Page 86 of How to Ruin Your Ex's Wedding
“Every goddamn thing about me that you find acceptable is fake and has zero to do with the actual me. You even want to enlarge my breasts. I mean, let’s face it, Hunter, is there anything real about me that you like?”
Hunter starts looking around, as though finally realizing that they have an audience.
“I won’t do this here with you, Tabatha.” His voice is low.
“Of course not.” She stares him down, her gaze fierce. “Where would you like to do it?”
“I don’t even know what it is we are doing. We are to be married tomorrow.” His voice rises as he says it and carries across the crowd. “Pre-wedding jitters get the best of everyone, I suppose.” He laughs uneasily. “Why don’t we all get a drink—I know I could use one—and we can sit down to dinner and try to salvage the remainder of the evening.” He walks into the small crowd with open arms, as though he’s trying to give them all a hug.
I turn to Gregor. “He’s just going to brush the whole thing off? And then what?”
“I’ll be damned if I can figure the guy out,” Gregor says.
“What a douche.” I pour myself another finger of scotch.
Tabatha raises her arms in exasperation and looks at Crystal, mouth agape. Crystal nods, then puts her arm around Tabby’s shoulders and leads her over to the main table.
Obviously, she agrees with Gregor and me.
Crystal grabs one of the bottles of wine already on the table and empties the entire bottle by pouring four large glasses. She hands one to Tabatha.
“Crystal didn’t get the memo that Tabatha isn’t allowed to drink anymore,” I say, voicing my thoughts aloud, enjoying the running commentary Gregor and I have going on.
“Well, he did say everyone should get a drink to salvage the evening,” Gregor deadpans.
Crystal motions for Angela and Maisey to join them, handing each a glass of wine as well, then starts to say something.
“Hey, turn it up,” I tell Gregor. Before we get a chance to hear what she says, Hunter approaches the group.
All four heads turn to look at him expectantly. He clears his throat. “I would like for the two of us to salvage the evening as well. This isn’t how I thought the night before our wedding would be. I apologize for voicing such things in front of other people.” His voice is loud, I’m sure for the benefit of others in the room who aren’t close by.
Tabatha nods at him. “Thank you.”
As they all take their seats at the table, I notice that even though Peckercox was feeling all apologetic a second ago, he doesn’t sit next to his betrothed during dinner, choosing instead a seat at the opposite end of the table.
25
Tabatha
Hunter and I had already planned to spend tonight apart. The whole, “don’t see the bride before the ceremony”thing. So, Crystal and I are staying in a suite tonight, where we can get ready together in the morning. I’m assuming Hunter is staying at our house, but I never double-checked with him to see.
“Well, that was an interesting night,” Crystal says. It’s just her and me in the car Hunter arranged to bring us to the Cascadian House from dinner. Maisey And Angela went home. Maisey, to spend the night with her daughter, and Angela so she can drive herself in tomorrow.
“True. Do you think it’s wrong for me to marry him?”
“Wrong? I don’t know if that’s the right question. No pun intended. I mean, tonight seemed a bit brutal to me. But you’re the only one who knows what your relationship with Hunter is like behind closed doors. And what’s consistent and long-term.”
“Tonight sucked, for sure, but so have the last few weeks, really. Everything has been so up and down.”
“Which is your big reason for leaving Pax, and your big reason for being with Hunter, because he isn’t up and down. And you never fight. Which, just for the record, I think is weird. All couples fight. That’s normal. It’s how you make up and proceed that matters. But continue, please.”
“Ever since I took the mini-series part, he’s been different,” I say.
“He knew you were an actress when he first asked you out. Hell, he was a self-proclaimed fan. It’s not like he didn’t know what he was getting into.”
“I know, but I’d said I wasn’t going to act anymore.”
“And you’ve been bored to tears.”
