“There is some measure of luck to it all,” I agree, holding on as Wren careens around a bend. “But I deserve to be loved well, Wren. And so do you.” So does my sister. Is Shane the man to love her well? I don’t know. I can’t even tell. I know little of them, only what I’ve seen this week. The representation has been poor, admittedly. Maybe this week has been an anomaly in their relationship. The stress of the wedding, and all that.
Wren stays quiet for the remainder of the ride. By the time we arrive, my hair is windblown in a not-cute way.
“Paisley,” Wren stops me beside a hedge. “What you just said about deserving to be loved well? That hits.” Using two fingers she taps the center of her chest. “I hope you have a few more gems like that up your sleeve for Sienna. She’s going to need them. I don’t know what happened after I picked her up from Shane’s this morning and brought her here, but it’s not good.”
I take a deep breath and enter the bridal suite.
CHAPTER 42
Paisley
“You were right.”Sienna, seated at a vanity with a gold-framed mirror, stares at me in the reflection. Her eyes track me as I close the door and make my way through the small room. A round pink velvet ottoman is nearby, so I snag it and drag it over to her.
“What was I right about?” I ask cautiously, while trying not to make it obvious I’m looking around for the cutting tool she used on the blunt edge bangs flopping unevenly on her forehead.
They lookbad.
“Shane. He came here to talk to me after he woke up.”
“Did he smell like espresso martinis?”
“He smelled like a barn animal.”
“Delightful.”
A sad smile tugs at her mouth.
“He’s not over you, Pais.”
I sigh. I saw this coming, and I have a rebuttal. “He only thinks that, Sienna. He was thrown for a loop when I arrived with Klein. He didn’t expect to see me happy. Tobe honest, I didn’t expect tobehappy. Klein was here to provide moral support, and make me look like less of a loser at my little sister’s wedding to my ex-boyfriend.” I shoot for a wry smile, but it doesn’t quite reach my ears. Baby steps.
My sister sniffs. “He wasn’t brought along for the purpose of making your ex jealous?”
“Not at all.” I take her hands. “You have to know that no matter how all this turns out today, none of this was my intent. Klein and I were barely friends when we boarded the plane in Phoenix a week ago. His job was to make people stop looking at me with pity. That’s it.”
“Nobody was looking at you with pity.”
“At your bachelorette party I overheard the bridesmaids basically say I was a loser.”
“No way,” Sienna draws out the ‘y’ sound.
“Yes way,” I confirm.
“Now people will be looking at me with pity.” Sienna stares into the mirror. “I cut bangs, Pais,” she whispers, features twisting into disbelief and horror. “And they’re not even cute.”
“Uh, no. They’re uneven and unfortunate.”
Tears spring from her eyes. “What am I going to do?”
“About the bangs?”
She begins to sob. “About everything.”
I wait for her sobs to subside, then ask, “How did you and Shane leave it this morning?”
“He said he still wants to marry me today. Can you believe that? Why would he want to marry me if he believes he’s not over you?”
Heat rises up in my limbs. That fucking bastard. Fuckhim for putting my sister through this. Fuck him for wanting what he can’t have. For not wanting me until someone else did.
