Page 23 of Weddings, Revenge & Fake Dating

“It’s a ridiculous commercial,” he says as he rocks me.

“How can I compete with that?” I’m a blubbering mess. The makeup I carefully applied earlier runs in waterfalls down my cheeks.

“First, there’s no comparison. Sophia is probably an asshole and has been that way for twenty-five years.” He brushes away the wetness on my cheek with his thumbs.

“She was a toddler twenty-five years ago.” I sniffle.

“Toddlers are the worst kind of assholes, and I’ll bet Roman was a bastard when you met him.”

“So, my life has been doomed since Y2K?” I say with a hiccup.

“I know what it’s like to be left behind by someone. I’ve been there. The people we love don’t always stay, even when we continue to love them. The part you must remember is sometimes, a lot of the time, they don’t deserve us. Understand?”

Nathan hands me a tissue. I take it and carefully wipe under my eyelashes, hoping to catch the mascara drips.

He sighs. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“It’s going to be harder than I thought. Roman wasn’t always like this. He wasn’t nasty like this with Dex. He wasn’t rude like this with me. If we could only be who we were before—” My voice cracks. “As a family, I mean. I’m not sure it’s possible, but I need to try. If I don’t, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

Nathan nods and turns serious. Like a Mafia boss, he rubs the scruff on his chin as if he’s in thought.

“In that case, you’re going to march back in there and act like this doesn’t faze you. In fact, you fucking love that commercial.” He points at me, sounding stern. “And tonight, you’re going to that bachelorette party to dance your fucking heart out, all while pretending to be Sophia’s best friend. Got it?”

12/

jeanie

Trashy Penis Whistles

“Maybe I’m thinking about this wrong,” I say to Nathan. “Maybe I should talk Sophia into dumping Roman, not the other way around. With her out of the picture, I could win him back.”

Nathan offers me a sly grin. “Now you’re getting the hang of this.”

“Are you sure you’re a life coach?” My lip quirks.

“I didn’t say I aspired to be an ethical one.”

“I’m truly worried for your future clients.”

“I hope they’re all as devious as you.” His eyes sparkle as he strokes my hand with his thumb. “Listen, I have to leave for that job. Will you be okay?”

“A modeling job?”

“Let’s go with that.”

Nathan places a soft kiss on the top of my hand, leaving a patch of heat in the shape of his full lips. My mouth parts at the gesture, but I quickly shake it off and conclude someone must be watching us.

“I’m running late, but I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.”

When my hand drops, he steps backward and points like he’s checking in on me one last time.

“I’ll be fine.” I wave him away.

A few minutes ago, I was losing my mind, but now I’m grinning from ear to ear, feeling hopeful. But for what? I’m unsure if it’s about the adjusted plan to break up Roman and Sophia, or if it’s because of my newly forming friendship with Nathan.

Having a shady sidekick is fun.

“There you are!”