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"This has been on my mind all night, and like you said, we don't want to ruin the wedding. So, let's just let it be, and I’ll work it out with Nate. He needs to cool off and think about this. Maybe we should take a pause and get through the wedding. I'm going to make this right."

I refuse to let West see me cry, so I beeline right to the bathroom and lock myself in just as the tears start pouring down my face. So many thoughts are racing through my head.

West said he loved me but now wants a break to make my brother happy. He’s letting my brother control us. Nate is being an asshole. What the hell is he thinking? I can't believe I agreed to be the fill-in maid of honor. If I knew, I wouldn't have agreed. I don't care if the wedding is ruined. If Nate can be selfish, so can I.

"I’ll make this right," Weston says right before I hear the door to my room close.

I grab a makeup wipe and clear off my makeup even though it doesn’t help matters much. My face is red and blotchy from crying.

Going to my bed, I grab my phone and call Kinsley because I need to talk to someone, and there is no one here to talk to. No one else knows about us.

I tell her everything through big sobs and lots of tears, and she listens to every bit of it.

"What am I going to do?"

"Want me to send my sister out there to junk punch them both? You know she’s always up for putting a guy in their place."

"Though the idea is temping at least for Nate, anyway. Right now, I don't want to be the maid of honor or even be at this wedding. I can't act happy that my brother gets his happily ever after when he is stopping me from getting mine.”

"Well, the maid of honor is for Mandy, and she did nothing wrong. Don't hold this against her. As for the rest, you don't have to be happy, you just have to be there. Then as soon as it's over, just come home. We can do a girl's night binge, watch some Pretty Woman, and down some ice cream, and things will start to look better."

"I just wish for once I was someone's first choice."

Rory

I'm getting ready for the rehearsal dinner tonight, and of course, the girls all decided they wanted to make it an event. So here we are in Mandy's bridal suite, which is like a huge one-bedroom apartment, getting dressed.

The girls have been laughing and joking about the bachelorette party last night, and I can't even muster up a smile. Even though I’m trying really hard, the best I can do is show up. Last night I cried on the phone for an hour with Kinsley. Then when I got off the phone, I cried myself to sleep.

I'm paying for it now because my eyes are puffy, and I look like hell. At the moment, I don't care how I look. But someday, when I look back at Nate and Mandy's wedding pictures, when and if I actually forgive my brother, I'm going to hate that I looked a mess. But that day is so far in the future I'm finding it hard to care about it.

While all the girls are scattered in the bathroom and bedroom using every available mirror, I'm in the living room trying to get some space. If I want to listen, I can still hear the conversation, but right now, I don’t.

Until Mandy sits down next to me on the couch.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

I force a smile and shake my head but keep my eyes on the mirror I have in front of me.

"Come on. I know something is wrong. You can’t get far enough away from anything fun. Your eyes look like you cried yourself to sleep, and you haven't smiled once."

"I'm fine, really." I manage to get out.

"Is this the reason Nate has been acting really off since last night too?" Mandy asks, and that is when I lose it.

I start crying, and she instantly pulls me into a hug.

"All right, everyone out. Take your shit and go to your own rooms." Mandy hollers, and everyone starts scrambling as I continue to cry on her shoulder. Thankfully, she is still in a t-shirt and not the beautiful dress she is wearing tonight.

Once the tears start, I can't seem to get them to stop. You would think I cried them all out last night, but apparently not because they just keep coming. As everyone leaves, Mandy holds me, rubbing my back. Once we have the suite to ourselves, she grabs a cloth and wipes my face.

"Ok now, what is going on?"

"I didn't want this to ruin your wedding. I swear we weren't going to even bring it up until after, but Nate has a way..."

"Of picking at things until they gush open and bleed all over the place? Yeah, I noticed, and we are working on it," Mandy says.

I nod and take a sip of my water.


Tags: Kaci Rose Romance