The Wedding Rehearsal Game Broke Me Completely Chapter 03

The Wedding Rehearsal Game Broke Me Completely Chapter 03

Downstairs, I’d just called a car when Grayson came back from walking Sienna to hers.

“You’re really leaving?”

I didn’t slow down.

He caught up and put a hand on the suitcase.

“You’re really upset today?”

“It’s just a game. No need to be such a sore loser.”

I turned, dodging his hand.

“Twenty years of playing this childish game with the two of you. I should’ve figured it out a long time ago.”

“You both loved it, didn’t you?”

“Treating me like I wasn’t there meant you two got to lean on each other right in front of me, say things only the two of you understood, get as close as you wanted. No need to think about how I felt.”

“Because I was just in the way, wasn’t I?”

Grayson clicked his tongue, his frown deepening.

“Are you actually jealous of Sienna right now?”

“You had fun with it too, in the beginning. Every time the game ended, you went right back to being glued to us.”

He reached over and smoothed down a strand of hair the wind had messed up.

“Don’t overthink this. You’re the one I’m marrying.”

“I said we’re done.”

I looked him dead in the eye and spelled it out. “I mean it.”

His hand froze in midair.

“The wedding’s tomorrow.”

“And you’re telling me now that you want to break up?”

Grayson stared at me the way you’d look at a kid throwing an unreasonable tantrum.

“Have you even thought about the consequences?”

“You know how long Mom’s been waiting for this wedding, right?”

“And Dad always hoped he’d see us get married someday. How’s he supposed to rest easy if you pull something like this?”

For a second, I couldn’t breathe.

It was true. My dad had held Grayson’s hand on his deathbed and made him promise to take care of me.

He pulled me into his arms and nuzzled the top of my head, the way he always did.

“Come on. Don’t do this.”

“Go home, get some sleep. Let’s just get through the wedding tomorrow, nice and easy.”

I stood rigid in his arms, my fingers curling into fists.

My ride pulled up right then.

I used the moment to push him off and yank the car door open.

Grayson stood there, letting out a short, angry laugh.

“Fine. Take some time to think.”

“Just don’t make any decisions you’ll regret before tomorrow.”

As the car pulled away, I looked back through the rearview mirror.

Grayson was still standing there.

He was probably certain that, like every time before, I’d come crawling back on my own.

The cab stopped outside my parents’ building. When I opened the door, Mom was walking out of the kitchen carrying a pot of soup.

“Lulu? What are you doing back at this hour?”

“The wedding’s tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

She spotted my red-rimmed eyes and set the pot down right away, pulling me down to sit beside her.

“What happened? Who upset you?”

I thought about what Grayson had said, and my throat tightened.

“Mom. If I don’t marry Grayson, would you and Dad be disappointed?”

Mom went quiet for a second, then sighed.

“Silly girl.”

She wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. “When we adopted you, your dad and I only ever wanted one thing. For you to be happy.”

“Our Lulu went through so much at that children’s home when she was little. Our biggest regret is that we didn’t bring you home sooner.”

“So if we ever hoped for a wedding, it was so someone else would keep loving you the way we do. Not so you’d end up getting hurt.”

“Before your dad passed, he and I agreed on this. Whether you get married, and who you marry, none of it matters as much as you being happy.”

I leaned into Mom the way I used to as a kid whenever someone hurt me, crying too hard to speak.

She didn’t rush me. She just rubbed slow circles on my back.

After a long while, I wiped my eyes.

The last shred of doubt in me finally disappeared.

“Mom. You don’t need to go to the wedding tomorrow.”