~ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
I stare at my brother,unable to speak.
McKenna comes around from behind him. Her eyes flit from Jace to me and Cody. It’s only now I’m aware of Cody’s hand on my shoulder.
“Is everything okay?” McKenna asks.
Her eyes squint, narrowing at me.
"What is going on here?" she asks. "Carli?"
Jace still looks like he wants to harm something or someone, but he’s simmering, holding himself in check. He looks at McKenna and says, "Your brother had my sister in his arms."
McKenna turns her attention to us, then shouts, "What? Cody!"
"It's not only him," I say. "I mean, he didn’t kiss me against my will or anything. We're together."
McKenna’s face morphs in a flash. Her tight jaw sags. Her narrowed eyes widen. Her brow draws up.
Now, her words are aimed at me. And they hit like a punch to the sternum. "Since when? And why wouldn't you tell me?"
"I'm sorry," I say, stepping toward her.
She physically recoils.
The back door opens and shuts.
Cody looks around at all three of us, "We need to get back out there. Tonight isn't the time for this. Tonight is about McKenna and Westley."
Jace mutters, "Might have thought of that before you kissed my sister."
Neither Cody nor I make any attempt to defend ourselves. What is there to say?
McKenna looks at me, her face etched with my betrayal.
She shakes her head and walks away.
Jace waits for us, as if he can’t risk leaving us alone. I walk out first, passing him and heading toward the back door. Cody’s right behind me.
Jace tells Cody, “This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”
I want to go to McKenna, but she’s back at the table next to Westley, whispering into his ear. When she glances over at my table, the look on her face clearly conveys that she needs time and space.
We just had to kiss tonight.
Why couldn’t we wait?
The rest of the rehearsal dinner goes on around us. No one besides the four of us and Westley seems to know about the implosion in the hallway. I chance seeking Cody out. He sends me a look filled with compassion. It should stop the colony of ants crawling under my skin, but it doesn’t.
I betrayed my best friend on the night before her wedding. I don’t know how we come back from this.Whenever she thinks of her wedding, finding me and Cody together will feel like a stain on what should be a perfect memory—her memory of her day. And we took that from her.
Jace looks at me from across the room with an expression that makes me feel an inch tall. Then he glances at Cody with a look that’s practically murderous.
When McKenna looks at me again, her face holds the kind of pain I can barely tolerate witnessing. And I was the one to put it there.
We make it through dinner—my body has gone from itchy to numb. I’m sleepwalking through the duration of the rehearsal dinner. People have to call my name twice.
I go through the motions, and then, when it’s time to leave to head home, Cody pulls me aside.
