At least, that’s what I thought she was laughing about until she said, “Me, in one of those? Have you seen what I can do when I wear a hoodie and sweats?” She gestured to her arm and leg. “Plus, I don’t want to get married. I’m going to be one of those women with a hundred cats and plants on every surface.”
Her words made me feel kind of sorry for her but also irrationally irritated. This was our imaginary wedding, for God’s sake.
“You’re wearing the big white dress.” The words were out before I realized it or could stop them, and everyone turned to look at me with varying expressions on their faces.
Shock. Amusement. Smugness. Confusion. Outright hilarity. And Sasha with a wide-eyed ‘what the fuck’ expression.
At this point, I guess it was pertinent for me to point something out. I didn’t want to get married now, but I did at some point in the future. I wasn’t declaring my undying love for Sasha, I didn’t know her enough to have feelings like that for her, but I liked her. She was funny, sweet, gave as good as she got, had spunk, had a spine, was determined and ambitious, and the whole package appealed to me.
As a girlfriend, maybe.
As a wife, we weren’t anywhere near that.
But her immediate rebuttal of what could be the best wedding ever—even though what Marcus had described didn’t suit either of us—was irritating.
I don’t know if he did it because he took pity on me or because he wanted to rile me up, but Elijah suddenly said, “Did you ever hear how Jackson kissed Sadie after we were pronounced husband and wife?”
Grinning at him, she nodded. “I saw the videos.”
Smiling evilly at me, he murmured, “Payback, my guy.”
Itching my eyebrow with my middle finger, I looked back at Mom, who was chewing on her lower lip.
“So… there’s no wedding?”
Shaking my head, I watched as her shoulders slumped. “But that would be one of the best romance stories ever.”
Admittedly, she wasn’t wrong there.
“You can’t tell my dads about any of this, Ronnie,” Sasha begged. “They’ve always been so protective, and then they went through a lot before I transferred here. I can’t put them through more stress.”
Mulling it over, Mom scanned her from head to toe. “What exactly was the diagnosis.”
All eyes turned back to me, and I had to suck it up and reel them all off for her, watching as her eyes widened with each one. “But I bought a load of shit to help her out, and I’ve been looking after her. Haven’t I, Sash?”
“He has. He even washes and brushes my hair for me.”
“Well, well,” Marcus murmured, just as Elijah chuckled, “Now ain’t that something.”
“He washes your hair?” Mom repeated. When Sasha nodded, she asked, “And brushes it?”
“I use a lot of products in my hair because it goes everywhere and dries out if I don’t. Jackson puts just the right amount in and even changes the brushes to the right ones for each of them. Oh,” she cried, “he also helps me with my moisturizing. I’m one of those people who can’t do anything with their non-dominant hand, so he does it all for me. He’s been amazing.”
Shrewd eyes landed on me, making me squirm in my seat.
“I see. And why haven’t you called us to let us know any of this?”
“She asked me not to,” I gestured with my thumb at Sasha. “Plus, I think the latest update fried my phone because it’s not holding much charge. I’m lucky if I can answer calls about her hospital appointments. And the times I’ve tried to text you, the phone dies just as the text’s sending. It started happening the day of the accident, but it’s gotten progressively worse since.
“Then again, just after the accident, all I was thinking about was helping Sasha and getting her the disability stuff, and she asked me not to tell you guys—which went against what I wanted to do, by the way.”
I felt it was a good thing to add that last bit in but made a point of not looking at Sasha, who I could feel glaring at me. It was like hot laser beams were focused on my cheek, eating away at me until I turned around. I had five brothers, though, so I wasn’t green when it came to self-preservation and survival.
Glancing over at Dad, I saw him share a look with my brothers that included twitching lips like he was fighting back a smile.
What was that about?
“So, you won’t tell them?” Sasha asked hopefully, thankfully taking her attention off my imminent death and back onto the real problem.
“I won’t lie to them,” Mom said firmly. “You’ll have to break it to them at some point. You’re also going to have to figure out what you’re going to do about the bills your insurance doesn’t cover. We’ll help out with them given that this idiot’s involved.”