Page 75 of That Secret Something

Sally’s voice wobbled. “Please, girls, let’s take this somewhere else, shall we? Somewhere private?”

But Lily didn’t hear her, or she didn’t care.

“How long has this been going on?” Lily’s attention snapped to me, and my stomach twisted, seeing the hurt in her face. Her eyes glossed over, and for a moment, her anger subsided. “Jess… My sister?”

“I’m sorry, I wanted to tell you, it’s just…it wasn’t the right time…and the wedding—”

She balled her hands into fists. “Oh, now you remember about that. You don’t even care! I bet you’ve been having the best time laughing about this behind my back.”

That hit me straight in the chest, flaring up something inside. “How can you say that? I’ve been working non-stop to try and make your wedding perfect, and this isn’t something I would laugh about. I’ve been so worried about you finding out and hurting you, but—”

“I can’t believe this.” An inhumane growl erupted from her throat. “My fucking sister? Under my nose? You’re supposed to be my best friend—”

“I am. It’s not like that. All I’ve done is worry about hurting you—”

She threw her hands up in my face. “I don’t wanna hear it, Jess. You can save those puppy eyes for someone else, too. It isn’t working on me.”

Puppy eyes? “I’m trying to be honest with you.”

Rebecca put herself between us. “Don’t blame Jess. It’s not her fault, it’s mine.”

“There’s no blame. It just happened.” I reached for Rebecca, trying to separate the sisters. I didn’t trust Lily’s death stare, and the last thing I wanted was someone getting hurt.

Though it was much too late for that.

Lily’s focus dropped to our entwined hands, and she shook her head in disbelief.

She pushed Rebecca aside so she could look me in the eyes. “You know what? I feel sorry for you, Jess,” she spat, the vein in her forehead throbbing. “She’s only done this to get back at me.”

I shook my head. “It’s not like that—”

“Ha! You think you know her more than I do? She’s always wanted what she can’t have. And she’s always known about your little crush on her.”

My gut twisted, tiny knives stabbing my insides.

“She’s only interested in you because I told her to stay away from you. It’s a challenge. She’s used you! And for what? To ruin my wedding?” Lily’s eyes swelled with tears. “Was it worth it, Becca?”

Her words punched a hole through my chest, grabbing my heart and squeezing hard.

My mind went into overdrive. They both knew? All this time? I felt the sharp snap of betrayal, but anger won out. “I can’t believe you’d do that.”

“What?” Lily’s eyes widened at my change of tone. “Me?”

“Yes, you. That you’d disregard my feelings so easily. Why didn’t you talk to me? All this time I’ve been eating myself up about it, and you knew? You purposefully tried to stop it?” Tears pricked my eyes, but I gritted my teeth. “Don’t I matter? Don’t I get a say?”

“It’s my wedding—”

“Enough about your fucking wedding! I’ve had enough. What about how I feel? I’m sick of being a pushover and putting myself last when all I’ve done is try to make everyone else happy. What about me?” My voice broke, and tears escaped down my cheeks. I hated frustrated crying, but the emotions inside were too much. “You can’t just keep me to yourself. I deserve to be happy, too.”

Rebecca wrapped her arms around me, and I tried to push her off. “Is it true?” I asked. “Did Lily tell you to stay away from me?”

The crease between Rebecca’s eyebrows deepened. “It sounds bad—”

“Why didn’t you say anything? Now everything just—” Seems like a lie. Like a game. Like it didn’t matter. I sobbed, pressing my hands to my eyes. It was too much to process.

“Jess, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to put ideas in your head. I didn’t want to ruin what we have.”

I could hear the words, but they’d lost all meaning. The grip around my heart squeezed harder, cracking down the middle.

---