Page 166 of The Snowball Effect

The scoffing laugh Audrey let out was so loud, Regan jumped back from it. Yeah, okay, that was the reminder she’d neededthat her typically super reserved sister was drunk as a skunk. “What, like you’re the only queer person I know?” The look in her eyes glinted, as she smartly tapped her glass against Regan’s. “Like you’re the only queer person in our family?”

Regan’s jaw fell slack, shock rushing through her. “What?!” Her own exclamation was loud, but she didn’t give a shit. “Is it Uncle Barry? Because I always thought–”

Audrey rolled her eyes as she cut her off. “It’sme, Regan. Obviously.”

Seriously, Regan could be knocked over with a fucking feather. Words escaped her, as she could only stare at her sister. Apparently, someone she knew even less about than she’d thought.

“How – and I repeat:how– is that obvious?” Regan finally managed to ask. “You’ve been with Armando since you were, like, in college.”

“In business school,” Audrey corrected, sharply. “I had a girlfriend in college. Kind of.” She frowned, deeply, her bottom lip poking out, before she waved her hand, dismissively. “It was a thing, anyway.”

Regan ran a hand through her hair, trying to make sense of it all. “Holy shit.”

“Hmm,” Audrey hummed, thoughtfully, in agreement.

“What happened with her?” Regan leaned forward, eagerly, ready to take in every detail. Because – what the fuck!

“Nothing. We… broke up, in a manner of speaking. Haven’t spoken since,” Audrey’s sentences were disjointed as she shrugged, then drooped her shoulders down low. Clearly more affected by the memory than she wanted to verbally let on.

All Regan could do was sit back and try to wrap her head around this development, which was not an easy task.

“Andthen, I got with Armando. And he’s… just, great. Really. So, so –wonderful,” Audrey bit out, her tone dark, as shenarrowed her eyes down at the engagement ring that glinted on her finger.

What in the world was going on?!

“Exactly forty-five days until the biggest moment of my life,” Audrey continued, not taking her eyes off her ring. “Forty-five days.”

Regan darted her eyes between the engagement ring, her sister’s face, then back.

“Right. And you’re… not… happy about that?” She slowly surmised. Maybe a little slower on the uptake than she usually was, but Regan didn’t think that was her own fault.

“I’m ecstatic. Can’t you tell?” Audrey pasted on a smile that was terrifyingly authentic looking, as she turned to face Regan again.

“Uh. I don’t think I can tell anything about you, right now,” she admitted, honestly. “I can’t tell why you askedmeto come here. I can’t tell why you’re getting drunk after work in a bar on a weekday, which doesn’t seem to be your style but if this evening has taught me anything it’s that I don’t really know you at all. So, I have no idea aboutanything,” she repeated, because it was the absolute truth.

“Join the club, Regan,” Audrey muttered, as she picked up her glass and downed the remainder of it. “I texted you tonight because I felt like I was going to fucking explode, but I don’t want to accidentally tell any of my friends about Armando treating our relationship like a business arrangement. Or about how he’s more passionate about Dad’s political connections than he is about me.Orabout how we haven’t had sex in over six months. We’re not even married yet, and we’re basically celibate.”

She let out a harsh laugh, before she bit it off on a sharp breath and dropped her head into her hands.

“Forty-five days,” she muttered, thickly.

Alarmed and filled with sympathy, Regan leaned in and tentatively wrapped her arm around her sister’s waist, trying to comfort her.

It was something she’d never done, but it didn’t feel as strange as she’d expected it would. In fact, it felt… kind of similar to when she comforted Sutton. Not the exact same, but she felt the same need to want to help figure out how to soothe over the pain.

“You don’t have to do it, you know,” she whispered, making sure to keep her voice as low as possible. She knew without a doubt that Audrey would never want someone to hear her say this; hell, maybeAudreydidn’t even want her to say it.

Audrey didn’t lift her head, even as she shook it in firm dissent. “Yes, I do. It’s planned. It’s paid for. The guest list is finalized. Armando’s family is flying in from Spain. Mom and Dad have invited half of the country club. My friends and I are flying out for the weekend to Napa for my bridal party on Friday.”

“So?” She refused to back down, because amongst that whole list, she didn’t hear anything that sounded remotely like a real reason to get married. “Whocares?”

Audrey whipped her head up to stare at Regan with narrowed eyes. “Everyone cares,” she hissed back. “Armando and I work at the same firm; he’s – indirectly – my superior. Mom texts me every other day to remind me of what needs to get done before the wedding.Everyonecares, Regan.”

“Idon’t care,” she emphasized, holding Audrey’s gaze with her own. “You’re tying yourself to this guy for the rest of your life – or you’re going to go through a divorce that is probably going to be lengthy and expensive. Both of which sound like really shitty options to me.”

Audrey let out a trembling breath, her glassy eyes growing even glassier, before she blinked and turned away from her. “It’s not that easy.”

“I didn’t say it was easy; I said you don’t have to marry him.”

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