2. Natalie

Chapter 2

Natalie

“What are you wearing?”Heather’s face is scrunched up, like my choice of clothing is more offensive than her demanding I join her and her friends in the gym at eight a.m.

I ignore my cousin and her tone and step out of my hotel room.

My overfilled beach bag bumps into her legs, and she shuffles back.

“We’re going to the gym,” she says, like I forgot why I was awake so early while on vacation at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico.

“Uh-huh.” I pull the door shut behind me. I agreed to go to the gym. I didn’t agree to do more than be there.

At eight a.m.

On my vacation.

The bridezilla huffs before she mutters something under her breath and spins away from me.

“Come on.” She waves over her shoulder at me. “The other girls are waiting for us.”

The other girls are waiting for us,I mouth behind her back.

It’s juvenile.

And satisfying.

Heather is… a nightmare. And if it wasn’t for my dad, I wouldn’t put up with her. But her dad is my dad’s brother, and they’re close, and blah, blah, so here I am at a beautiful resort in a beautiful country, dealing with her bullshit when all I want to do is move from my bed to the ocean and back.

My sandals slap against the stone floor, in contrast to Heather’s silent sneakers, as we reach the end of the hall.

Her trio of twittering friends are standing in a huddle around the corner.

One of them rolls her eyes when she takes me in.

Girl, same. I also find this ridiculous.

Last night, Heather texted in our super fun group chat that we would all go to the gym this morning so we could all get one more good sweat in before she says I do.

Her obsession with body image has only gotten worse during this whole wedding planning process, and all I can be thankful for is that after she says those I dos tomorrow, I’m removing myself from the group chat. As in, while they’re standing on the beach, exchanging rings, I’m slipping my phone out of my dress pocket and blocking everyone.

Maybe her friends wouldn’t be so awful under other circumstances, but I’ll never know. And I highly doubt it.

We turn down another hallway, and a glass door ahead of us leads to the resort gym.

I hitch my bag up higher on my shoulder.

I only have to get through an hour of this, then I can get a coffee and bring it down to the beach.