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)
They are all talking at once, drooling over Cruz, and I just soak it all in. Usually at social events, I have to deal with jokes and insults, so being on this end is nice.
But Brynn doesn’t like it. “Hello. This is my wedding. Can we please quit talking about Tara’s date that is probably going to dump her when he gets bored with her.” A few of the girls gasp, and some of them roll their eyes because they’re used to Brynn’s attitude.
My mother comes up to me. “Tara, I’ll remind you that this is your sister’s wedding, and it’s not right that you’re trying to upstage her. I knew you were jealous, but this is a whole new low.”
I open my mouth to argue, but instead I just seal my lips. I know there’s no arguing with her. As far as I’m concerned, after this wedding, I’m going to keep my distance from my family because they obviously don’t care anything about me. When my parents found out that Grant cheated on me with Brynn, they automatically thought I should be supportive of my sister. They didn’t care how I felt about all of it.
So I stand here, stay silent, and wait for my cue. I’m one of the first bridesmaids to walk out, and I’m holding back tears as I walk down the aisle and stop at the end. I can’t even look at Cruz through the whole thing. Probably by the end of the night, he’s going to see me as a loser like my family does. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.
As soon as the rehearsal is done, Cruz is by my side. He puts his arm around me, and I turn into his chest. His arms go around me, and he holds me to him. I take deep breaths, trying to commit this feeling to memory.
He strokes his hand up and down my back. “Talk to me, sweetie.”
I lift my chin to look up at him. “I’m fine.”
“Do you want to go to the dinner?”
I screw up my nose. I wish I could skip it. “I have to, and I hate to do this to you, but I really want you to go with me.”
He smiles and brushes a hair that came out of my clip, “Oh you’re stuck with me. I’m not leaving you alone with these people again.”
I giggle. “You going to walk down the aisle with me tomorrow?”
As soon as I say it, I realize how it sounds. “I mean, ya know, like when I walk out as a bridesmaid… you said you weren’t going to leave me alone.”
He nods, and his voice is gruff. “I’d walk down the aisle with you. What did they say to you? I knew as soon as you came out, they said something.”
I try to wave him off, but he’s insistent. “My mom thinks I’m trying to upstage my sister by bringing you here. I’m sure she knows this is all fake. She’d never believe you would want to be with me.”
He leans down. “She’d be wrong.” Before that can sink in, he says, “Come on, let me get you a drink.”
I instantly reach for his hand, and we walk from the room with the sound of my sister complaining behind us. The wedding planner is ushering everyone into the dining room, and Cruz and I go straight to the bar.
He has his hand low on my waist, barely above my ass, and he’s smiling at me like he could eat me up. “What do you want to drink?”
“Peachy keen, please?”
He orders an old fashioned for himself and a peachy keen for me. As we’re waiting, he has his hand on me the whole time. When the order comes, he holds both drinks and puts his arm out for me to hold on to.
He leads me through the room, and luckily everyone can sit wherever they want, so we sit at a table that no one else is at.
A few people from the wedding party come over and say hello to Cruz. My sister’s friends have never paid any attention to me before, so it’s surprising that they are tonight. Now her friends’ husbands are another story. They come and sit around the table instead of sitting with their wives and talk to Cruz.
He answers their questions, but somehow he remains focused on me the whole time.
One of the groomsmen comes over, and it looks like he’s already had too much to drink. He sits down in the only vacant chair that happens to be next to me. He nudges me and leans in to whisper even though it’s nowhere near a whisper because I’m sure the whole table hears him. “Hey, kid, just a warning. Grant is losing his shit. He’s saying he messed up and picked the wrong sister.”