How to Ruin a Wedding(69)

“Ow, ow, ow,” she squeaks, trying to reach out to Anders for help. “You monster! This is how you greet your sister after weeks?”

I let her go, then turn to Anders, trying to keep from boiling. “Why did you let her in?”

“She said she was your sister.” He looks between us.

“And what if she wasn’t? What if she was some psycho murderer you let into your house?”

“I am a little psycho,” Taina mutters.

“Is she?” Anders asks. “Your sister, not psycho.”

“Quiet, both of you.” I rub my forehead, then my eyes, making sure they’re working just fine.

“I’ll deal with you first.” I grab Taina, then pull her to my—no, Anders’s—guest room. I slam the door shut behind us and hiss, “What are you doing here?”

“Obviously I’m here to see you.” She plops onto the edge of the bed, unfazed. “Sad to see this bed is used. Guess you and Anders haven’t slept together yet.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Taina—”

“I told you I wanted to visit.”

“And I told you I’d think about it. And you came here, without telling me, to Anders’s home. You don’t think that’s crossing a line?” Of course she stored away his address when she did her deep dive on him.

Taina gives me a look. “Since when do we have lines between us?”

“Maybe we should!” I shout. “I’ve been too cheap with the lines; I haven’t drawn as many as I need.” I draw an imaginary one between us. “There, there’s another one.”

“Ah.” She nods. “I see, you’ve lost your mind. This is what happens when you go too long without me.”

“What did you tell Mathew?” I snap. “Please don’t tell him you came to see me.”

She blinks. “Why wouldn’t I tell him the truth?”

I place my hands over my mouth and scream.

“Jesus,” Taina says, “what is happening to you right now? You want one of my Xanax?”

I open my mouth to curse, then say, “Actually? Yes.”

Taina rushes out the door, presumably to the luggage sitting in the living room. When she comes back, she practically shoves it into my mouth. After I take it, I sit on the bed, and Taina joins me.

“Okay,” she says after a while, “are you going to explain what’s happening right now?”

“What was happening,” I begin, “is I was trying to drive some distance between Anders and me. And then my little sister shows up at his home, unannounced, and made me cross the lines I’ve been drawing.”

Taina smirks. “Oh, so that means you’ve drawn close enough to him that you’re freaking out and trying to pull back? Interesting.”

I groan, dropping back on the bed.

Taina does the same, faces me. “I can’t believe you’ve been keeping secrets from me.”

“It’s not a secret.”

“Oh, so Anders knows you like him.”

I slap a hand over her mouth and apply pressure as she squirms. “Say it louder; I don’t think he heard you.”

She mumbles into my hand, repeating the words, and I practically choke her until she licks me. I peel my hand back, and she whips up. “You’re so far gone. You’re freaking out so bad.”

“This is so inappropriate of you,” I snap.

She cackles. “Oh, Lucy, you’re adorable. Let me get my phone, you have to see how red you are.”

“Taina, go back home. Mathew is probably so upset that you left him.”

She frowns. “Why would he be upset?” Then, “And if you ever listened to what I tell you, you’d remember he’s away this week. Or are you too lost in Anders to remember things about your poor little sister?”

There’s a light knock on the door. I open my mouth to say go away, but Taina covers my mouth and shouts, “Come in.”

Just as Anders lets himself in, Taina yells as I bite her hand.

She mutters, “You’re not being very attractive right now.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Anders says, his gaze traveling between us, then falling on Taina. “The sushi you ordered is here.”

“You ordered delivery?” I yell, just as Taina runs off and leaves Anders and me by ourselves.

“I’m so sorry.” I stand. “She did not tell me she was coming. And I didn’t tell her to come. She wanted to come, sure, but she said she’d stay at a hotel, and I said I would see if I would even have time.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s most definitely not.” I rub a hand over my face. “But I’ll deal with it.”

“Really, it’s okay,” he says, then pulls out his phone. “This is my aunt. She wants me over for dinner. I told her you weren’t feeling well.”

I’m very clearly feeling better, seeing as I just wrestled with my sister.

But not only is Taina something I need to deal with at this moment, she’s a reminder of why I need to finish this job well. I need to get my money, leave her place, leave her and her husband alone, and focus on building my career—the real one outside of this one.

So I say, “I’ll pass on joining today.”