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My phone buzzed for,at least, the tenth time since I got out of the shower. I didn't bother checking it to see who was texting me. It would either be Haley, making sure I wasn't running behind, or one of my friends trying to convince me to stay home rather than ring in the new year with my family.
I wished they'd get the hint and quit sending me invites to all the best parties. As much as I dreaded the next three days, I'd be a petty bitch to miss my best friend's wedding just so I could get shitfaced and possibly laid for the first time in too damn long.
It sucked ass that the groom-to-be also happened to be my older, judgmental as hell, brother. I’d never understand what she saw in him, but it was impossible to deny they were totally in fucking love.
Gag.
I mean, good for them and shit, but oh my god, I couldn’t think of much worse than standing around listening to everyone say how perfect they were for one another. Deegan and Haley were like royalty, the ones who were going to carry on the family name and give my mother grandchildren.
Knowing my family, they’d then turn to me with their snooty glares, silently judging every damn thing about me. It was their love language or something.
I tried to keep my hand steady while applying my eyeliner. Deegan was going to have a conniption about me wearing makeup, but I didn't give a shit at this point. I wasn't about to change for him, and sometimes makeup felt like war paint when I had to deal with my family.
When I was a teenager, I’d hidden my bag at the bottom of my backpack so I could do my face on the way to school. That hadn’t gone over well the day Mom had to pick me up because I’d puked all over the hall when I couldn’t make it to the bathroom. After that, she inspected my bag and strictly forbade me from wearing anything that wasn’t appropriate for a young man.
So, I hid it until I moved out of their house, and then managed to find a group of friends who accepted me the way I was. I spent as little time as possible with those I shared a genetic bond with, hating the way they made me feel.
Fuck all of them. Seriously. If they didn’t like it, I could come home in time to ring in the new year with friends.
Next came mascara that made my lashes look a mile long, and a pop of lip gloss. Nothing too dramatic, just a subtle hint of color that would undoubtedly make my family squirm. This was a daytime look, after all.
If I thought Deegan wouldn’t drag me back inside and scrub my face with steel wool, I might have gone a bit further. This little bit should be minimal enough he wouldn’t notice until we were on the road.
My roommate stepped into the bathroom as I carefully styled my hair, a steaming cup of coffee outstretched.
“Have I told you lately how much I love you?” I didn’t even care that I’d have to reapply my gloss. I cradled the mug, inhaling deeply before taking that first blessed sip. “Let's say screw this whole wedding and run away to Vegas.”
He laughed, assuming I was joking. Okay, so I was. Mostly. But not because I didn't love Maverick. It was a damn shame that we were two peas in a pod, and we would never make it as a couple.
“Honey, you couldn't handle me,” he quipped. He tipped his glasses down and looked at me over the top of the frames. They were a recent involuntary addition to his wardrobe, and Mav was making the most of it. “You know I’m right.”
“Fair enough,” I responded. “If only you weren't such a messy little diva. I swear, I had to organize all your shit just so I had room to work in here this morning.”
I started tossing makeup into my bag with one hand as I continued guzzling the coffee. It burned my throat on the way down, but I still had to finish my hair, get dressed, and be outside waiting when my brother and the bride-to-be arrived. No way was I subjecting any of us to a Haley and Maverick showdown this early.
He pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense. “As if. Does that mean you're the pot or the kettle? Most of the shit in here is yours. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I don’t have to wrestle you for bathroom time this weekend.”
“You’re going to miss me, and you know it. But hey, on the bright side, you won’t have to compete with all this fabulousness when you’re out partying. You should be thanking me for bowing out on one of the biggest nights of the year.” I pulled him into a mostly platonic hug, closing my eyes as I thought about how much I wished he would have agreed to go to this damn thing with me.
He'd refused because he knew it would make Haley uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure what the deal was between the two of them, and I hadn’t asked because I didn’t want to be forced to choose between my two besties.
My phone buzzed yet again. “Can you check that while I get dressed? Haley's been chill so far, but I don't want her to turn into a bridezilla right before a three-hour drive.” I tossed him my phone and headed to the closet.
“Oh shit,” Maverick mumbled.
“What's wrong?” I called back.
“Haley said you need to be ready to go in about fifteen minutes,” he warned me as he stepped into my bedroom, phone outstretched and facing me as if I could see the screen.
As tempting as it was to rant to him about what a self-centered piece of shit my brother was, I held back. Mostly. He didn’t understand why I wasn’t bailing on the wedding since everyone but Haley and her family made me miserable. Given their beef, he didn’t think they were enough of a reason for me to put myself through this torture.
And maybe he was right, but when you added on the guilt trip that would follow me into the next two lifetimes from my mother, I truly didn’t have a choice. But that didn’t mean I was going to rush myself to meet their tightened timeline.
“Screw that. They told me they'd be here at nine o'clock.” This had Deegan written all over it. He was the uptight one of that couple, and he probably wanted to get on the road early just in case there was an accident or a freak snowstorm or some shit. Never mind that it was almost January, and we hadn’t seen the first snowfall yet. “If they get here before I’m ready to go, they’ll just have to wait.”
