Page 49 of Fighting Happily Ever After

“That’s a cop-out.” Steph dropped her head again. It may be a cop-out, but it was also a question she didn’t want to answer herself. “Tell me the truth. Do you see the same thing with Dax and me that Hope and Levi have? That you and Logan have?”

Faith leaned against the dresser across the room. “You don’t have to go through with it, Stephanie. If you’re having any kind of doubts or second thoughts, or…well, anything. There’s nothing saying that you have to do this. Not today,” she added. “We’re not going anywhere and if you want to have your wedding here another time, maybe after you’ve worked out whatever it is that’s bothering you, I’m here for you. Totally. I just don’t want you to rush into anything you’re not ready for.”

“But…” Stephanie twirled the ring on her finger, trying to remember the moment Dax had given it to her. She’d always wanted a small, quiet proposal. Something intimate, with just the two of them. But Dax had gotten down on one knee on the red carpet at the premiere of her last movie. It had been anything but quiet and intimate. And in hindsight, the proposal had taken all the attention off her, the star of the movie, and had put it all on him. And it hadn’t been the first time something like that had happened. More than once, Dax had worked to earn more attention than her.

She’d never really paid it much mind before, because frankly, Steph didn’t love the limelight. But when she stopped to think about it…

“Dax wanted the big wedding,” she told Faith. “It was his idea to get the press involved and turn it into a huge event. He even wanted to shop it around for a network special.”

Faith snorted but quickly covered it with a cough.

“I think I thought that maybe by insisting on a super small wedding, it would be…” Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked hard, unwilling to cry.

“It still will be beautiful, Steph. If this is what you want.”

“Was this what it was like for Hope and Levi?”

Faith laughed. “Not even close. But that’s only because those two are as stubborn as the day is long and were both so pig-headed that they almost lost each other. Also, the fact that they’d loved each other since they were kids played a role in their story. Totally different.”

“Like you and Logan?” Steph loved hearing their stories. The love that the two sisters had found with their men was inspiring. It really was rare and it gave her hope. That was the whole reason she was at Ever After in the first place. It was good luck. Identical twins falling madly in love with cousins who had loved them their whole lives? It was better than a movie. No romcom could compete with that story line.

She waited for Faith to fill her with hope once again. But instead, Faith made a noise that was part sigh and part groan before she sat down hard on the mattress next to her. “I need to tell you something.”

Steph swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. Every cell in her body was telling her to run away and not let Faith tell her whatever it was she was going to say. Probably that Dax was having an affair with his costar. That she’d overheard something. That Dax had told Logan and Levi the truth, that—

“Logan and I aren’t together.”

“What?” Steph’s head snapped up. She screwed her face up and she shook her head because she clearly hadn’t heard right. “You’re not together?”

Faith shook her head softly. “No. It was a…well…it was all made up. We’re not a couple.”

Of course they were a couple. She’d seen them together. She’d seen them kiss and cuddle and…they went to bed together every night. Hell, she was almost sure she’d overheard them making love a few nights ago, but the look on Faith’s face said differently.

“But you—”

“No.” She cut her off. “It was an act.” Something in her voice was sad. Regretful, almost, and maybe if there hadn’t been so much weight to what she was saying, Stephanie might have actually felt bad for Faith, or asked her to explain herself and what she was feeling. Because there seemed to be a whole lot more to the story than what Faith was saying.

Especially because she’d seen the way Logan and Faith were with each other. She’d seen the way theylookedat each other. The way theytouchedeach other. That wasn’t acting. She’d been around the best actors in the world and not even they could pull off the love that Faith and Logan seemed to have with each other.

There had to be more to what she was saying. It couldn’t possibly be that simple. But…then again…maybe it was. Maybe, it wasn’t enough to be true just because she wanted it to be. Maybe the woman she’d thought was a friend, and possibly even asister,had just fed her a bunch of bullshit. But why? Why would Faith tell her such deep and twisted lies?

She knew exactly why.

“You just wanted to have the wedding, didn’t you?” The moment she said it, Steph knew it was true. Just like everyone else in her life, Faith only wanted something from her. “You wanted to make the news. Host the wedding of the century.” She shook her head. “I should have known.”

“It wasn’t like that, Steph.”

But she didn’t want to hear it. None of it.

She’d been here before. She’d dealt with people like Faith before.

She pushed herself up from the bed and walked to the mirror. She would not cry. She would not show this woman, whom up until a minute ago she’d thought was a friend, break her. Not like all the others before her.

No way.

She examined herself carefully in the mirror, trying to decide what to do while Faith kept talking.

“It really wasn’t like that, Steph. I mean, it started out…well…it wasn’t supposed to be…I really like you, Steph. You need to believe that. We didn’t want to hurt you. We weren’t trying to lie to you or—”

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