Chapter 11 Wedding Confessions
Wedding Confessions
Tasha
“Stop fidgeting.”
“I’m not fidgeting.” I absolutely am. I’ve adjusted my dress three times in the last minute, and Olivia is two seconds away from slapping my hands.
I should be with Finley, her mother and the other bridesmaids getting ready.
But it was an easy sell to say the room was too small, and I’d be more comfortable with my friends.
“You’re fidgeting,” Jess confirms from the couch, where she’s eating chocolate-covered strawberries like they’re going out of style. “Also, you’re glowing. It’s disgusting.”
“I’m not glowing.”
“You’re definitely glowing,” Lyssa says, not looking up from where she’s painting Elena’s nails. “Like, genuinely radioactive levels of glowing. Did Seb give you some kind of vitamin injection last night?”
“Would you not!” I cover my face with my hands.
“Multiple injections?” Lyssa continues, grinning wickedly. “Administered orally?”
“I hate all of you.”
“You love us,” Olivia says, coming over to fix my hair for the fourth time. “And we love you. And we’re thrilled you finally admitted you love Seb.”
“Hunter has a big mouth.”
“Hunter is engaged to me, so yes, he tells me everything.” Olivia pins another curl into place. “Including the fact that you said it first.”
All four of them gasp in unison.
“You said it first?“ Jess sits up so fast she almost drops her strawberries. “Tasha ‘I Don’t Do Feelings’ Forrest said I love you first?”
“First, I am capable of feelings. I didn’t date for two years because my last relationship didn’t end well.”
“You said it first.“ Jess refuses to let it go.
“It slipped out.”
“During sex?” Lyssa’s eyes gleam. “Please tell me it was during sex.”
“I’m not answering that.”
“It was during sex!” Jess crows. “Oh, this is the best day of my life and I’m not even the one getting married.”
“Technically neither am I,” I point out.
“Yet,” Olivia says smugly. “Give it six months. Seb’s already planning the proposal, I can tell.”
“You can’t possibly know that.”
“Hunter says Seb’s been looking at rings online.”
I freeze. “What?”
“Kidding!” Olivia laughs at my expression. “But your face right now? Priceless. You want him to propose.”
“I...” Do I? We’ve been together for exactly two days. Forty-eight hours. That’s insane. “It’s too soon.”
“You’ve known him for over ten years,” Elena points out, finally speaking up from her nail-painting session. “That’s not too soon. That’s overdue.”
“Says the woman who got fake married to Kye after how weeks.”
“The rest of the world thought it was fake,” Elena says dreamily. “And we’re still together, so clearly it worked.”
“You’re all insane.”
“Insanely happy for you,” Jess corrects. “Seriously, Tash. After everything with Connor, after...everything...you deserve this.”
The room goes quiet. They all know now. Hunter told Olivia, who asked me for permission to tell the others.
It’s a relief. Yes, I could have taken my secret to the grave, but it’s a weight I don’t have to carry alone, any longer.
Seb knows and accepts me. We spoke about those dark days, and what it means for when we want to have a family.
We spoke about whether Connor needs to know and agreed we’ll tell him and Finley together after their honeymoon.
“Thank you,” I say softly. “All of you. For being here. For not judging. For making me laugh when I wanted to cry.”
“Oh, don’t do that,” Lyssa warns. “If you cry, we’ll all cry, and then Romany will kill us for ruining our makeup.”
“Speaking of Romany …” Olivia holds up her phone. “Finley’s mother is having a meltdown. Romany is on her way to summon you to the bridal suite.”
The second the door opens and I see Finley standing there in her slip, eyes bright with happy tears, something shifts. She’s my favorite cousin, just don’t tell my father’s side of the family. We were always close. We were almost sisters in the way we shared secrets and dreams.
For two years, Finley was the woman who stole my fiancé and my life. I tried to hate her, but couldn’t. I tried to hate Connor, but couldn’t. They belong together in a way Connor and I didn’t. In a way Seb and I always have.
Finley’s a woman about to marry the man she loves, and the best gift I can give them is genuine happiness.
“I heard there was a mother of the bride crisis.” I step into the room, giving her an air hug. “Are we talking chocolate stained hands on her dress or are you blaming her stolen lipstick on me?” The reference to our childhood is enough to bring a genuine but nervous giggle.
“She had a dream that you objected to the wedding.”
“Because he isn’t good enough for you?” I shrug nonchalantly. “He knows that. We know that. If you know that and love him anyway, why should I object.”
“Not that … because of the way …”
“Fin. Stop it.” To hell with crushed wedding gowns.
My cousin needs redemption as much as her mother needs to back the hell off.
“Would it have been better if Connor realized earlier that he had doubts about us? Hell, yeah. But maybe, he needed to see the opportunity for happiness with you before he realized we were settling.”
“But he cheated with me.”
“Is this because you think he’ll cheat on you?” Of course. “Fin, think about it. If you have any doubts about him, about you and him, then you need to hit pause.”
“I don’t, I don’t think.”
“What if I told you that Connor and I hadn’t been intimate for almost two months before the two of you got together.” This isn’t the time to say that the last time conceived a baby. “What if I told you when he applied for interstate jobs, I felt relieve we could have a long distance relationship.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying my relationship with Connor was over before the two of you got together, we just didn’t know it. I love you. I see how happy the two of you are together. I see the way he looks at you and he never, and I mean, never, looked at me that way.”
“Natasha. You’re here.” Aunty Maude appears behind Finley, wringing her hands. “You’re supposed to be …”
“My maid of honor.” Finley grips my hand. “We promised each other when we were ten that we’d stand beside each other.”
“Twelve. You were crushing hard on some boy in gym class and wanted to know if I would marry the two of you.”
“I can’t believe you remembered that.”
“Well, I’m just glad you didn’t hold me to my promise. Can you imagine how awkward it would be if I was your celebrant today?”
By the time we make it to the main room where hairdressers, make up artists and Romany are trying to herd cats, my past with Finley’s fiancé is irrelevant, Aunty Maude has an empty glass of champagne in hand and I’m where I need to be: helping my cousin marry the love of her life.
Me to Seb: Guess what I’m doing?
Seb: Feeling trapped at the wrong wedding?
Seb: Feeling trapped on an Island that only has 26 beaches?
Seb: Feeling trapped by the love of a man who’s willing to give up NZ for you
Me: Feeling free to travel the world with the man I’m willing to give up soft cheeses for when he’s ready
Seb: There’s a few things I want to do first
Seb: Travel with you
Seb: Out us to our family and friends
Seb: Marry the fuck out of you and honeymoon the hell out of your body
Seb: But if WE have to give up soft cheeses after the honeymoon, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.
“Who are you … oh, Seb.” Finley snatches my phone. “About time he threw you over his shoulder and dragged you back to his cave. Connor and I had a bet on whether it would happen this week or if we’d have to work harder to set the two of you up.”
“You realize if I’m over his shoulder, he can’t drag me anywhere.”
“Selfie?” She holds out my phone, arm around me and takes the photo. Within seconds, it’s safely delivered to Seb and copied to the wedding chat. “Bitch.”
“Why?”
“No one is supposed to out-glow the bride. What’s your secret?”
“You’re just marrying the groom. I get to go home with the best man.”