Page 80 of How to Ruin a Wedding

Then, my sister gets up and holds out her arms. “My favorite person in the world!”

Shock fills me to the brim, replacing the jealousy I’m pretending was never there, but somehow I manage to storm over and grab her ear. “What are you doing here?”

“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?”

“Whatwashappening,” 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.”