“It’s about fifty-fifty, but luckily, I think my mom is the only one who really cares. Alexa is just happy their dresses fit.” She slowed down as they approached the stairs. “Hey, can I get a ride with you over to the dinner? I rode over here with Alexa and Drew, since I’m staying at their place, but I want to let the lovebirds have this car ride to themselves, since it’s the last time they’ll get to themselves before tomorrow is over.”

Maddie was relieved she would have someone to talk to on the way over to the dinner, instead of just obsessing about Theo and if he’d meant what he’d said in the middle of that night.

“Of course. Is your mom still furious Alexa refused to stay in a hotel tonight and Drew’s staying in a hotel instead?”

Olivia laughed as they approached Maddie’s car.

“Oh, totally, but what she doesn’t know is that was the compromise. Alexa didn’t want them to spend this night apart at all, but I managed to get her to concede that to Mom. And I agree with her that it seems way easier to get ready for your wedding around all your own stuff. I can only imagine how many things she would have forgotten this morning if she was packing everything to go to a hotel.”

“Yeah.” Maddie pulled out of her parking spot and found herself right behind Theo’s car at the stoplight. He was bopping his head to music in that way she’d always made fun of him for. She sighed.

“I’m so happy Alexa has found someone who loves her so much,” Maddie said.

Olivia handed her a tissue. She hadn’t even realized she’d started crying.

“So am I,” Olivia said.

Maddie hated him. Again. Still. He’d been so relieved she’d said hi to him, and then she’d had that frozen look on her face and steely tone in her voice after he’d responded. She really never wanted him to talk to her again, didn’t she?

He probably shouldn’t have started with “You look beautiful,” but he couldn’t help it. He’d missed her so much. He’d wanted to apologize to her, but he couldn’t do that in the middle of the wedding rehearsal. He didn’t want to put her on the spot like that in public. He’d even taken Ben’s terrible advice and written her a stupid letter and put it in his pocket, but there was no way he could give it to her there. Or maybe ever.

He was happy for Alexa, he really was, but watching her face full of love and excitement for Drew and their new life together while standing next to the woman he loved and who hated him was brutal.

He pulled into a parking spot near the restaurant where the rehearsal dinner was and leaned his head on his steering wheel for a few seconds. He’d spent hours working on that letter, and had finally given up on making it perfect and just folded up the last version he’d written, even though it was way too maudlin and rambling. Oh God, she’d probably laugh at it.

At least the rehearsal was over. He just had to endure the rest of dinner tonight, and then all day tomorrow, and he wouldn’t have to stand near Maddie anymore and pretend away his feelings for her, while trying to be around her as much as possible, just for the glory of seeing her and smelling her and hearing her laugh.

He sighed and got out of his car.

He ran into Carlos and Nik on the way into the restaurant.

“Hey, man. Is Drew ready for tomorrow?”

Carlos laughed and reached for Nik’s hand. Theo looked away. People always got extra touchy-feely on wedding weekends. Unfortunately, all public displays of affection just made him bitter right now. He’d never gotten to do that with Maddie. And never would.

“He’s more than ready. He told me a few months ago that he couldn’t wait to marry her, and even though the past month or so has been frantic with all the wedding planning, he still feels that way more than ever.” Carlos raised his eyebrows at him. “What about you? What’s going on with you and that one over there?” He nodded toward Maddie, standing over by the bar with Olivia.

Theo shook his head.

“First of all, you don’t know anything about that. Second . . . not great. There was a whole . . .” He shook his head. “I fucked up, in more ways than one. I probably never should have started the whole thing. Feelings are the worst.”

Carlos looked at Nik and they both laughed.

“I agree with you one hundred percent,” Nik said. “Carlos, go get us some drinks. Theo and I can stand here in the corner and not talk about feelings.”

He and Nik stood in companionable silence as they watched a stream of people come in and Alexa and Drew greet them all. Appetizers circulated, and soon they had napkins full of tiny cheeseburgers and puff-pastry-and-Brie triangles.

“If these appetizers are any signal of what the food at this wedding is going to be like, we’re in for a treat,” Nik said after finishing everything in her napkin.

Theo nodded.

