“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” She wraps her hand around my arm delicately, and the first tear rolls down my cheek.
My makeup is already done. I shouldn’t cry.
“If you want to marry Elliot and stand by his side for the rest of your life, then I’ll support you because I will always be here and I love you, but I think you know this doesn’t feel right.”
Another tear rolls down the other cheek, leaving a streak in its wake.
“Everyone is expecting me.”
“Your mom isn’t even here. Doesn’t that mean something to you?”
My mom was invited, but she disappeared on one of her retreats, and I haven’t heard from her in about two months. It isn’t odd for her, but it still stings regardless.
“Elliot is a good man.”
“He might be, but that doesn’t mean he’s the one for you.”
The one for me…
“This isn’t about Hayes.”
A small smile quirks her lips. “I never said it was.”
I drop the dress, letting it gather at my feet. “I don’t have to do this?”
“You don’t have to do this,” she confirms, squeezing my arm tenderly.
“But what do I do? What do I say?”
“Don’t worry about that.” She jogs over to the door in her heels and peeks out. “I need you both, now.”
Callie and Natalie rush through the door in their matching bridesmaids’ dresses that complement Thea’s maid-of-honor dress, expecting to see me in my wedding dress. Both of their faces fall when they see me standing in nothing but my bra, lace thong, and thigh-highs.
“What’s wrong?” Callie asks first, scanning my face.
“I can’t do this.” The words leave my mouth, and the weight of them finally crashes into me. My knees hit the carpet as I fall to the floor. “I can’t do this,” I cry, feeling multiple sets of arms wrap around me all at once.
“I’ll tell Nathan to get the cars.”
Their voices converse above my head, but I let go and let them take over as my body and mind fall apart in a pool of satin.
“Jackson and I will stay here and talk to the vendors.”
“I’ll pack her things.” Thea starts scurrying around the room.
“We need to tell the guests,” Callie’s statement stops Thea in her tracks.
“I’ll do it. I’ve always dreamed of having a chance to do something like this,” Natalie volunteers with a glint of mischief in her eyes. It eases some of the guilt burdening me and I exhale roughly, letting it out.
“Elliot,” I murmur his name. “I need to talk to Elliot.”
“I can tell him,” Thea offers. The woman who avoids men like the plague would tell my fiancé the wedding is off. I’m such a coward.
“No, I’ll do it.” I pull myself to my feet, and someone drapes a robe over my shoulders, helping me shrug it on. “Ask him to come to my room and make yourselves scarce. I can do it.”
Sympathetic looks blanket me for a moment before I shake them off. “I swear, I’m fine. Go get him.”
