Page 58 of My Ex-Best Men
She looked around again and then leaned even closer. “I always liked you and Sophia. If I were you, though, I’d watch my back around Madeline. I hate to sound like a gossip but she’s still the same mean girl she was back in school. She’s had her sights set on Will for a long time and I got the impression she thought this week was going to be her big chance with him.”
My stomach dropped even though I pretty much already knew Madeline had the hots for Will. I wasn’t sure what to say back to Sara but she just shook her head and waved me off again.
“Go. Ignore me. I was just giving into the gossip. I’ve seen the way Will has been looking at you this week and no one has a chance with that man.”
I forced a smile and held up the pain reliever. “Thank you for this. And for the heads up.”
When I got back to the suite I gave the medicine to Sophia and then was ushered into a high-backed chair by a makeup artist. I forced the negative thoughts about Madeline out of my head and focused on the importance of the day. Sophia was getting married. That was the most important thing.
“Oh, god, Claire.” Speaking of, Madeline swept into the suite, still clutching her maid of honor clipboard. Her makeup was already perfectly applied and her hair was swept to the side in an old Hollywood wave that made her delicate features look even classier. Dressed in a silk robe that draped gracefully all the waydown to the floor, she could’ve easily been the bride. “What is on your neck?! Does no one care about the pictures?!”
Sophia looked over at my neck and chuckled. “As long as it wasn’t from my brother, I say good for you.”
The makeup artist clicked her tongue. “I’ve had to cover way bigger things on wedding days. I’ve got you, babe.”
Madeline mumbled something under her breath that I didn’t catch but it made the artist cringe. I frowned after her and then glanced up at the artist. “I’m sorry.”
She squeezed my shoulders. “Nothing to be sorry for. Not you, anyway. That one… Now that’s another story. Is she a close friend of yours?”
I laughed. “No. Not at all.”
“Thank god. I hate to see women keep shitty best friends close by when there are so many good ones out there. Like you two. Y’all are platonic soulmates, aren’t you?”
Sophia’s eyes filled with tears as she nodded. “Forever.”
I reached out and took her hand. “Forever.”
The sound of gagging from somewhere else in the suite preceded Fiona sprinting towards the bathroom. Lizzie stood up from her own makeup chair and sighed. “Don’t think that our current state of shit show is a reflection of our feelings for you and your big day.”
Sophia laughed before grasping her head again. “Oh, god. No more laughing. If Jake thinks he’s getting any tonight, he’s sorely mistaken. As soon as we get through this thing I’m crawling into a hole and dying for a week straight.”
51
***Claire***
Istood back while Sophia faked her way through posing for the typical getting ready pictures. She was a little green but the photographer promised she could remove any traces of black eyes, hickeys, and green-coloring. Bless her.
Lizzie, Fiona, and Kinsley were all resting on the bed in the suite, their hangovers refusing to let up. The makeup artists had finished up but they were hovering off to the side of the room, waiting for us to need touchups. The bridesmaids had all changed into pretty slips with matching robes for the pictures and my hair was up in massive rollers. I’d already smiled through several hundred photos and I was more than glad to sit back and let Sophia do all the work.
Madeline perched on the edge of a chair next to me, her back stiff and her eyes never moving over to me. She spoke quietly, ensuring that I’d be the only person to hear her. “Ten years you’ve been gone and you just come back and think you can take everything. You left them here. You lefthimhere.”
I didn’t bother with the pretense. I turned to her and gripped my knees to keep my hands steady. “That’s one way to look at things, Madeline.”
“I had him. Will was mine, Claire. I know you’ve seen us together. Those private moments? They’re quiet echoes of what we had before, what we’ll have again.” She turned to me then, her eyes burning bright with unshed tears. “I love him. I understand he needs time to finish this thing with you but as soon as he does, he’ll come back to me. All you’re doing with him is stopping him from coming home to his happily ever after.”
My stomach soured. “You and Will?”
She let out a quiet laugh and dabbed at her eyes. “Yes.”
I shook my head, unwilling to believe her. “No.”
She stood up and stared down at me with that same burning intensity. For the first time ever, I felt like I was seeing real vulnerability in her eyes and it terrified me. “There’s more.”
I didn’t want to follow her. I wanted to pretend like she wasn’t telling me something that made Will out to be a liar. He’d been with her? How? How could he have been with her and not told me? My feet had a mind of their own. I got up and followed her to the bathroom, where she closed us in and then leaned heavily against the door, tears leaking down her face.
“I know I’ve been cruel to you, Claire, but please understand that you’re trying to take the man I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. You had Zane and Anthony but they weren’t enough for you… Still…I feel bad for you.” She met my gaze and slightly shook her head. “Even though a part of me hates you, Claire, I still feel bad for the way they acted.”
I pressed one hand to the marble countertop and let the cold ground me. “What do you mean?”