“If there’s one thing I know about Alexa’s wedding, it’s that the food is going to be great.”

Carlos headed back toward them, three glasses of rosé in his hands, but people stopped him to say hi after every few steps he took.

Nik turned to Theo with a fond smile on her face.

“Carlos has never been able to stop himself from socializing.”

Theo tore his eyes away from Maddie to look where she was pointing.

Nik shook her head at him.

“Oh no. I don’t even know you, but I can tell you have it bad.”

Theo sighed.

“It’s that obvious, huh? I need to put on my game face for the rest of the night and tomorrow. Alexa and Drew don’t know about any of this. It’s complicated.”

Carlos finally reached them, just then. Nik took her glass of rosé and winked at Carlos.

“You’ve got to get some of those tiny cheeseburgers,” she said to Carlos. “They’re amazing.”

Carlos grinned.

“Oh, I had three before I even got to the bar.” He took her hand. “Come on, I have some people I want you to meet.”

Nik turned back to Theo before she walked away.

“It’s always complicated. The complications don’t matter.”

Theo just smiled and nodded at her. Like she would know. People in happy relationships always said things like “the complications don’t matter” when they had no idea what the problems were.

He endured the rest of the rehearsal dinner with a practiced smile on his face. He ate the food, he joined in on the toasts, he even made a toast of his own that got people laughing, and he snuck glances at Maddie the whole time. He hadn’t seen her for weeks; it was like he was starved for the sight of her. He was thrilled when she got up to give a toast. It gave him an excuse to look at her the whole time. She didn’t look at him once. Every time the letter in his pocket crackled, he winced.

This was going to be the worst wedding ever.

Chapter Twenty-two

MADDIE GOT TO ALEXA’S HOUSE AT NINE A.M. ON THE MORNING OF THE wedding. She had her dress over her shoulder, a duffel bag holding her shoes, makeup, and other necessities in one hand, and a bakery bag in the other. Today was going to be brutal; she needed as many good snacks as she could get.

Hell, last night had been brutal. She had to stand there and smile at the world and watch Theo chat with every woman who walked by him except for her, and today was going to be even worse.

She just had to take a deep breath, concentrate on Alexa, and get herself through it.

“Welcome to the madhouse.” Olivia opened the front door and ushered her in.

“Oh no.” Maddie handed the bakery bag to Olivia. “How is she?”

Olivia smiled and shook her head.

“You’ll see.”

They walked into the living room, where Maddie draped her plastic-encased dress over a chair and dumped her bag on the floor. She followed Olivia into the kitchen, and her eyes widened.

“Maddie!” Alexa gave her a hug. “You’re finally here! Fantastic. Do you want some coffee? I have lots of coffee!”

Maddie looked around at the trays full of cookies that blanketed the kitchen.

“Sure, I’ll take some coffee. Um . . . where did all of these cookies come from?”

Alexa picked up a cookie and handed it to Maddie.

“Wasn’t it a great idea? I woke up early and couldn’t go back to sleep, and I realized that we still had a bunch of eggs and butter in the fridge, and since we’re going to be gone for the next two weeks, the thing that made the most sense was to turn all of that into cookies! That way, we’ll all have stuff to snack on later today, and we can take cookies with us on our honeymoon. I just took the last batch out of the oven when you walked in!”

Olivia mouthed, “She’s lost it,” over Alexa’s head. Maddie tried not to grin and instead picked up a cookie.

“Yeah, um, that was a great idea. But the wedding isn’t until five. Aren’t you going to be exhausted later if you’ve been up baking for so long? Do you want to take a nap in a little while, or . . . ?”

Alexa picked up a cup and poured herself more coffee.

“I’ll be fine! I feel great! What do you have there?”

Maddie took the box out of the bakery bag.

“Oh, well, you always say how important it is for brides to eat on the day of their wedding so they don’t start drinking champagne on an empty stomach and then get drunk really fast, so I brought some doughnuts to start us off.” She looked around the room. “But I didn’t realize there would be so many cookies.”

Alexa opened the doughnut box and grabbed one.

“You’re an angel, thank you—we definitely needed both doughnuts and cookies, didn’t we, Olivia?”