“Sadie, why?” she asked.
I lifted one shoulder. “I like him.”
Her chest deflated like a popped balloon, all of the heat rushing from her to be replaced with a weariness. “It’s never gonna be enough.”
Jamison’s head snapped in our direction. He barely moved except for his hands clenching and releasing once before taking a step backward and turning in the direction of The Brontë. I let him go relieved he wouldn’t witness any more of this.
“You’re just going to keep repeating this over and over,” she said.
“You don’t know everything.” I shook my head, partially to disagree with her and partially to dispel the anxiety fog. “It’s different.”
“How?”
“We talked.” I let out a humorless chuckle. “I know that sounds so...but we’re at a better starting point than we’ve ever been.”
She rubbed at her collar bone, her elbow supported by her other hand. “I just don’t want to see you sad. And I’m so mad at him. I’ve been so angry with him for months, and I didn’t even know it.”
“It’s not all his fault. It’s not exactly surprising that I might not have been clear with him, possibly ever”—I exhaled deeply—”I think I might still have a lot to explain. I believe in this, that we can be good. Like really good. We’re taking it slow. We don’t have it all figured out. But it’s good.”
“Look, even though I am always on your side, I never thought it wasallhis fault.”
“My confrontation-avoiding ass.”
She widened her eyes. “Yes.”
“You didn’t have to agree so hard.”
Her fingers drummed a nervous beat on her skin.
I wiggled my toes a little deeper in the sand. “Can you just set this aside? I promise I will be such a devoted maid-of-honor tomorrow.”
“You could have waited until after my wedding to fuck Mike’s brother.”
It was my turn to widen my eyes. “I really couldn’t.”
“Ew.” She groaned. “I wish I’d never asked follow-up questions when you told me about sex with him.”
“You do have some unfortunate details about your fiancé’s brother,” I agreed. “Can you just not think about this until after your wedding?”
“I will commit to never thinking about you two fucking.”
Snorting, I said, “No, I mean—”
“I know,” she interrupted.
“Let’s shift all of the attention on to you.”
“Just the way I like it,” she joked with the roll of her eyes, which I took as promising.
“Do you still want to spend the night in my suite?”
She lifted an eyebrow and the corners of her lips turned down.
“We only had sex in his room,” I mumbled.
“Thank God.” Her shoulders fell in relief.
“You’re so dramatic.”
