The first domino of many that turned my happy little life into a disaster I needed to run from.
Sabrina doles out hugs to our relatives before spotting Saanvi and rushing toward us with open arms. “Saanvi! I thought I’d never get here.”
Sighing, my sister hugs our cousin. “That makes two of us.”
“I’m so sorry I missed the rehearsal. And the henna!” Sabrina steps back and takes one of Saanvi’s hands in hers, investigating it in the dim light. “Oh, it’s beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Saanvi says, and I can feel the tension drain from her. She’s never been able to stay mad at Sabrina for long. “Pari said she can come to your room tonight to do your hands if you want.”
Sabrina presses her palm to her chest. “She’d do that for me? That would be wonderful.” She smiles at me, but I can’t help but notice that she doesn’t offer me a hug. “Teagan, it’s so good to see you.”
“You too.” We’re both lying, and we know it. I already feel an ache in my gut at the sight of the cousin. She’s never forgiven me for what she saw in Heath’s bedroom that day more than four years ago, and I’ve never had the courage to explain. I let her believe the worst of me because the truth made me feel even dirtier than the lie.
“How’d the rehearsal go?” she asks, her gaze swinging back to Saanvi.
“Smoothly, considering we were missing a bridesmaid,” Saanvi says, but there’s no bitterness in her voice. “Teagan’s boyfriend stood in as you while we ran through the ceremony and figured out where everyone will stand.”
My gaze drifts to Carter again. His antics at the rehearsal gave me my only genuine smiles of the whole afternoon. Carter made us all laugh, pretending to hold a bouquet and lifting his imaginary skirts as he walked up and down the church steps.
“I didn’t know you had a boyfriend,” Sabrina says, smacking my arm lightly. “Do tell!”
I shrug. “We’ve been dating a couple of months. His name is Carter Jackson.” I nod across the patio to the man in question. He’s engrossed in one of my dad’s stories and doesn’t notice us.
“And he’s a dream,” Saanvi says. “You should see how he looks at her. It’s something out of a fairytale.”
Something shifts in Sabrina’s expression as she takes Carter in.
Saanvi squeezes Sabrina’s shoulder. “I need to go rescue Liam. If I had to guess by the way she keeps gesturing to his butt, I’d say Aunt Tammy is giving him her fiber lecture. I’m glad you made it safely. We’ll talk later.”
She rushes over to Liam, who’s looking mildly horrified as our mother’s sister speaks. I can’t hear their conversation over the music, but I catch the words bowels and roughage, and I know Saanvi’s mission is indeed dire.
“I didn’t realize you were dating Carter Jackson,” Sabrina says.
“Well . . .” I swallow. “We were friends first, so we kept it quiet for a while. We didn’t want everyone’s expectations weighing on us. You know?”
She worries her bottom lip between her teeth as she stares at him. “I guess that makes sense.” Crossing her arms, she rubs her hands over her bare shoulders. “And to think I believed this would be the weekend you finally got back together with Rich.” She meets my gaze, and there’s something hard and bitter in those icy blue eyes.
“Rich and I are over for good.”
“Hmm. We’ll see.”
I want to rail at her for judging me for what she thinks I did to Heath when Heath cheated on me with her. Hypocrite much, Sabrina? But she never believed she did anything wrong with Heath. He’d told her about a fight we were having, and she assumed we were breaking up. The truth is that Heath was drunk, and she saw an opportunity to get him back. She believed what she wanted to believe. I bite the inside of my cheek and push down the old anger—at her, at Heath.
“How long did you say you and Carter have been together?” she asks.
“Casually for a while, I guess, but we’ve gotten serious the last two months.” I swallow the bitter taste the lie leaves in my mouth. I’m not close to Sabrina, but she’s the person here who would most enjoy catching me in this lie. I guess that’s what I signed up for by asking Carter to pretend to be my boyfriend.
“Did Carter ever . . . mention me?”
I frown. I didn’t expect that. “You and Carter know each other?”
Her porcelain-perfect cheeks flush bright red. “We don’t know each other. Not well, at least. I came to town and interviewed him.” She clears her throat and dodges my gaze. “After the whole puppy-rescue thing?”