“You know what? This shit is stressing me out. I’ve had a really long couple of months. The reason why the wedding invites and everything happened so quickly was because it was a fucking shotgun wedding,” he says, looking around like he’s looking for pity. I’m glad no-one is coming to his rescue. “And you weren’t even fucking pregnant. You tried to trap me, but you tried to trap the wrong one, bitch.”
“Enough!” both Luke and their dad shout, and Rex blanches.
Luke walks over to him and stares into his brother’s eyes with contempt. “You’re disgusting. You know that? You are absolutely fucking disgusting.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be the golden boy like you, Luke.”
Luke stares at him for a couple of seconds, just shaking his head. Ijust want to laugh because his entire life, Luke thought Rex was the golden boy when it turned out that he was the golden boy all along.
I knew it. I’d always known it, but he allowed Rex and his father’s treatment of him to make him feel like he wasn’t good enough, when all along he was too good..
I step forward and grab Luke’s hand. “You’re a jerk, Rex. But I already told you that. And, Andi, I don’t really know why you were marrying him, but I’m really glad that you’re walking away before making the worst decision of your life.”
She sniffles. “I know. I was listening to Talia because she told me it would be really great if I married him, but she’s—” She shakes her head. “I think she just wanted to show me that she could have any man she wanted, and she wanted mine.”
“Well, this is kind of awkward,” Rex says as his phone starts beeping, “but I have to go right now.” He grins as he holds his phone up. “911.”
“What?” Luke just stares at him. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I just got a message, and someone needs to see me. So, you guys good?”
“You’re seriously going to leave right now?” Luke sounds angrier than I’ve ever heard him sound in his life.Knock him out, Luke.I want to shout, but I abhor violence normally, plus I don’t want his entire family to hate me. I can’t imagine his mother crying anymore than she is now.
“It seems like I’m not needed in the family business. My engagement is over, and, well, I’ve given enough of my life to Coconut Beach.”
“You’re not going to be a grownup about this?” Luke sounds so disappointed. “You can’t just leave.”
“I can. I need to find some flights to India.” Rex closes his eyes and hums loudly.
“Is he losing it?” I whisper to Luke, who just stares at his brother in disbelief.
“I need to take some yoga classes, man. I need to learn how to chill and relax. This stress is going to make me have a heart attack. Plus, Talia said she knows this yogi that?—”
Andi bursts into tears at his words and I watch as she slides the ring off of her finger and throws it at him.
“Talia, can have this.” She sobs. “You can tell her the friendship isover and I’m never talking to her again.” She puts her hands on her hips and she looks self-satisfied like she thinks that’s actually going to hurt Talia’s feelings. I want to make a comment about Talia likely not giving a flying fuck, but I don’t.
Rex stares at her and then at the ring before placing it into his back pocket. For a few moments, he looks like he wants to cry and I think he’s finally going to do the right thing and apologize and ask for forgiveness. I think he’s going to own up to being a shitty human being. But I’m a bigger fool than he is for thinking that because he promptly hurries to the door, a swag in his step that I’d hadn’t seen since his teenage years.
“Bye, guys. Love you, fam. See you later. Oh, and, Grandma?” he calls out.
“Yes, Rex?” She sounds tired.
“Let everyone know the wedding’s off, please.”
And with that, he leaves.
I stare at Luke, eyes wide. “Oh my gosh,” I say.
I hold Andi to me as she’s still sobbing. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I knew I was being a fool. I knew that it was not the best decision of my life.” She looks up at me with wide-open eyes. “I wish I had friends like you and Juniper. Maybe then I wouldn’t have found myself in this mess.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I say because the truth of the matter is, she probably wouldn’t have.
“I’m going to go. It was really nice, being welcomed into your family, Mr. and Mrs. Haverbrook, and I’m sorry it came to this. I really hope you can save your business, but I have to go.”
And with that, Andi runs out of the house.
