Page 98 of The Best I Never Had

“No,” Owen says emphatically. “It was mine.”

“Of course you’d say that,” she says. “You’re trying to protect your new girlfriend.”

“We both made mistakes,” I say. “And we’re so sorry for any stress and pain we caused.”

Diana turns her vicious glare on Addy. “Did you know about this?”

“I … well … it’s just…” Addy stammers.

Harrison steps up next to her, sliding a protective arm over her shoulders. “Yes, we knew.”

Owen’s brows pull together. “You knew?”

“Yeah,” Harrison says, the usual warmth when he looks at his brother noticeably missing. “Addy told me yesterday. Always fun to learn your brother’s secrets from someone else.”

Owen’s shoulders cave, and I fight against every instinct to step closer, to comfort him.

“I’m sorry, Harrison,” he says, and Harrison scoffs in response.

“Oh,” Diana says, spinning in a circle and projecting her voice louder. “So they all knew. How lovely.”

“Diana, please—” I start, but she doesn’t let me get another word out.

“You two are poison,” she says, the words spitting from her mouth.

Maria pushes through the crowd, slipping her hand into Addy’s. “Don’t speak to my daughter that way.”

Diana clasps her hands together. “You seem lovely, but you adopted her at fourteen. The damage was already done.”

“Mom,” Harrison says. “You need to calm down. If you keep speaking to Addy that way, you can consider your invitation to the wedding rescinded.”

Diana scoffs. “Like I’m coming to the wedding. You boys never lied to me, and the moment the Pappas sisters come into the picture, you both start. I should have known they would ruin you the second I heard about their messed-up family.”

My hands start shaking as a rush of pure rage flows through my body. She has the right to be angry about the lie, but she doesn’t have the right to attack my sister, to make her feel ashamed for something she had no choice in. I’m about to light into her when Addy turns on her heel, running out of the ballroom. For a moment, I consider letting her leave while I bring down the force of my fury on Diana, but she’s my priority.

Harrison starts after her, but I grab his shoulder. “Please, let me do this?”

He grinds his teeth together, looking toward the door where Addy disappeared before nodding once, a harsh, sharp movement. “Make this right.”

I follow Addy a couple of steps behind. Instead of heading to the inn, Addy runs out into the vines.

She must be fueled by something special, because even with my longer legs, I can’t keep up. “Addy, please wait.”

She twirls on me, and there’s a look I’ve never seen on her face. Pure, unadulterated rage. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough?”

I flinch. “I’m sorry. I was telling Owen it was over and it just happened.”

“How many times did you hook up this week?”

I wince, counting back. If we include the kisses … “Five times.”

“Knowing I wanted you to keep your distance from him?”

“I tried,” I plead with her, and she straightens her shoulders.

“You tried? Do you really believe that? You could have stayed away from him. You could have told Dawn and Diana you couldn’t help with the cake because it would be too hard to spend time together. Or you could have not let him come with you to pick up the rings. Or, I don’t know, maybe you could have just not fucked him.”

I flinch, because she’s right. She told me she was worried, asked me not to go there. I could have made any number of decisions this week that would have let her walk down the aisle tomorrow without this hanging over her head.