Page 33 of Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts

Basically, her relationship with surprises is a bit complicated.

“I have penis straws,” I admitted. “I’m not exactly sure what the others are planning.”

“Strippers?” she asked warily.

I almost told her what Declan had told me about there being no strippers here on the island, but thought better of it. I had zero desire to bring him back into this conversation, even peripherally. “Not that I’m aware of.”

She ran her fingers up and down the column of her neck, a nervous tick that I had come to recognize over the years. “I sort of wish that Peter and I had just agreed to have a joint party. It seems like celebrating together would make more sense. But Autumn mentioned booking this thing on Groupon, and I know Liv has something planned …” She shook her head and smiled, but it came out looking sad. “Ah, well. It’s just one night, right?”

“Right,” I agreed, but my heart ached for her anyway. I didn’t entirely understand how she could want to spend even more time with Peter when they already seemed to spend every waking moment together, but if that’s how she wanted to spend her bachelorette party, who were the other bridesmaids to stop her?

An idea started to take shape in my head.

“All right,” she sighed, apparently resigned to her fate. “See you in the morning.”

“Good night,” I called after her. As soon as I was alone again, I polished off the rest of my drink and set the empty bottle on the nightstand before returning to my phone. I opened a new message to Declan.

Margo: So about tomorrow

Margo: I might have a small favor to ask.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts @7R4BHpodcast ∙ Jul 19

@JoHo_in_NoHo’s bachelorette party today. Shoutout to @LivHolistic and @Autumns_Closet for helping coordinate!

27 1.3k 5.2k

Liv, Laugh, Love @LivHolistic ∙ Jul 19

Replying to @7R4BHpodcast

Oooohhh we’ve been coordinating all right

Autumn Figueroa @Autumns_Closet ∙ Jul 19

Replying to @7R4BHpodcast

Can’t wait!

John Smith @wouldntuliketoknow ∙ Jul 19

Replying to @margoanderson

sexy. check ur dms

CHAPTER13

The bachelorette was my one real, big responsibility as maid of honor. I needed to get it right. Which meant my contribution needed to be memorable. More memorable than a bunch of dick paraphernalia, though I had that in spades and would definitely be putting it to use regardless.

“ ‘A small favor,’ ” Declan echoed, brandishing a dry-cleaning bag in my face. It was t-minus two hours until the parties were due to start, and we were standing in the hall outside our rooms. “I’ve been up since six a.m. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get my hands on this thing? They don’t exactly sell them at Vons. And that’s ignoring sizing issues.”

“How much did you end up paying?” I asked.

“Two hundred for the night.” It looked like it physically pained him. “And she wants it dry-cleaned again in the morning.”

I whipped out my phone. “What’s your Venmo?”

“I have no idea what that means,” he said flatly.