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“What? Why?”
“Because you’re the most famous person here, and I don’t want your celebrity status to detract from the occasion.”
“Your fiancé is Hayden Hunter, Penelope. Last time I checked,The Cocky King of New Yorkstill has millions of super fans.”
“Speaking of which, he’s still waiting on you to agree to be his best man, so that we can solidify our wedding.”
“He can keep waiting.”
“I could’ve sworn you were okay with our relationship now.”
“No, Itolerateit now.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Big difference.”
As if on cue, Hayden walked into the room and headed over to us.
“I thought we weren’t inviting your brother.” He kissed Penelope’s forehead. “We agreed it was a waste of an invitation.”
“No, we changed our minds once we figured he might be having a severe case of ‘The Sads,’ remember?” Penelope faked a frown. “I took extra sympathy on him since the entire city of Vegas hates him.”
“Plenty of people in this city hate him, too,” he said. “He’s also aninternationalpariah, last time I checked.”
“You two are really pushing it.” I looked between them. “Did you coordinate your matching blue dress and suit today or is that a coincidence?”
“A coincidence,” they spoke in unison. Then they kissed as if I wasn’t standing right in front of them.
I still need time to get used to this.
“I’ll be back to catch up with you in a minute.” Hayden shared our secret handshake before walking away.
“Allow me to give you a tour.” Penelope looped her arm in mine.
She escorted me through multiple ballet studios, two cafes, smaller practice rinks, and a vast museum-like room that was a tribute to her and our mother’s careers.
I suddenly stilled at the sight of the massive framed canvas ahead of us.
The picture inside featured Penelope standing atop a podium with Tatiana Brave at her side. While Penelope held up their shared trophy, Tatiana clasped a massive bouquet of red roses.
Looking sexy as ever in a glimmering grey dress, Tatiana was smiling like it was the happiest day of her life.
I blinked a few times and realized that this entire hallway was filled with framed pictures of Tatiana. It was a tribute of some sort, and there were golden words etched onto the walls.
Tatiana Brave: World Champion, Rival, Best Friend
With every step forward, every glimpse of her gorgeous face, my chest ached.
Shit.
Over the past year or so, I’d made it a point to avoid coming to this city as much as possible. The moment Penelope left me an “Oh my god! You’ll never believe who my new roommate is!” voicemail, New York City became persona non grata for me.
On the rare occasion that I did visit, or in the moments when I met Penelope in some other city, if Tatiana was around, she never let on that we knew each other.
She treated me as if we’d never met.
Her acting skills were impeccable, and even though seeing her still hurt like hell, I had no problem playing a supporting role.
“You remember all my old times with Tatiana, right?”
“Yes.” I clenched my jaw. “Those times are rather hard to forget.”
