Page 29 of Broken Player

Charlie nodded her head and shot me a glance that told me she didn't believe him, but she wouldn't say anything. I nodded slightly, and I knew she'd let this go for now, but it'd come up later. I just hoped when I asked her not to press me and to let me handle it, she'd do as I asked.

Justice flipped her long, wavy hair that was exactly like mine over her shoulder. "So, Ryan, Yates must be pretty good in the sack, right? Since he's the only one you've ever been with, right?" She leaned back in her chair and smiled evilly like she was proud of herself for embarrassing me.

My cheeks burned, and I had no idea what to say. "I'm confident Ryan doesn't have any complaints," he said smoothly, winking at her. I wasn't sure I'd ever actually seen anyone wink in real life, but I had to admit he pulled it off. Yates was smooth as butter and alarm bells were going off. I'd need to be careful with him. I didn't know him at all, and he was a littletoogood at messing with the truth.

"Now that you two have thoroughly embarrassed me, are you satisfied?" I questioned, glaring at both of my sisters who wore matching innocent expressions on their faces.

Justice patted her stomach. "I know I am. I'm ready to walk off lunch and do some shopping. Charlie?"

My older sister nodded her head, her eyes locked on me the entire time. "Great," I sighed, reaching for my purse to pay for lunch, but Yates stopped me, handing his card to the waitress as she walked by our table.

"I've gotta run, babe," he said before turning back to my sisters. "Ladies, it was great to meet you. I hope we can spend more time getting to know each other before the wedding." His eyes lingered on Justice, and her eyebrows shot up. I glanced at Charlie, who noticed it, too, narrowing her eyes at him again.

As he slid his chair back and stood up, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. "Hold onto my card and use it while you're out shopping for wedding stuff today, okay?" Yates offered, and I nodded woodenly. "I'll pick you up in the morning." Shit, I was really doing this—the lunch I'd picked at churned in my stomach.

With one last wave, he turned and walked out of the restaurant, and we all watched him leave. As soon as the doors closed, my sisters shot me matchingwhat the fuck is going onlooks.

I lowered my head, resting my forehead on the cool surface of the table. "Can we not right now?" I begged.

"Fine, but you're telling us what the hell is going on as soon as we get to the dress shop," Charlie demanded.

"Fine. You two know your way around here. Where do we even go for wedding dresses?" I asked.

Justice smiled, plucking Yates's black credit card up off the table where the waitress had just dropped it. "I know just the place."

We pulledup next to a gorgeous white brick building with modern black signage and deep green ivy climbing the walls. It was classy and elegant, and I knew if it weren't for Yates, I'd never be able to step foot in a place like this. If this was my only chance, I'd make sure to enjoy it even if I was a little sad that I'd have to waste this opportunity on a groom I had no interest in.

The sign readLove + Laceand the huge front window displays showed off stunning dresses in a variety of sizes. I couldn't wait to try some dresses on and wondered if I could convince my sisters to try something too, just for fun.

As Justice held the door open for Charlie and me, I stopped just outside the door, and Charlie turned around. "Aren't you coming? You can't get married without a dress, even if the wedding is a total sham."

Leave it to my sister to not pull any punches. "Who said it was a sham?"

Justice raised her hand unhelpfully. "Me. I said it's a sham."

"Me, too. I don't know who you think you're fooling, but we know you better than that."

I followed my sisters inside, not really sure what to say. We were immediately greeted by a saleswoman that I was incredibly thankful for because she took the heat off of me.

"Welcome toLove and Lace.I'm Katie, and this is my shop, so you let me know if there's anything I can help you with." She looked at the three of us. "So, who's getting married?" she asked with a cheerful smile on her face and sparkling eyes. It was obvious she really loved this wedding stuff.

I slowly raised my hand, trying to look happier about the wholebetrothedthing than I felt. "That'd be me."

She clapped her hands a couple of times, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I've already got about five dresses in mind for you. Follow me." Katie spun on her heel and strode to the back of the shop. My sisters and I looked at each other before hurrying off to follow her.

Katie was moving quickly around the store, pulling dresses off of racks and piling them over her arms. "What's your name, bride-to-be?" she shouted at me from across the shop. I was glad we were the only ones in here shopping.

"I'm Ryan."

"Well, Ryan, why don't you go get undressed in one of the fitting rooms and I'll bring you in the first dress to try." She turned to Justice and Charlie. "You two take a seat on the sofa over there," she pointed to a gray velvet tufted couch facing a circular platform just outside the fitting rooms. I moved toward the rooms, pulling the door closed behind me and stripping down to my underwear. I was glad I thought to wear a strapless bra for this.

Katie knocked on the door with her knuckle. "Ready for dress number one?" she asked.

"Hand it over," I said, reaching my hand out of a crack in the door and pulling the layers of tulle and satin inside. This dress took up almost the entire room, and I had no idea how the hell I was going to get it on by myself.

"Katie?" I asked, a little bit breathless just from wrestling this thing into the room.

"How can I help, Ryan?"

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