Page 84 of Of Pranks and Passion

I winced. I hated being right at that moment. I didn’t think she’d get away with it, not with Easton, but it still hurt.

“But when I didn’t acknowledge her, they asked for something so fucked up, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.” He tucked me under his arm supportively. “I told them I’d think about it, but I think we should make them think I agree. Playing the recording for people is enough to ruin them, but if we playalong, it gives us so many fucking opportunities for revenge. It’ll be awesome.”

“The chaos monster is awake,” Angel pointed out dryly. “Tell us what they wanted.”

I braced myself, holding my breath. It had to be bad. He wouldn’t be so excited if it wasn’t.

“They want Brienna to walk down the aisle first. Before Gary. In a wedding dress.”

Ever try sucking in a breath while you’re already holding your breath? Yeah, it doesn’t really work. I spluttered and coughed, whipping my head around to face Easton. Everyone else looked just as shocked. Only Easton looked giddy.

“What the fuck?” Angel demanded. “I mean seriously… What the fuck?”

Easton nodded with a huge, shit-eating grin. “I know. It took some serious acting to keep from saying that to their faces. Who the fuck asks for that?”

My chest was starting to hurt. Was I breathing?

Smiley’s hand thwacked my back hard, and I sucked in a deep breath. When he offered me the joint, I took it without question. I needed something to get me through this conversation.

Easton was nice enough to wait for me to have a few hits before taking the joint himself. He rubbed my back soothingly, taking a hit while our friends all shouted out questions.

“Are they serious?” Angel demanded.

“Is it some fucking ploy to get her to marry you instead?” Chuckles suggested.

That only seemed to incense Angel more. “Fucking how?”

“Maybe they'd try something insane, like lock Gary in a closet and force P to go through with it to not be embarrassed in front of the guests?” Smiley guessed.

That was kind of a scary thought, and probably would cross Brienna’s mind if it hadn’t already. I’d need to be on guard my whole wedding day. Would I need to hire actual bodyguards just to get down the aisle?

“Did they say why?” Coach was the only calm one, though he looked like he was fighting a scowl, and his fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white.

Easton nodded, letting out a long puff before handing the joint back to me. “They said because she’s the oldest, it wouldn’t be right to let Gary go down the aisle first. They think the bitch gets first dibs and should go down the aisle first so she can have the experience and attention she deserves as the eldest.”

“What the actual fuck?”

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

GARY

I didn’t swear often,but this revelation deserved it. I always knew my parents favored Brienna. It was kind of hard to miss when they’d take away my toys and give them to her because she demanded them. But I never thought they’d go so far as to have her walk down the aisle at my wedding. I bet even if she was already married, they’d probably try to force me into a double wedding/vow renewal so she could be the star. The normal numbness and resignation weren’t there this time, and I felt my blood boil.

“What the actual fuck?!”

“They pissed off our sweet summer child. He’s gonna blow,” someone whispered. I didn’t know who. I was too pissed off to see straight. I vaguely felt someone take the joint from me before I crushed it, but I didn’t care. I launched to my feet, pacing back and forth and muttering under my breath.

“How the fuck does she think I’d go for this? Is she insane? What would people even think? It’s not like they won’t know she’s not the right person! Does she think they’ll just glance over it? We’re not even the same gender!”

“Gary. Gary!” Easton barked. It caught my attention, and I swung around, wide eyed and furious. He beckoned me with a crook of his finger, and when I was close enough, he dragged me into his lap. “Relax. She won’t get fucking close to the aisle. But if we make her think she will, we could humiliate all three of them so much, they’ll have to leave town to escape the shame. There will be a lot of heavy hitters at that party. She’d be recognized all over town. It’d probably end up on social media. Instead of chasing you off, we can chase them off instead.”

I latched on to his shirt, narrowing my eyes at him. “How?”

His slow grin always thrilled me, but now I saw it for what it was. A fucking promise that he was going to destroy my family and make them regret ever hurting me. And he was going to do it with a smile.

The next fivemonths were a blur. The wedding planner, a sassy man named Ben, was told about what my family wanted and how we were going to deal with it. He had to be brought in on the ruse because Easton wouldn’t have been able to take six months of dealing with Brienna. He loved our plan and even set a few things up himself to record it all.

I thought I’d be a nervous wreck about the whole thing, but Easton and school kept me busy. Since Brienna didn’t want me anywhere near the wedding planning (because she was planning to steal the show and didn't want me to find out) I got six blissful months of not hearing from her. Or my family in general. I thought I’d be sad about it. I avoided cutting contact completely for years, because I was afraid of being alone in the world, but I ended up loving it. My stress levels were down, studying was easier when I wasn’t worried about my sister’s demands, and Iwas never lonely. On the days Easton was busy, Carter met me for lunch, and I even ran into Frankie a few times, too. And every day after class, instead of spending the entire night in the library, I went to The Hideout, studied at the kitchen table while Coach made dinner, and relaxed with my friends when I was done. And my grades never suffered for it.

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