Page 45 of Lavish
Sighing loudly, I glanced at Laurene, who just shrugged and looked away.
Great. I hurt her feelings.
But that was life. I only got praise when Iproduced.Good grades. Flawless plans. Keeping it together.
Love wasusefulness.
So where was my love when I was being useful to the entire fucking family right now?
Gigi snapped, “Don’t be a bitch to Lu. Nobody is telling you that you gotta act all gangster about this! All of us would be pissing our pants, you damn robot. If you can’t be real with your sisters, who you gonna be real with?”
Her words hung in the air, and for a moment, I almost let my guard down. Almost.
Would they even understand? I was going to have to look at andlivewith my mistake each and every day.
“I’m doing what I have to,” I insisted. “What more do you want from me? I’m not going to cause a scene. It’s bad enough I’m playing along with the veil and bouquet. That’s what we do in this family, isn’t it? We show up. We get it done.”
Laurene and Gigi shared a look. Ihatedthat look. It was one they’d had since childhood when they were in on the joke and I wasn’t.
“No one’s asking you to fall apart, Serena. But you’re allowed to feelsomething. Even about Miles,” Laurene said.
“God, give poor Miles strength if he’s dealing with her,” Gigi muttered. “You got shit easy, at least you know Miles. Lu didn’t even know Reese like that, imagine going through that.”
Laurene pursed her lips but didn’t say anything.
“I’ll make sure to say the same to whoever gets stuck with your ass,” I snapped at her.
“It’s obvious you’ve had a crush on Miles since we were kids. You ain’t even happy you gonna get to have him in your place? Shirtless. Naked…” Gigi grinned evilly at me.
I do not need more thoughts about naked Miles.
“He’s my arranged husband, not a gigolo,” I responded stiffly.
“Don’t knock the profession. I’ve dabbled with the escorts.”
Laurene made a face. “You have?”
I turned back to the mirror, inspecting my makeup. There were no flaws.
Gigi ignored her. “You think he’s not gonna be walking around injusta towel sometimes?”
Laurene mulled over that. “I mean…she’s not wrong.”
“I’m just saying. Miles might be willing to put you through the mattress even if it’s in the name of revenge against Erik or if he just needs to get a load off. If I were him, I’d do it to be petty. I’m pretty sure you’re still a virgin.”
Laurene and I shared a glance, and I hated that my skin flushed and I looked away.
“Ah!” Gigi pointed. “Youarea virgin.”
“Georgiana, please,” Laurene told her. “We have a wedding to go to?—”
“What’s the rush? We are allgrown-ass women.We can talk about sex. Hell, we are the physical manifestation of the consequences of it! Look at you! Hunching.” Gigi pointed at Laurene’s baby bump.
“Look, no!” I snapped and shook my head. “I don’t need any lessons. I don’t want advice. Can we just get out of here, so we can all go home and I can start to forget that this is happening?”
“Welp, I tried. I’m just gonna let God handle you. Here.” She tossed the bouquet at me, and it hit my arm before falling to the floor.
Laurene shook her head. “Damn, G.”
