Heat beat her cheeks as she jerked not just her attention to the floor littered with glittering confetti and neon green and hot pink tissue paper flowers that had fallen from the hastily put-up decorations.

“Well, he’s still an asshole with an asshole name,” Jackie said, her words slurring together just the slightest bit. “I mean his name is Kade St. James. What the hell kind of dumb name is that?”

“He didn’t name himself.” God knew she wouldn’t have picked Thea, which conjured up a whole mysterious and tough image that did not conform to the reality of her boring, thick dark bangs, thicker glasses, and waaaaay thicker thighs.

“Well, going by the silver hair starting to sprout in his beard, he’s had plenty of time to change it. Thank God Dex has barely spoken to him since I told him yesterday how rude Kade was to me all the time. I mean, he actually complained about a beautiful destination wedding. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience in rural Wyoming here. I was all like, it’s just part of the process, buddy. Stop being selfish and deal with it.”

“And he didn’t take that well?” What a shocker.

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Jackie said, totally missing the sarcasm in Thea’s tone. “He rolled his eyes at me. Can you believe it? So. Rude. I told Dex, but he said it was too late to swap Kade out for one of his cuter and younger and nicer friends who it wouldn’t be such a total embarrassment for me if my bridesmaid banged. Why they are even checking him out, I have no idea. I mean, he’s just the worst. Plus, now I’m stuck with him in all of my pictures.”

“Won’t he be a part of your life forever now that you’re married?” Thea turned and faced her sister, accepting the small mirror Jackie shoved into her hands to hold up for her sister before she reapplied her lipstick. “I mean he and Dex are brothers.”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean he had to be the best man.” Her sister smacked her lips together, added a second coat of red, and then winked at her reflection. “I mean, look at us. You’re not my maid of honor, and you’re my only sister. I wouldn’t even have had you in the bridal party at all, but the producers insisted.”

Thea stood there, her mouth hanging open and humiliation burning her from the inside out as she tried to process what in the fuck her sister had just told her. Her lungs were too tight. Her glasses suddenly became the wrong prescription because things had gone blurry. And no matter how much she replayed Jackie’s statement in her head, she could not get it to make sense.