Page 34 of Sunshine

“I didn’t.” Ember gave her a poisonous smile. “If you were Becca, you wouldn’t have been allowed to approach the tent at all.”

My chest pinched and my throat closed up. I knew my family didn’t like that I was still friends with Talia but I hadn’t realized it was this bad. Part of the joy of almost everyone being an alpha or omega in my family was it meant I had a veritable gang of overprotective siblings and cousins.

Of course, it really, really didn’t help that Talia kept trying to get them to agree with her. Talia was a lot of things, but easygoing didn’t make the list.

Part of me was glad Ember said what I had been thinking for a year. If it was a scent match, fine. Tell me that and break up with me. The cheating behind my back was the part that was so hard to swallow.

“I’m going back to my booth.” She dropped the cupcakes on the ground. “I guess this serves me right for trying to do something nice.”

She sounded close to tears. Guilt tore at me, and I stepped over to her. “Talia, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She shook her blonde hair. “Have a nice day at the festival.”

She walked away, her shoulders tight.

Ember let out a breath. “Sunshine, I know you don’t like confrontation, but she’s going to keep pretending she’s taking the high road until you call her on her bullshit.”

I bent over, picking up the trays of cupcakes. Ember moved to help, and I waved her off. “I got it.”

I kept my mouth shut. There was no calling Talia on her bullshit. Any time I tried to have a conversation about something she’d done wrong, it somehow got turned around to how her feelings were hurt.

Either she was upset that she’d hurt me, or she was upset that I assumed the worst. She was really good at sidestepping whatever point I was trying to make.

I’d learned it wasn’t worth it. I would have to have a more honest conversation with her soon, but whenever I thought about it, I just got tired.

It would be a lot of back and forth about our feelings, and at the end I would feel like I’d accomplished nothing.

And questioning if it was worth it.

“I’ve got to go back,” Julian said, quietly. He was still looking at me like he thought I might start crying.

I wasn’t close to tears. I was just tired and drained. Tired of all the mess.

“Want me to walk you?” I put the plastic trays of cupcakes in the closest trash can. “That way I’ll be able to find it easier at the end of the day.”

Julian perked up. “A fantastic idea.”

I didn’t even look at Raina or Ember, I just walked with Julian down the path of booths.

Chapter 11

Sunshine

“Sorry about Talia.” I shook my head. “Everything keeps getting more and more complicated the older we get.”

“That’s the truth.” Julian let out a puff of breath. “We’re all adults, I thought we would have the answers by now.” He sounded as mystified as I felt, and it was a relief. Where was the instruction manual on how to be an adult, anyway?

“Exactly.” I glanced over at Julian. He was only a little bit taller than me, so I had a very close view of his sharp cheekbones and annoyingly kissable pouty mouth. “She used to sit up all night with me.”

It just came tumbling out. Julian was so easy to talk to, which was what had started our friendship to begin with. I’d been visiting Logan’s new catering company shortly after they moved here from Hawaii, and, despite his chipper attitude, I’d known something was wrong. I’d asked him about what they’d seen in Half Moon Bay so far, and we ended up talking for hours.

I bit my lip. “My whole family is pissed at her about the thing with Becca, and it hurt me too, but it’s not as simple as her being a bad friend.”

Julian took my hand and squeezed it. “I hope you don’t mind that I stayed. Leaving seemed…rude.”

“I don’t mind. It’s embarrassing but…” I shrugged.

It wasn’t he didn’t already know my life was a hot mess. What was one more incident?

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