Page 77 of Bridesmaid to Bride

“Nope.” He folds his arms. “Not until we have some sort of plan. My friend is crying. And I’ve never seen Zach cry before. Not even when he broke his arm falling off the monkey bars.”

“You just met him last year.” My face pinches.

“Yes. That happened last year.” West shoots me a “duh” look.

“Really?” Paige says behind the door. “Zach is crying for me?”

“Yes, Paige.” West is using that voice—the one where he’s annoyed but trying not to sound like it. “He’s a total wreck. He can’t wait to marry you.”

“That’s so cute!” Paige cries out.

“Okay, time for a plan.” Skye looks at me and says, “You and Paige are identical twins.”

My eyes practically pop out of my head. “I don’t know where you’re going with this, but nope.”

Paige cracks open the door. “This could work. But when was the last time you did some sort of skin care routine, Eva?”

“I don’t need a skin care routine.” I grit my teeth, resisting the urge to point out what just happened to her while doing one.

Skye’s tone is gentle. “We can put makeup on you, Eva, but we can’t, Paige.”

I stand silent, the wheels of my mind snagging.

“That’s true.” Paige pops her head out to give me a once over. “Ugh. Of course. Your nails look hideous, Eves, and I bet you have a rainforest growing below.”

“No one…” I trail off, giving Paige the stink eye, “is going to see my below…area, so that doesn’t matter.” Well, no one anymore. I resist the temptation to look at West. “Anyway, it also doesn’t matter because I’m not doing this.”

Paige’s lip quivers. “What am I going to do? It’s a live, televised wedding. We can’t cancel it. Not without a gigantic mess, anyway, and millions of dollars lost. I’ll probably get sued because this was me being irresponsible.”

“Ugh.” My entire life, I’m always stepping in to save Paige when she gets herself into a pickle. And now, here I am again. But this time she’s asking me to do something I’m terrified of—basically performing on live TV. My brain kicks into overdrive, thinking of reasons not to do this. “There’s no way I can pull this off. I’m the maid of honor.”

Skye puts up a finger. “It’s better to have the maid of honor miss the wedding than the bride.”

I groan. “Thanks, Skye.”

“Agreed,” West adds.

My lip curls. “Oh, you agree with Skye, West. Big shocker.”

Paige’s eyes brighten. “My makeup artist can make you look like me. She can add my Marilyn Monroe mole on your left cheek.”

“That you had tattooed on,” I mumble.

Skye says, “I could tattoo it on you now—”

“Nope,” I cut in. “If I say yes, which is a big if, we’ll draw it on.”

“I’m missing my own wedding.” Paige sobs again.

My voice turns desperate. “Wait, Paige. I can’t actually marry Zach.”

“Seriously, Eva?” Paige shoots me a glare. Or I think it’s a glare—it’s hard to read her facial expressions. “You don’t have to. It won’t have names on the paper. It’ll all be just for show.”

I shake my head furiously. “But I don’t even look like you, Paige.”

“Um, yeah, you do,” West says. “That’s kinda the point.”

I groan, blowing out a sigh so long I feel dizzy. I can never say no to Paige, and she knows it. And that’s with silly stuff. This one’s actually important, so I just need to give up fighting already. “Ugh. Fine.”

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